CINCINNATI — In less than a year, a brand-new building and pyrolysis facility will be up and running in Mt. Airy Forest and before you start googling what that word means, just stay here reading for a few more minutes.
Pyrolysis, according to the Merriam Webster definition, is "the chemical decomposition of organic (carbon-based) materials through the application of heat.
And it's going to be a big deal for Cincinnati Parks and the city's tree canopy.
"We chip up our wood waste, the trees and branches that we find in parks that fall down and then we cook it," Parks director Jason Barron said.
What's left is "biochar," or carbon charcoal.
According to the parks website: Once altered, biochar is composed of upwards of 75% carbon that resists decomposition. Biochar then safely stores the carbon for an average of 500 years, effectively removing it from the atmosphere.
"The key thing is we're going to combine it with kind of a nitrogen substance like a manure or something like that some sort of organic waste, and that will charge it and then we'll use it in all of our tree plantings," Barron said.
The biochar project is run by Sam Dunlap's Carbon Harvest.
"What differentiates kind of run of the mill charcoal from biochar is it has specific characteristics that make it good for adding to the soil and for, you know, a biological benefit," Dunlap said.
"We can be producing about a ton and a half of biochar a day. So, multiply that by 30 or, you know, 365 or whatever multiplier you want to use, but we'll be producing hundreds of tons of biochar a year. Things go according to plan"
It will be used in new tree plantings; they can also sell what's produced.
Cincinnati Parks and Carbon Harvest are still trying to nail down which technology they'll use to create the biochar, but they expect to have it up and running starting in 2024.
Barron said, "We're trying to be one the first cities in the country that's going to bring this biochar technology to a park system, and hopefully have this really incredible impact on our trees."
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