22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY FEBRUARY 5-11, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com shipping container, the carbonator is mobile, moving on tank-like treads. Manufactured in 2020 by Tigercat Industries Inc., the unit was purchased gently used by Ventana Forestry for about $500,000. A new unit today costs closer to $1 million. “There’s a lot of different types of kilns or plants that make biochar,” Dunkell says. “But there are very few mobile kilns of this size.” Inside the machine, materials are allowed to burn, or smolder, without fully burning. Historically, biochar has been made using all kinds of organic materials, called feedstock, from various types of wood to excess waste from crops. Nut shells, rice husks, tree trimmings and even waste from breweries or food production are all common feedstocks that have been used to make biochar. Indigenous communities would make biochar by filling shallow pits with wood, bones and leaves before lighting the feedstock and then covering it with soil or clay, a method that’s still used today by some farmers. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several days to make biochar, depending on the feedstock, how moist the material is and how well the oxygen is controlled. The carbonator works a similar way, just at a faster speed and at a higher capacity. Along the side of the carbonator, Dunkell points to two metal components—augers—which help move the rich charcoal material through the machine and out into a pile. “The machine needs to have a constant water source flowing to it to cool the charcoal down,” Dunkell says. “In the absence of oxygen it gets really hot, turning it into glowing red hot coals. then has to be quenched.” Funding for the project, which budgets out to roughly $45,000 per acre to remove the eucalyptus grove and operate the machinery, comes from a patchwork of sources. Cal Fire has provided assistance by helping fund the eucalyptus grove removal as part of wildfire resilience efforts. Through grants and private donations, the Elkhorn Slough Foundation helps support the research on biochar and land restoration. Under contract, ESF paid roughly $60,000 to the Ventana Forestry for use of the carbonator. To continue this work, Dunkell says ESF is slated to receive funding from a $71 million grant administered through the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation as part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The grant, awarded in October 2024 to a group of organizations in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, supports projects that improve coastal resilience against wildfire, drought and other climate change impacts. The research conducted by CSUMB is funded by a $66,000 grant from the CSU Agricultural Research Institute, aimed at testing the biochar’s effectiveness on conserving soil and improving crop yields. “It’s relatively low-cost work,” Jani says, noting that a bulk of that cost went toward getting started. He estimates the cost to continue this work averages around $5,000 per year. “Processing the biomass directly in the forest is far more beneficial to the environment, eliminating the need to transport material to landfills and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Nason said. “Teaming up with the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and CSUMB strengthens this work, bringing science, stewardship and land management together to protect native habitat and support the conversion of non-native forests back to native oak woodlands and greater plant diversity.” A t Brothers Ranch, Jani walks the sandy plot, pointing out small colored flags marking different biochar-to-compost treatments. He and a group of students have completed one planting season with ornamental sunflowers, though no significant impacts were observed in the first year. That’s to be expected—the real insight will come after several years of data collection to see how the mixtures transform the sand into nutritious soils. Testing involves mixing the biochar with certified organic compost from Tri-County Landscape Supply at a ratio of 80-percent compost to 20-percent biochar. The treatments compare plots with no amendments, compost only, and varying application rates of the compost-biochar blend. Over time, the research will not only track soil fertility and moisture retention, but also crop performance and nitrogen uptake. Something unique about the use of biochar, Jani adds, is that it’s not a material farmers will have to keep applying. In other words, there is such a thing as too much, and their research will look at when adding the biochar has reached its maximum benefit. “If we can show that after applying biochar for three or four years there’s no added benefit from continuing,” Jani says, “that’s valuable information. It means growers can invest confidently—and know when to stop.” In Monterey County, certain crops like strawberries are well recognized for having issues with runoff during storms and heavy rain events due to their use of plastic. Jani’s work with ESF aims to generate long-term data that can guide farmers toward more efficient practices. And eucalyptus, aside from its fire risk, can significantly disrupt ecosystems when left to grow unchecked. Ramping up local production of biochar, with clear guidance on how it should be used on farms, could serve a dual purpose: creating a local closedloop system, while utilizing a tree that negatively impacts species diversity and local water tables. “When we started all this, it was like, what do we do?” says Ross Robertson, Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s communications director. “We want to remove the eucalyptus because they’re bad for the ecosystem, and we’re going to pay for that. But if biochar could eventually prove to have economic worth as a soil amendment for these particular soils, it’s a dream scenario of being able to do forest restoration and ecosystem restoration that also helps fund farm sustainability projects.” The biochar produced by the carbonator is slightly moist. The machine uses approximately 3-5 gallons of water per minute of water to cool the newly produced material from its operating temperature of 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s conservation director, Dash Dunkell, is leading efforts to convert biomass from eucalyptus grove removal projects into biochar, which will then be tested as a soil amendment to be used by local growers. THE REAL INSIGHT WILL COME AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF DATA COLLECTION TO SEE HOW THE MIXTURES TRANSFORM THE SAND INTO NUTRITIOUS SOILS.
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