Comparison of Biochar Characteristics from Different Production Scales

Comparison of Biochar Characteristics from Different Production Scales

USDA Forest Service - Wood Innovations Project (23-DG-11094200-453).

The Northern MN Closed Cycle Biochar Pilot;  A Collaborative project with Dovetail Partners, Minnesota Power and the Carlton Soil and Water Conservation District

by Dovetail Partners Associate: Harry Groot 

Published by Dovetail Partners August 2025

Project Description

The project was inspired as a way to reduce increasing wildfire fuels in northern Minnesota, by demonstrating potential markets for that woody biomass. The region’s forest products industry’s decline has exacerbated this need, resulting in aging and overstocked forests. Producing biochar is a promising market opportunity, simultaneously providing climate, ecological, and soil health benefits by converting wildfire reduction, habitat restoration, or invasive biomass into a useful product. 

The project’s at-scale field trials over three growing seasons, were designed to demonstrate the soil health value of agricultural biochar applications.  This report, however, will focus on a second objective:  comparing biochar from commercial and smaller-scale efforts. Details about the field trials are available in the Project’s initial StoryMap and there will be report(s) available about field trial results at the project’s conclusion.

View StoryMap Here!