Sonoma Biochar Initiative hosted the 2012 US Biochar Conference
For more on their work visit the SonomaBiocharInitiative.org website.
Building Soil - Redirecting Carbon
2012 Conference Videos and Images
2012 Schedule
Due to the large number of professional presentations in this program, all times listed in this conference schedule will be diligently adhered to by session moderators and each speaker. Please help us keep this program on schedule and show appropriate courtesy to both speakers and attendees by helping us adhere to our strict on-time policy. Thanks.
| DAY | TIME | Location | TITLE | Presenter | Presentation Title |
| SUNDAY | |||||
| Sunday | 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Cooperage | Check In | ||
| Sunday | Cooperage | Pre-Conference Meetings | We will be listing pre-conference meetings and events once these times are set. | ||
| Sunday | 1:00 PM | Biochar Village | Cheese Tour | NOTE: Space limited, prior registration mandatory | |
| Sunday | 3:00 PM | Biochar Village | Wine Tour | NOTE: Space limited, prior registration mandatory | |
| Sunday | 6:00 PM | Lakes | Welcome Reception | ||
| David Morell, PhD, Sonoma Biochar Initiative | Welcome to the 2012 Conference from SBI | ||||
| Jake Mackenzie, Mayor, Rohnert Park, CA and Board, Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority | Welcoming Remarks | ||||
| Ray Gallian, Sonoma Biochar Initiative | Welcoming Remarks | ||||
| Erich Knight, BIochar Advocate | Carbon Conservation for Home, Health, Energy & Climate | ||||
| Sunday | 7:00 PM | Cooperage | Social Conversation | ||
| MONDAY | |||||
| Monday | 7:00 AM | Zinfandel Hall | Monday Breakfast | ||
| Monday | 8:00 AM | Person Theater | OPENING SESSION AND WELCOME | Raymond Baltar, Sonoma Biochar Initiative | Overview -- Goals of the Conference |
| Monday | 8:15 AM | Person Theater | Introduction of Conference and First Plenary Session | Gloria Flora, USBI | Biochar, Now More Than Ever |
| Monday | 8:30 AM | Person Theater | State of the Biochar Industry | Lopa Brunjes, The Biochar Company | Who's Who and What's What? |
| Bruno Glaser, PhD, Martin Luther University (Germany), [paper presented by Daniela Busch, University of Halle (Germany)] | Current State of Biochar Development in Europe | ||||
| Thayer Tomlinson, IBI | Update on IBI Programs and Activities | ||||
| Monday | 9:40 AM | Person Theater Lobby | Monday Morning Break | ||
| Monday | 10:00 AM | Person Theater | Sustainable Business Models | ||
| Josiah Hunt, Hawaii BIochar | Lessons from Three Years of Practical Experience in Hawaii | ||||
| Peter Hirst, New England Biochar | Down on the Farm: Building Integrated Systems | ||||
| Jeff Wallin, The Biochar Company | Whole Systems Business Models for a Sustainable Biochar Industry | ||||
| Monday | 10:00 AM | Cooperage | Special Presentations by Chinese Delegation | ||
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Xiao Yunhan, PhD |
Mobile Biochar Pyrolysis Technology and Equipment |
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Cheng Huiqiang |
Agricultural Residue Use in China in Recent Years |
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| Jun Meng, PhD |
Biochar for Sustainable Agriculture |
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Zhong Zheke, PhD |
Two Years’ Commercial Experience with Biochar: Feasibility and Benefits |
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| Monday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2016 | Biochar Science: Pyrolysis | ||
| Catherine Brewer, Iowa State University [paper presented by David Laird, PhD, Iowa State University] | Oxygen in a Slow Pyrolysis Atmosphere | ||||
| Yanxue Han, Beijing Forestry University | Switchgrass, Hardwood and Softwood with Differing Pyrolysis | ||||
| Fungai Mukome, PhD, University of California, Davis | Using Chemical and Physical Characteristics to Investigate Trends in Feedstocks | ||||
| D. Nathaniel Mulcahy, Worldstove | Biochar Production for Soil Restoration | ||||
| Monday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2021 | Tropical Soils Trials in Africa and India | ||
| Jason Aramburu, re:char | Vegetable Production in Kenya | ||||
| Andrew Crane-Droesch, University of California, Berkeley | Yields for Smallholders in Kenya | ||||
| Ryan Hottle, Ohio State University | Impact of Biochar Use on Nutrient Poor Soils in India | ||||
| Kevin Schreiber, University of Pennsylvania | Business Aspects of Using Sugar Cane Wastes in Uganda | ||||
| Monday | 11:30 AM | Person Theater | Keynote Address | Sunne McPeak, President & CEO, California Emerging Technology Fund & former California Secretary of the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency | Building a Successful Biochar Business in California: Challenges and Opportunities |
| Monday | 12:15 PM | Zinfandel Hall | Monday Lunch | ||
| Monday | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Biochar Village | Farm-Out Session I: Valley End Farm | Visit to a nearby farm to meet the farmer and discuss implications and impacts of biochar use | Methods of Biochar Application: Best Practices for Applying Biochar on Small and Large Farms |
| Valley End Farm is a Certified Organic vegetable farm, with Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) membership. | NOTE: Space limited, prior pre-registration mandatory. Bus transportation will be provided. | ||||
| Monday | 1:15 PM | Cooperage | Mid-Sized Biochar Production Technologies | ||
| Jonah Levine, Biochar Solutions | Biochar Solutions’ Machine | ||||
| Jerry Whitfield PhD, Whitfield Biochar | Continuous Flow Biochar Reactor | ||||
| Johannes Schneeberger, Thermal Engineer, Inventor & Entrepreneur | The LAURIN Engine: Electricity Generation and Biochar | ||||
| Martin Olazar, PhD, University of the Basque Country (Spain) | Conical Spouted Bed Reactor | ||||
| Monday | 1:15 PM | Salazar 2021 | Urban Agriculture | ||
| Justin Beck, Biochar Advocate | Biochar Use at Urban Farms in Germany | ||||
| Kelby Fite, PhD and Drew Zwart, Bartlett Tree Research Labs | Improving Urban and Suburban Landscapes with Biochar | ||||
| Jeff Licht, University of Massachusetts at Boston | Using Biochar on Urban Roofs | ||||
| Monday | 1:15 PM | Salazar 2016 | Biochar Science | ||
| Daniela Busch, University of Halle (Germany) | Risk Evaluation using Bio Indicators | ||||
| Zuolin Liu, Rice University | Hydraulic Conductivity and Soil Water Potential: Impacts of Concentration and Particle Size | ||||
| Daoyuan Wang, University of California, Davis | Biochar Doses, Grain Diameters and Water-Holding Capacity | ||||
| Meghana Rao, Jesuit High School, Oregon | Carbon Sequestration and Particle Size | ||||
| Monday | 2:40 PM | Cooperage | Monday Mid-afternoon Break | ||
| Monday | 3:00 PM PM - 5:00 PM | Biochar Village | Farm-Out Session II: Tara Firma Farm | Visit to a nearby farm to meet the farmer and discuss possible implications and impacts of biochar use. | Methods of Biochar Application: Best Practices for Applying Biochar on Small and Large Farms |
| Tara Firma Farm is a CSA (vegetables, pastured chicken, beef, pork, poultry, and eggs) and Institute. | NOTE: Space limited, prior pre-registration mandatory. Bus transportation will be provided. | ||||
| Monday | 3:00 PM | Cooperage | Biochar Use and Temperate Agriculture | ||
| David Laird, PhD, Iowa State University | Biochar Mitigation of Allelopathy Induced Yield Loss in Continuous Maize | ||||
| Stefanie Kloss, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria) | Soil and Plant Yield Responses in Temperate Soils | ||||
| Natalia Rogovska, Iowa State University | Effect of Biochar Use on Soybean Root Disease Potential | ||||
| Monday | 3:00 PM | Salazar 2021 | Improving Soil Systems | ||
| Mike Flynn, BioSpecific LLC | Making Soils Smarter and Happier with VermiChar | ||||
| Robin Cook, Sunmark Environmental | Using Permamatrix to Reduce Costs | ||||
| Sunny Castillo, University of Alaska, Fairbanks | Application of Biochar to Subarctic Soils | ||||
| Monday | 3:00 PM | Salazar 2016 | Reclamation Using Biochar: Mines and Industrial Sites | ||
| Charlene Kelly, PhD, USGS | Biochar Use in Mine Reclamation | ||||
| K.Thomas Klasson, PhD, USDA | Mercury Removal Using Biochar | ||||
| Chun-Ha Gao, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (China) | Effects of Different Organic Materials on Soil Carbon Accumulation in Reclaimed Coal Mine Area | ||||
| Monday | 5:30 PM | Zinfandel Hall | Monday Night Dinner | ||
| Monday | 7:00 PM | Person Theater | Movie: Symphony of the Soil | The film examines our relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time. | |
| TUESDAY | |||||
| Tuesday | 7:00 AM | Zinfandel Hall | Tuesday Breakfast | ||
| Tuesday | 8:00 AM | Person Theater | Tuesday Welcome | Acknowledging Sponsors and Special Guests | |
| Tuesday | 8:30 AM | Person Theater | Carbon and Energy Policy Issues | ||
| Johannes Lehmann, PhD, Cornell University | Biochar and Carbon In Perspective | ||||
| Peter Hirst, New England Biochar | Building a Biochar Industry: Roles for Carbon and Energy | ||||
| Rhys Roth, Climate Solutions | Biochar and the Second Climate Solution | ||||
| Karl Frogner, PhD, UB International | Biochar in the Hansen and Woolf Climate Change Models | ||||
| Tuesday | 9:45 AM | Person Theater Lobby | Tuesday Morning Break | ||
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM | Person Theater | Large Production Technology | ||
| Tom Miles, T.R. Miles, Technical Consultants, Inc | Product and Process Options for the Biochar Entrepreneur | ||||
| Thomas Del Monte, Interra Energy | A Project Developer’s Guide to Picking a Biomass Conversion Technology | ||||
| Bert Bennett, ICM | The ICM Gasifier: Industrial Biochar Production | ||||
| Greg Stangl, Phoenix Energy | Generating Electricity and Making Biochar: Successes and Challenges | ||||
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM | Cooperage | Biochar Production Economics | ||
| John Bonitz, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy | Regional Bioenergy Progress and Industry Assessment | ||||
| David Sjoding, Washington State University, Pacific Region Bioenergy Partnership, & USDOE Northwest Clean Energy Application Center | Pacific Northwest Perspective on Developing a Biochar Industry | ||||
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2021 | Special Chars and Feedstocks | ||
| Michael Urban, Biochar Merchants | Using Lump Charcoal Byproducts as a Soil Amendment | ||||
| Dr. Christoph Fühner, PhD, Ufz (Germany) | Biochar as a Tool for Sustainable Sanitation | ||||
| Brian von Herzen, PhD, The Climate Foundation | Making Biochar from Novel Biosolids Sources | ||||
| Kelly Sveinson, Langara College (Canada) | Production of “Designer” Biochar | ||||
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2016 | Non-Agricultural Uses of Biochar | ||
| Sophie Minori Uchimiya, PhD, USDA | Treating Heavy Metals and Pesticides in Contaminated Soils | ||||
| Seok-Young Oh, PhD, University of Ulsan (Korea) | Biochar Remediated Reduction of Nitro Herbicides and Explosives | ||||
| John Miedema, Thompson Timber and Pacific Northwest BIochar Initiative | Using Designer Biochar for Water Remediation | ||||
| Tuesday | 11:15 AM | Person Theater | Small Biochar Production Technologies | ||
| Wayne Teel, PhD, James Madison University | Capturing Heat from a Small Biochar Production System | ||||
| Paul "Dr TLUD" Anderson, Chip Energy | TLUD Cookstoves and Barrel-size Production of Biochar | ||||
| Dan Mackenzie, retired environmental scientist | Producing Backyard Biochar | ||||
| Karl Frogner, UB International | Jolly Rodger TLUD | ||||
| Tuesday | 11:15 AM | Cooperage | National and Regional Perspectives on Biochar Use | ||
| Richard Frankel, PhD, Mae Fah Luang University (Thailand) | Approaches to Biochar Use in Laos and Thailand | ||||
| Anthony Anyia, PhD, Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, AITF | Alberta’s Biochar Experience | ||||
| M. Ryan Delaney, Carbon Roots International | Biochar Adoption and Poverty in Haiti | ||||
| Tuesday | 11:15 AM | Salazar 2021 | Char Characterization | ||
| Hugh McLaughlin, PhD, Alterna Biocharbon [paper presented by Greg Thiele, Micromeritic] | Analytical Options for Determining Adsorption and Surface Area | ||||
| Kurt Spokas, USDA | Evaluation of Sorbed PAHs | ||||
| Bernardo del Campo, Iowa State University | Stability and Safe Application of Fast Pyrolysis Biochar | ||||
| Tuesday | 11:15 AM | Salazar 2016 | Special Soil Effects I | ||
| Bob Cirino, University of Delaware | Effect on Arabidopsis and Soil Microbial Communities | ||||
| Colleen Rostad, USGS | Environmental Implications of Water Soluble Components | ||||
| Adam Asquith, University of Hawaii | Biochar Trials with Depleted Hawaiian Soils | ||||
| Tuesday | 12:00 PM | Biochar Village | SMV SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE BEGINS | ||
| This shuttle bus runs from the Biochar Village to Sonoma Mountain Village where several components of the Tuesday afternoon program take place, followed by the Gala Dinner. | |||||
| Tuesday | 12:15 PM | Zinfandel Hall | Tuesday Lunch | ||
| Tuesday | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Biochar Village | Farm-Out Session III: Green String Farm | Visit to a nearby farm to meet the farmer and discuss possible implications and impacts of biochar use | Methods of Biochar Application: Best Practices for Applying Biochar on Small and Large Farms |
| Green String is a sustainable farm focused on aiding, rather than fighting, natural processes to grow healthy and happy fruits and vegetables. | NOTE: Space limited, prior pre-registration mandatory. Bus transportation will be provided. | ||||
| Tuesday | 1:15 PM | Cooperage | Biochar Impacts on Nitrogen | ||
| Engil Pereira, University of California, Davis | Effects on Soil Structure and GHG Emissions | ||||
| Kurt Spokas, USDA | Interactions with Dissolved Ammonia and Nitrates | ||||
| Teri Angst, University of Edinburgh (UK) | Nutrient Retention and Nitrous Oxide Emissions | ||||
| Tuesday | 1:15 PM | Salazar 2021 | Special Soil Effects II | ||
| Caroline Masiello, PhD, Rice University | Biochar Effects on Microbial Cell-Cell Communication | ||||
| Jesus Diaz, PhD, Colorado State University | Soil Microbial Community Abundance and Composition | ||||
| Jatara Wise, Texas A&M University | Feedstock Nutrient Conservation in Biochar | ||||
| Tuesday | 1:15 PM | Salazar 2016 | Biochar and Forestry | ||
| Judith Harwood, Mendocino County (CA) Biomass Working Group | Mendocino County Biochar Demonstration Project | ||||
| Mark Coleman, PhD, University of Idaho | Impacts of Biochar Use in Western Forests | ||||
| Tuesday | 1:30 PM | SMV | Sustainability Guidelines, Standards and Practices (Review Meeting) | ||
| Gloria Flora, USBI | USBI’s Approach: Sustainability and Beyond | ||||
| John Miedema, Thompson Timber and Pacific Northwest BIochar Initiative | The Need for Biochar Sustainability Protocols | ||||
| Kelpie Wilson, IBI | Developing International Sustainability Guidelines for Biochar | ||||
| Tuesday | 1:15 PM | SMV - Board Room | Biochar 101 | ||
| A special information session (speacial session passes) |
Biochar 101 is a special session for those attendees who cannot attend the the full conference, but are seeking an intensive introduction to vital information about biochar: the key characteristics that raise the most serious hopes and policy challenges for its future as a tool for ecological and environmental management. |
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| Alex Dolginow, Climate Protection Campaign | |||||
| Peter Hirst, New England Biochar | |||||
| Tuesday | 2:40 PM | Cooperage/SMV | Tuesday Mid-afternoon Break | ||
| Tuesday | 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Biochar Village | Farm-Out Session IV: Gap's Crown Vineyard | Visit to a nearby farm to meet the farmer and discuss possible implications and impacts of biochar use | |
| Gap's Crown Vineyard is a wine grape and riparian restoration project along Copeland Creek. | NOTE: Space limited, prior pre-registration mandatory. Bus transportation will be provided. | ||||
| Tuesday | 3:00 PM | SMV | New GHG Offset Quantification Methodology | This special presentation will address important new work being supported by funding from the Blue Moon Foundation. The presenters will introduce conference attendees to this process and provide insight and guidance into how stakeholders can get engaged. | |
| Peter Weisberg, The Climate Trust | |||||
| Keith Driver, Prasino Group | |||||
| Tuesday | 3:00 PM | SMV - Board Room | Financing Biochar Enterprises | ||
| As with any new industry, finding startup or growth capital can be daunting and is often as much of an educational campaign as a challenging numbers game. This special session will provide tips and information on financing strategies from some well-known companies in the biochar industry, interacting with a special panel of experts representing both traditional financing sources (such as angel investors and investment banking) and emerging alternatives (such as direct public offerings, crowd funding, and slow money). The session will consist of short presentations followed by what we anticipate to be a very lively, interactive discussion among the experts and participants from the audience. |
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| Mike Rocke of Cool Planet Biofuels, a firm developing new ways to make negative-carbon biofuels along with biochar. | |||||
| Jonah Levine of Biochar Solutions, designer and producer of continuous flow biochar production equipment. | |||||
| Jenny Kassan of Cutting Edge Capital, specialists in raising capital for small businesses from non-traditional sources. | |||||
| Tony Cone of Westhoff, Cone and Holmstedt, a firm specializing in innovative public finance techniques. | |||||
| Lisa Tamayo-Kennedy of investorMetrix, an entrepreneur and investor working with clean tech startup ventures. | |||||
| Paul Bozzo, 10X Group | |||||
| Jeff Wallin, The Biochar Company | |||||
| Greg Stangl, Phoenix Energy | |||||
| Jack Lance, Investor/Entrepreneur | |||||
| Ashwin Gulati, President, Match Point Ventures | |||||
| Tuesday | 4:00 PM | SMV Foyer | Poster Presentations | ||
| See the conference website for a separate listing of all poster presenters and their topics. | |||||
| Tuesday | 6:00 PM | SMV | SBI TASTE OF SONOMA DINNER | ||
| Tuesday | 7:00 PM | SMV | Dinner Keynote | Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Board Secretary, Post Carbon Institute | Soil, Carbon, and Survival |
| Tuesday | 8:30 PM | SMV - Board Room | Social Conversation | ||
| Tuesday | 10:00 PM | SMV - BIOCHAR VILLAGE | SMV SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE CONCLUDES | ||
| WEDNESDAY | |||||
| Wednesday | 7:00 AM | Zinfandel Hall | Wednesday Breakfast | ||
| Wednesday | 8:00 AM | Person Theater | Wednesday Welcome | ||
| Wednesday | 8:15 AM | Person Theater | The Road Ahead | ||
| David Laird, PhD, Iowa State University | Achieving a Carbon-Negative Economy | ||||
| Jeff Schahczenski, National Center for Appropriate Technology | Food or Fuel: Economic and Political Barriers to Biochar Development | ||||
| Ronald Larson, PhD, USBI and IBI Advisory Board | Biochar SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) | ||||
| Wednesday | 9:40 AM | Person Theater Lobby | Wednesday Morning Break | ||
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM | Person Theater | World Enterprise Perspectives | ||
| Morgan Williams, Biochar Solutions | Biochar Solutions and the Virgin Earth Challenge | ||||
| Craig Sams, Carbon Gold | Taking Biochar to Market in the UK and Tropical Agriculture | ||||
| Mike Rocke, CoolPlanet Biofuels | The Cool Planet Approach to Creating Fuels from Biomass | ||||
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM | Cooperage | Biochar Use in Specialized Agricultural Settings | ||
| Elizabeth Verhoeven, University of California, Davis | Biochar Use in Vineyards | ||||
| Kurt Spokas, USDA | Biochar and Specialty Crop Production | ||||
| Jeff Licht, University of Massachusetts at Boston | Biochar and Sand Plain Species | ||||
| Heinz-Joseph Koch, PhD, University of Goettingen (Germany) | High Nitrogen Supply Alleviates Reduced Sugarbeet Growth Caused by Hydrochar Application | ||||
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2016 | Special Issues in Biochar Use | ||
| John Miedema, Thompson Timber and Pacific Northwest BIochar Initiative | Using Industrial Surplus Materials to Produce Biochar | ||||
| Ines Vogel, PhD, Free University of Berlin (Germany) | Using Biochar Substrates for Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Soils of Former Military Areas | ||||
| Benjamin Wirth, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering (Potsdam, Germany) | Anaerobic Treatment of HTC Wastewater | ||||
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM | Salazar 2021 | Biochar Specialty Uses | ||
| Sherie Edenborn, PhD, Chatham University | Using Compost Tea to Enhance Biochar’s Beneficial Properties | ||||
| Sholeb Akaram, Shastra University (India) | Reducing Soil and Water Pollution from Pathogens in Poultry Manure | ||||
| Konstantin Terytze, PhD, Free University of Berlin (Germany) | Application in the Berlin Botanical Garden | ||||
| Wednesday | 11:30 AM | Person Theater | Conference Final Comments and Next Steps | Raymond Baltar, Sonoma Biochar Initiative | Farewell and “where do we go from here?” |
| Gloria Flora, USBI | Next Steps for Biochar in the US | ||||
| Wednesday | 12:15 PM | Zinfandel Hall | Wednesday Lunch | ||
| Wednesday | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Biochar Village | Sonoma Compost Tour |
We will go on a chronological tour following organic matter from receiving all the way through the finished product in retail. The tour will be a short course in composting, highlighting the principles of composting and monitoring as we move through the site. |
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| NOTE: Space limited, prior pre-registration mandatory. Bus transportation will be provided | |||||
| Wednesday | 1:15 PM | Cooperage | Post Conference Meetings and Events | ||
| See the conference website for a separate listing of all post-conference meetings and events, and for information about the 2013 USBI conference. | |||||
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2012 US Biochar Conference Sponsors
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