Why is Zespri trialling biochar (edited excerpts)
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Vincent
Biochar has been this promising climate mitigation tool that people have talked about for ages, yet we don't see it used a lot in New Zealand as a fertiliser or as a soil enhancement. Maybe give us a 101 on what biochar is?
Bryan
Biochar is effectively a charcoal, but it's created at a lower temperature. The key is that it's got a state that means it'll never really break down in the soil, so it'll last for thousands of years in the soil. It can help lift the soil carbon, but it also stimulates the water holding capacity of the soil. It can increase the microflora in the soil. It can also offer a bit of a buffering. If you think of your carbon filter in your water, it will absorb stuff and slowly release it out as well. New Zealand hasn't really got any certified biochar producers. And we haven't really quantified the benefit of biochar. And we haven't really got large economies of scale. So any biochar that you do get is quite expensive.
Vincent
Can biochar help recover our fertile soils to where they used to be? Or is this a genuine enhancement?
Bryan
It's probably a bit of both. We are blessed with great soils. That's part of the reason why kiwifruit is such a successful crop. The question is, can we make the soils even better? Biochar is a potential additional way of enhancing soil productivity. Biochar is a natural product. It would act in synergy with existing compost applications that the industry does. But as we look to be not just good for people and communities, but good for the environment as well, we are looking at what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint and deliver amazing quality fruit to our consumers and potentially biochar ticks both of those boxes.
Vincent
What’s the source of biochar and is it a dirty process to make, because it's combustion, right?
Bryan
It is a kind of combustion. It's any carbon source that is heated in a low oxygen environment and that results in your biochar or charcoal product. We're also blessed in New Zealand with lots of forestry. Most of the production in New Zealand is using that residual forestry source.
Vincent
How long has the Zespri Innovation Fund been going and where are you getting the applications from?
Eu Jin
In the first year, or slightly more than one year now, we have received more than 130 applications. We see most of the applications coming in from New Zealand. About 70 per cent. The rest are mainly coming from Europe and also the United States. We already have two pilots starting in Italy and also the Netherlands.
Vincent
Tell us a bit about the criteria. What are you looking for in these kinds of projects? What's going to be a winning project?
Eu Jin
One of the more important criteria is the newness of that solution thinking back to our key challenges with the environment, the quality of fruit, people and also our community. So our focus is to make sure this is something that we have never tested before. That's one of the main criteria, followed by the type of solutions that they are offering and whether it is able to be scaled once we have done the pilot.
Vincent
What kind of projects are getting funding? Can you give us some more examples beyond the biochar?
Bryan
One of the ones that I'm quite excited about is a technology actually born out of New Zealand that uses pheromones and moths and how a moth can detect a kilometre away downstream with the pheromones. They're using that sort of technology to put that into an electronic system for measuring volatiles. From a climate perspective, we're working with some companies on electrification of robots that can walk around using solar panels to charge, mow the lawns, control the weeds.
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