The company Kiland, formerly Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers, announced plans to convert its 4.5 million tonnes of fire-damaged timber into about 900,000 tonnes of biochar.
The statement to Australian Stock Exchange on June 16, Kiland said a trial process was to commence for its "carbon removal project" .
One key point being that its "board believes biochar production may offer Kiland a significant opportunity for monetisation via potential production of approximately 1.8 million Carbon Removal Certificates".
The company announced a preferred partnership with Biocare Projects for the process expected to take between six and 10 years.
"Any biochar production is expected to be complementary to Kiland's existing land development activities on Kangaroo Island, and has the potential to offset a material development cost of Kiland's reversion activities through an additional revenue opportunity," the statement reads.
"Biochar is a stable form of carbon made from biomass that can endure in soil for hundreds to thousands of years. Biochar is considered a permanent store, making it an ideal technology for scalable carbon removal. Biochar is produced through pyrolysis, which is a process of burning biomass in a low oxygen environment.
"Kiland's existing reversion strategy requires the harvesting and stacking of biomass. Once the biomass has been harvested, Kiland intends to undertake the pyrolysis of fire-damaged trees via an 'in-field' production process to produce biochar.
"Kiland's project partners have undertaken preliminary trials of this 'in-field' process and Kiland intend to undertake a larger scale trial in the coming six months to confirm anticipated biochar from biomass yields."
Plan reaction
The company identified by Kiland in its ASX announcement is different than the biochar company that received $2.7 million in Black Summer federal funding.
New World Climate & Agriculture general manager Melissa Rebbeck said the Kiland announcement did not impact its plans as "we aim to work with private landholders".
The Care 4 Kingscote group meanwhile welcomed the announcement but would continued its call for the KI Council to rescind the lease to T-Ports for the planned woodchip and timber stockpile at Ten Trees and North Coast roads.
While group members were optimistic the biochar proposal would negate the need for woodchip trucks through town, they wanted peace of mind of the lease being rescinded.
State member Leon Bignell has advocated for on-site biochar treatment rather than trucking material through towns.
"I think it's a brilliant idea and if biochar can be produced on the scale required to process all the timber on Kangaroo Island then it would tick so many boxes," he said.
The Islander has also sought comment from T-Ports.
Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
