Microwaves for Industrial Scale Biochar

Read how giant microwave ovens could be used to make biochar and lock away carbon

Biochar charcoal made in a giant microwave oven by Carbonscape

In our article What is Biochar (1) we introduced biochar - charcoal which is buried in the ground to lock away carbon dioxide rather than allowing it to escape into the atmosphere where it would act as a greenhouse gas.

A British geography professor and climate specialist Chris Turney (pictured above) of the University of Exeter has launched his company Carbonscape (2) to further develop and sell a giant microwave oven which can convert wood debris into charcoal locking one tonne of CO2 away per day at a cost of $65 per tonne. The current prototype is 5 metres long, but the next generation oven will be larger, will process more wood at a time, and therefore should be able to reduce the cost per tonne of CO2 fixed into biocharcoal.

By planting fast growing trees which will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and then charcoaling them on an industrial scale to fix the carbon (so the gas cannot return to the atmosphere for centuries) it is possible to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and help in the fight against global warming.

At the top of this article was an image of the first sample of biochar produced by the Carbonscape prototype oven. Each patented industrial-scale oven will convert 40-50% of the wood sent though it into charcoal. Although the microwave ovens themselve use energy and therefore have their own carbon footprint (3), the amount of carbon fixed in the charcoal far outweighs the carbon released into the atmosphere during the charcoal-ing process.

Nick Gerritson - Carbonscape director pictured in front of a prototype unit

Carbonscape director Nick Gerritson is pictured above in front of a prototype ("Black Phantom") biochar microwave.

More Information

For more information about Carbonscape, click here to visit the official Carbonscape website (4). Carbonscape is based in Blenheim, New Zealand, but is also incorporated in the UK.

Web Link References

(1) http://www.reuk.co.uk/What-is-Biochar.htm
(2) http://carbonscape.com/
(3) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Carbon-Footprint.htm
(4) http://carbonscape.com/

Article from REUK.co.uk:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Microwaves-for-Industrial-Scale-Biochar.htm
Published: 17th March 2009
© REUK 2009