Title: Plan to make use of weedy willow waste in Victoria
[Wangaratta Chronicle, By Steve Kelly - 22 Sept. 2010, p.
8] -- A PORTABLE kiln worth $1.4 million could create a substance to help crop
yields, while it produces electricity. Biochar will be made from the burning of
willow trees removed through the North East Catchment Management Authority’s
(NECMA) riparian management strategy. Plans are to turn 5000 cubic metres of
green waste created each year into a useful product for fanners and soil
adjacent to willow tree removal sites. The kiln will not only generate
electricity that can he fed back into the grid, but NECMA chief executive, John
Riddiford, believes it will reduce Co2 emissions by 1000 tonnes per
annum.
"We were worried about the carbon emissions from the burning of
willow trees and if successful this project will have great benefits," Mr
Riddiford said.
"The project is very significant in comparison to other
projects undertaken by NECMA in the past." The project will take two years to
complete, but the kiln will be field tested in six to 12 months.
Mr
Riddiford said if successful the mechanism could be rolled out across the board,
as there are various governments looking at techniques to reduce carbon
emissions and create energy.
Victorian Innovation Minister, Gavin
Jennings, said the invention has the potential to revolutionise the disposal of
thousands of cubic metres of plant waste such as forest and woody
weeds.
He said biochar was a charcoal created from plant-based wasted
products through pyrolysis, a process that converts the carbon stored within
plants into a chemically and biologically stable fonn.
NECMA and Earth
Systems are partners in the project, collaborating with the CSIRO.