This will be held in a virtual setting and will be live-streamed on this webpage on October 4th, 2023 from 11 am- 2:30 pm ET. The recording will also be available to view on this webpage. 

More details about this event and speakers are to come. Please register for the event as well as subscribe to our mailing list to stay updated!

Sharply increased federal funding for forest restoration activities such as thinning and hazardous fuels removal to decrease the impact of wildfires in high-risk forest regions are expected to generate enormous volumes of wood biomass over the next decade and beyond. Absent other options, standard practice is to pile and burn these materials or allow them to decompose—both of which result in significant emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.  Conversion of wood biomass to biochar for use as a soil amendment may be a way to remove this carbon from the atmosphere entirely and store it for centuries or more, while enhancing soil fertility and improve soil water retention. The capacity for biochar production is currently very limited, however, with few facilities within the practical range of where many of the high-priority forest restoration projects will take place.

Key Themes:

1. Quantitative estimates of the volume of new wood biomass generated by forest restoration initiatives
2. Options for utilization of noncommercial wood biomass; carbon profiles and implications
3. Current and potential utilization and markets for biochar
4. Status and trends in US wood biochar production: case studies
5. Biochar and CDR credits
6. Research needs
7. Policy implications