hOW TO GET INVOLVED
Whilst most of the focus is on rushes, other currently unutilised biomass streams such as bracken, furze and hazel will also form part of the project workload. Other biomass streams will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
This pilot project is located in East Clare and will utilise a mobile pyrolysis unit (MPU) which has been custom-built here in Ireland and towed by a tractor to visit sites - this will place some restrictions on potential locations. It also limits the geographical area we can cover.
If you are located in east Clare /Sliabh Aughty region, we are interested in any rushes, furze or bracken material you may have. Please contact us if you have access to bracken or furze outside this area, in particular in Connemara: [email protected]
This pilot project is located in East Clare and will utilise a mobile pyrolysis unit (MPU) which has been custom-built here in Ireland and towed by a tractor to visit sites - this will place some restrictions on potential locations. It also limits the geographical area we can cover.
If you are located in east Clare /Sliabh Aughty region, we are interested in any rushes, furze or bracken material you may have. Please contact us if you have access to bracken or furze outside this area, in particular in Connemara: [email protected]
HOW IT WORKS
- Ideally we need round bales of rushes, saved in a similar fashion to hay i.e., it must be dry and stored dry.
- A yard suitable for a large trailer (25ft +) with a tractor and front loader to work in is also required.
- Bales should be easily accessible to this tractor and loader, i.e. not down a muddy field under a hedge, but within meters of where the MPU can be setup.
We will load the bales into a chopper and from there to a pyrolysis chamber where they will be converted into biochar.
The biochar will be allowed to cool and then stored in bulk bags for later use.
Biochar can be used on the farm to add to slurry tanks, dung heaps or directly to land via a fertilizer spreader.
Our aim is to demonstrate how this waste biomass stream can have a distinct economic value and how it can also be used to improve farm management practices.
Our ultimate purpose is to increase the sustainability of farming practices in our region.
How does the farmer benefit?
- Receive €11 per dry bale of rushes and have the opportunity to keep and use the biochar on their farm.
- Be part of the solution to carbon emissions in agriculture, by locking up carbon from the rushes and improving soil fertility via the application of the biochar to your own farm land.
- Biochar can act as a liming agent in soils and when added to slurry tanks can improve the quality of the slurry and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the slurry tank.
- Reduce the need for:
- weed licking with Glyphosate
- overall spraying with MCPA
- mulching
- cutting and baling