Biochar is easy to make from your garden waste; but is it worth it?

Those who advocate and sell biochar in the UK claim it has miracle-like properties when used as a garden soil amender. The majority of the scientific community say there is no credible UK based evidence to support these claims. With your help we would like to bring more, and hopefully definitive, real-world evidence to the debate. It makes no sense to purchase biochar when it can be made easily at home as a by-product. This approach also provides a unique opportunity to broaden the scope of the study.

We hope to answer the follow questions:

Is it practical to make biochar at home?

Does biochar make better compost in the long term?

Can you really capture carbon by making your own biochar?

Can the heat released while making biochar be used to cook with?

Can you use biochar as an alternative to charcoal in a barbecue or stove?



There are no quick answers to some of these questions. The benefits of biochar as a soil amender, via your compost, will only be realised after several growing seasons. However, maybe the true value of making your own biochar lies elsewhere; as a source of fuel perhaps? We have tried to make the Tawi ‘Biochar Harvester’ competitively priced without resorting to overseas manufacture. The cost of compiling the results, providing ‘human’ support and overseeing the trial has also been factored in.

Biochar at home: useful or useless;

let’s find out.

The trial is easy to take part in; no tedious data recording, no deadlines; we would just like

some honest feedback and photos which we can evaluate. A guidance pack is provided with each Tawi Biochar Harvester. The results will be published and your name will be included as sponsor and research contributor.