SA could lead the nation in generating renewable energy from organic material following an agreement between Jeffries Group, which recycles more than 100,000 tonnes of organic material annually, and the nation’s largest landcare organization, the South Australian No-Till Farmers’ Association (SANTFA). They will enter a joint venture to carry out research and trials on the use of organic material to produce energy and biochar.

The parties involved claimed that benefits for the state could include better waste management, the increased production of renewable energy, the establishment of a local skills base in carbon capture, and the creation of new jobs.

Biochar is attracting growing global interest due to its potential to sequester carbon and also improve soil, and both of Australia’s major political parties have expressed support for the concept. Its development and use forms a central plank in the Opposition’s direct action plans to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions.

As well as storing carbon, the process of creating biochar – which involves heating organic material in the absence of air – can also produce energy. According to SANTFA, every tonne of organic waste can produce 350kg of biochar and 1MWh of renewable energy.

Jeffries’ operations manager Martin Jeffries said compost, soil and mulch products would remain the company’s key focus, but the joint venture would investigate additional end markets for organic feedstocks.

“If we can capture carbon and lock it up in biochar we can increase farm productivity while also addressing one of the most pressing global environmental issues,” he said.

“Organic waste holds large amounts of carbon, and the use of biochar along with traditional organic compost applications will be an important part of farming practice. We see them as complementary product streams.

“Jeffries and SANTFA have already demonstrated their credentials in the area of economically viable environmental sustainability, and since the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding we are looking towards the planning stage of the joint venture.”

SANTFA’s R&D manager Greg Butler also said the potential of biochar was extremely exciting.

“It has been forecast that a great deal of land now under food production will be diverted to afforestation for carbon sequestration in the coming decades,” he said.

“We have the opportunity to take our existing agricultural production and waste management systems and add another step to that framework – biochar creation – to close the carbon loop.

“I believe capturing carbon from food waste is the most efficient and ethical way of capturing carbon. It also ensures the preservation of land assets for food production and conservation.”

Click here to read the rest of today's news stories.