June 24-27 – “Biochar Expo” at the Italian Pavilion and the Faculty of Agriculture in Milan
Prof. Johannes Lehmann (Cornell University, NY, USA) is an American scientist among the first to propose the use of charcoal (biochar) from an environmental perspective. The author of the now landmark article that appeared in Naturein 2007, which illustrated the ability of this material to“sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide” , will hold its popular lecture in the Italian Pavilion of Expo 2015 in the early afternoon of Wednesday, June 24. More than 180 participants have already registered through the CNR x EXPO website. Among them are many farmers, industrialists, technicians, students, politicians and administrators, as well as many simply curious people.
But let’s take a look at a few small highlights. Biochar is a product derived from the thermochemical transformation in the absence of oxygen of any type of plant or animal biomass such as, for example, various types of waste from agricultural production. It can be produced in many ways, from small stoves for heating or cooking to large gasification plants, through a process called pyrolysis . A chemical-physical process that generates a combustible gas and a residue, very similar to common “charcoal,” called biochar. In addition to trapping within itself theCO2 originally absorbed by plants, biochar improves the quality of the soil where it is used; often making farmland more productive and helping plants better supply themselves with water and nutrients. But it can also become a food and cosmetic ingredient if properly processed.
In the United States, biochar is already sold as a soil conditioner for agriculture in a booming market. In some European nations-Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Switzerland-its use is permitted albeit in different ways. In Italy its status is still, but hopefully for a short time, that of waste. “In fact, in 2012 the Italian Biochar Association (ICHAR) submitted an application to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to include it in the list of soil improvers allowed in agriculture. The application process was long and complex, but the positive outcome is now a matter of a short time,” explains Anita Maienza, researcher at the Institute of Biometeorology of the National Research Council (CNR Ibimet). And while waiting for the Ministry’s decision, it will be the group headed by Franco Miglietta – the first scholar in Italy to deal with this issue – that will coordinate Biochar EXPO, an event organized to enable students, citizens and consumers to familiarize themselves with this product and its potential applications. On the agenda are an afternoon of talks and music in the Italian Pavilion, with the opportunity to speak and ask questions via Twitter as well. Then a three-day exhibition with free admission in the gardens of the Faculty of Agriculture in Via Celoria, also in Milan (Città Studi), where 20 international exhibitors will converge.
Exhibitors will be divided into three categories: Agriculture – Energy – Other Uses, giving rise to seminars and workshops dedicated to the topic. Free access !!! A documentary will also be screened that will look at a future without fossil fuels – Reinventing Fire, based on Amory B. Lovins’ book of the same name – and a competition for pyrolytic stoves will be held, in which efficiency, performance, temperature and creativity in the design of different models will be evaluated.
Biochar_EXPO2015 Twitter – @CNR Biochar
Event coordinator: Franco Miglietta – 3209223931
CNRxEXPO Communication – 3393247255
Biochar EXPO Organizing Secretariat: [email protected] – 0553033711
