Icelandic biochar for Icelandic farming soils – new video
23.06.2023
Icelandic biochar in a newly sown Icelandic grass field. Screenshot from the video
The Icelandic Forest Service has released a new video explaining the making of biochar from Icelandic thinning wood and an ongoing research exploring the benefits of mixing biochar into farmland soil. It is good hope that the use of artificial fertiliser can be reduced substantially by using this method in Icelandic agriculture.
The video was made by Hlynur Gauti Sigurðsson at Kvikland. It was reported here on skogur.is this spring that a research project had been started by the IFS in collaboration with the Icelandic Agricultural University, the firm Tandrabretti and others, where the advantages of making biochar from Icelandic thinning wood and using it for soil improvement in agriculture would be examined.
The coal could be put to good use for long-term carbon sequestration in the soil of agricultural lands and at the same time improve soil quiality and thus the yield. At the same time, the need for the use of synthetic fertilisers for the crops would be reduced. In the video, Lárus Heiðarsson, an expert at the Icelandic Forest Research – Mógilsá, explains the research and Hörður Guðmundsson from Tandrabretti describes how the coal is made in a special coal-making furnace with modern technology to monitor the process.
The video is in Icelandic but with English subtitles. Interviewing, filming and video production was made by Hlynur Gauti Sigurðsson at Kvikland.
More on the research here: