Kelpie Wilson is a distinguished figure in the field of biocharBiochar is a carbon-rich material created from biomass decomposition in low-oxygen conditions. It has important applications in environmental remediation, soil improvement, agriculture, carbon sequestration, energy storage, and sustainable materials, promoting efficiency and reducing waste in various contexts while addressing climate change challenges. More development and application. Her professional journey with biochar began in the mid-2000s, stemming from her work as a freelance writer and her interest in sustainable agriculture. This led her to the International Biochar Initiative(IBI), where she played a key role in the development of the first international standards for biochar characterization.

With a background in mechanical engineering, Kelpie has applied her expertise to practical innovation. She is the inventor of the Ring of Fire Kiln, a portable flame cap kiln designed to make biochar production more efficient and accessible for smaller-scale users. Her work at Wilson Biochar LLC focuses on manufacturing and providing strategic consulting to various organizations.

Kelpie’s contributions extend to both academic and applied contexts. She is the author of The Biochar Handbook and has published numerous reports and papers on topics including biochar’s role in forest restoration, wildfire risk mitigation, and sustainable agriculture. She also has experience in technical training, working with community groups and forestry contractors on biochar production techniques.

Shanthi Prabha V:  Kelpie, you’ve been at the forefront of biochar development since 2008. What initially drew you to biochar, and how has your perception of its potential evolved over these 15+ years?

Kelpie Wilson: I was writing freelance features for magazines, and a regular column about climate, energy and environment for an online news service in the early 2000s, so I was constantly scouting the internet for interesting stories – that’s how I heard about Terra PretaTerra preta, meaning “black earth” in Portuguese, is a type of highly fertile soil found in the Amazon Basin. It is characterized by its high biochar content, which contributes to its long-term fertility and ability to support productive agriculture More in 2006. I was also at that time trying to grow more of my own food, and the tales of vast tracts of human-created soils of great fertility were compelling. I set out to learn as much as I could about it, but there was very little information at that time.

I asked my editor at Yoga Plus magazine if she would send me to Australia to cover the first International Agrichar Conference in 2007. She said she could not pay for my travel but she would buy the story, and that covered my travel, so I went. I got to meet Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph and many other soil scientists and climate scientists at that conference.

The next year I applied to work at the International Biochar Initiative and was hired to help with communications and project development.

SP:  You’ve been instrumental in developing international biochar standards. What were the biggest hurdles in establishing those standards, and how crucial are they for the industry’s growth and credibility?

KW: At IBI, I was put in charge of facilitating the standards development process. My role was to collect and organize the input from the scientists, draft sections of the document and edit and incorporate all of the comments and revisions to produce the first characterization standards for biochar that is used in soil or for carbon sequestration. I learned a lot through this process and really appreciate that opportunity. What we emphasized throughout is that there is no need for a single standard for biochar materials. Rather, biochar should be “fit for purpose” so the goal is to characterize it by specifying properties and the relevant testing standards so that the end user knows what the material is and how it will react to their end use. This is crucial because otherwise biochar is just a “black box”!  And we all know now that all biochars are not the same. Characterization with reliable testing standards is crucial.

SP:The Ring of Fire Kiln is a significant innovation. Could you walk us through the design philosophy behind it and explain how it makes biochar production more accessible and efficient, especially for smaller-scale users?

KW: The Ring of Fire Kiln design was based on the Moki Kilns from Japan. We had very little information about these kilns, only just a picture of the shallow cone-shaped container that was called a “smokeless carbonizer.” I was intrigued and had one made, but it took me a bit to figure out how to use it. I had been playing around a lot with TLUD gasifiers, so I had some experience with gasificationGasification is a high-temperature, thermochemical process that converts carbon-based materials into a gaseous fuel called syngas and solid by-products. It takes place in an oxygen-deficient environment at temperatures typically above 750°C. Unlike combustion, which fully burns material to produce heat and carbon dioxide (CO2​), gasification More and that is essentially how a flame cap kiln works. The difference is that instead of filling up a container and running air through the material as you do in a natural draft TLUD, you continually load more material into the flame cap kiln and allow all the air to come from above, gasifying one layer at a time until the entire container is full of char.

This makes biochar production affordable for anyone. It also allows you to make large quantities of biochar, quickly and efficiently. This is in contrast to batch retort kilns or even oil drum barrel TLUDs. I started with a pyramid shaped kiln with a volume of one cubic meter called the Oregon Kiln, and then upgraded to the cylindrical Ring of Fire Kiln with a volume of 4 cubic meters. We can make 2 cubic meters of biochar in the Ring of Fire Kiln in about 5 hours if we have good dry wood that is correctly sized for the kiln.

SP:Your work spans from homestead applications to large-scale forest restoration. What are the key differences in approaching biochar production and application at these vastly different scales?

KW: It is all the same really because it is modular. You take the same basic process, whether you are on a farm or in the woods, and whether it is a kiln or an open pile, and you just replicate it. The equipment cost of a kiln is minimal. The expense is always the labor. We can get certain efficiencies by proper planning and staging of feedstocks, but the work is loading, feeding and quenching and that is hand work. Yes, we can use bigger machines like air curtain burners, but we pay a price in biochar conversion efficiency. An air curtain burner only converts about 5% of the biomassBiomass is a complex biological organic or non-organic solid product derived from living or recently living organism and available naturally. Various types of wastes such as animal manure, waste paper, sludge and many industrial wastes are also treated as biomass because like natural biomass these More to biochar. We can do better than that in a conservation burn pile – a burn pile optimized for biochar production. It’s really all about the distribution of the biomass feedstockFeedstock refers to the raw organic material used to produce biochar. This can include a wide range of materials, such as wood chips, agricultural residues, and animal manure. More. We don’t want to have to gather it up and move it very far because that costs money. Once you put it on a truck, in many cases, it makes more sense to take it to a biomass power plant where you can use it in energy generation, rather than try to process it further on site. It depends on how far away the biomass power plant is.

SP:With your background in mechanical engineering and renewable energy, how do you see biochar fitting into the broader picture of climate change mitigation and sustainable resource management?

KW: Where biomass waste is generated close to industrial facilities, it ought to be used to make energy and biochar. We have a 30MW power plant in my region that does this – Biomass One. They sell Rogue Biochar and it is excellent quality biochar. But they draw all of their feedstock from a small radius around them, mostly urban green waste and sawmill waste. As I said above, transportation distances make utilization of most forest biomass uneconomic. But that’s ok because it is better to keep that carbon in the forest as biochar to help restore soil health and water holding capacityWater holding capacity is the amount of water that soil can retain. Biochar can significantly increase the water holding capacity of soil, improving its ability to withstand drought conditions and support plant growth.   More for forest regeneration. Forests and their contribution to hydrological cycles are crucial for maintaining climate stability.

I also support development of more Combined Heat and Biochar (CHAB) facilities that are smaller than the large electrical energy generators that are grid-tied. Small biomass powerplants are not economical due to interconnect challenges and other factors of scale. However, smaller facilities located closer to biomass sources can provide thermal energy to heat rural schools and hospitals, for example, as well as biochar.

SP:You’ve recently published ‘The Biochar Handbook.’ What’s the most crucial piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting their biochar journey, and what’s the most common misconception you’ve encountered?

KW: For someone who wants to make and use their own biochar, my advice is to start small and simple and then do a lot of your own experiments. I give you a lot of ideas in the book on how to do that. You need to work with what you have, which includes the feedstocks you have, the other organic ingredients you have to compost with biochar (food waste, manure, etc), the soils you have, and the plants you want to grow. Make some biochar. Compost it. Do pot trials with your biochar compost and learn what the best application rates are. These are simple experiments that don’t cost a lot money to do, but you will learn a lot.

I think the most common misconception is that biochar is one thing and there is a best application rate. It’s not, and there isn’t. That said, there are some general guidelines in my book that will help you get started.

SP:You’re passionate about ‘Biochar in the Woods.’ Could you explain the unique challenges and opportunities of using biochar for forest restoration, particularly in mitigating wildfire risks and enhancing soil health?

KW: The first biochar I ever used in my garden came from forest burn piles. I live in the woods in Oregon and have been through many forest fires nearby. I was evacuated from my home for 3 weeks in 2020, so I take wildfire very seriously. Also, previous to my involvement with biochar, I was a forest protection advocate. All throughout the 1990s, I worked for a forest protection group that was involved in biodiversity mapping and policy work to protect forest ecosystems. I am increasingly interested in positioning biochar as just one tool in a larger toolbox for regenerating and repairing ecosystems. Working together with native cultural burning practitioners and prescribed fire groups is producing some amazing results.

Soil moisture turns out to be a critical factor in forest health, fire risk, and hydrological cycles. By channelizing streams and flows, we are no longer spreading and sinking water into the soil. Biochar of course can help with infiltration and water holding capacity, so it should be a key component of ecosystem regeneration projects. I would like to see more research and monitoring on the impact of biochar on soil moisture and water cycles.

SP:You’ve been involved in training veterans and community groups in biochar production. What’s the most rewarding aspect of sharing your knowledge and empowering others to adopt sustainable practices?

KW: I have worked a lot with fire crews and forestry contractors. Not everyone does well in an indoor job. Lots of these folks are veterans. Some are recovering from substance abuse and other kinds of trauma. Making biochar is fun and rewarding and people who do it love being outdoors, working with other people, helping and supporting each other to do an important job. It is really great to see how excited forestry workers get about doing something that heals the land. I find that making biochar appeals to many different kinds of people, from wealthy homeowners concerned about fire risk, to idealistic environmentalists, to farmers, to families and kids. One of my favorite things is the biochar camps we have done to introduce teenagers to forestry careers. Biochar is a great topic for STEM education.

SP: You’ve been working on biochar for a long time. What innovations in biochar are you most excited to see in the next 5-10 years?

KW: There are a lot of aspects to biochar, and I know there are many new high-tech developments in materials science and biochar but those are not my focus. I would like to see more progress in affordable CHAB units that could be deployed in many, many locations to provide heat energy and biochar to communities for greater self-reliance and independence from fossil fuels. This is not high-tech stuff, but there is still very good work to do and perhaps some innovations in refractory materials and burner design that would optimize syngasSyngas, or synthesis gas, is a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. It is produced during gasification and can be used as a fuel source or as a feedstock for producing other chemicals and fuels.   More combustion. Affordability will be key.

SP:How do you see the role of biochar in the future of agriculture, especially in the context of increasing climate variability and the need for more resilient food systems?

KW: Biochar has huge implications for agriculture and food security. There are a lot of politics and vested interests in agribusiness, so it is very difficult to change entrenched and (currently) profitable practices. Unfortunately, it seems like people will only turn to biochar when there is no other option. I recently wrote a piece “How to Make BIG Money with Biochar” that models the ROI on repairing degraded ag land with biochar. That’s one pathway. The other way is to keep making the case for using biochar on farms, convincing one farmer at a time through marketing and innovations in biochar-fertilizer products. I also think that the biggest breakthroughs will come when agriculture itself changes to become re-integrated with livestock production. The synergies and savings that come from combining biochar with manure are incredibly beneficial. This is returning to the old ways of farming and it makes total sense. The first chapter of The Biochar Handbook looks at some of the history of these practices. Biochar and manure were combined in many Asian cultures, as well as in nineteenth century European and American agriculture.

SP:The Ring of Fire Kiln is designed for low smoke production. What are the key engineering principles that contribute to this, and how important is this for environmental sustainability?

KW: The Ring of Fire Kiln uses counter-flow combustion. All of the air for combustion comes from above the container. This causes much of the smoke to burn in the flame before it can escape. The heat shield also helps the process by holding more heat in the kiln and creating an envelope of pre-heated air above the kiln to improve combustion efficiency. We don’t have a lot of data on emissions as of yet, but what we do have indicates that we are much cleaner than an open burn pile, emitting half the CO2, around half the particulates, and only a small fraction of the methane.

SP:You’ve had a diverse career, from writing to consulting to inventing. What advice do you have for individuals who want to pursue a career in sustainable technology and environmental stewardship?

KW: Follow your heart! Listen to your instincts about what is right and wrong and work on what is important to you. Be open to changing your ideas about things. I have changed my ideas many times. It’s ok to get something wrong. If you can admit you were wrong, that means you can learn. The biggest problem we have in the world today is people getting stuck in wrong ideas and conceptions about the world with so much ego attachment that they cannot change. Listen to others with an open mind. Sometimes even the people you don’t like can be right about something.

SP: Kelpie, ‘Ring of Fire’—the name itself evokes powerful imagery. Was there a specific inspiration behind this name for your kiln, and for your outreach, and what deeper significance does it hold for you in relation to biochar’s transformative potential? It seems to carry a dimension of poetry and philosophy. Considering your deep connection with biochar, would you be willing to share a short, impromptu ode to biochar, perhaps capturing its essence and its role in healing the earth?

KW: It’s a very catchy song by Johnny Cash. A classic! I just love the first line of the song. I even printed it on a T-shirt:

Love – It’s a Burning Thing.

For the readers of Biochar Today, the publications and biochar related initiatives of Kelpie Wilson can be tracked at her linked profile : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelpiewilson and google scholar profile:https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JxxSkM8AAAAJ&hl=en