technology
Rooted in Responsibility and Driven by Innovation
By 2050 the world population is expected to reach 9.8 billion. That’s 9.8 billion people requiring food and energy. 9.8 billion people producing trash and waste. How do we balance economic progress with environmental preservation? This is a serious question that humanity has been grappling with over the past 50 years.
Welcome to the dawn of the bioeconomy.
The bioeconomy is a hot topic for policymakers right now, but in reality, it’s not a new concept at all. It refers to economic activity derived from the use of biological material to produce goods, services, and energy. Think agriculture and forestry. However, the current system is not sustainable as its practices contribute nearly ¼ of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. It’s also of the leading culprits in pollution, degraded soil, deforestation, and water scarcity.
Recent technological advancements like machine learning and AI are harmonizing science with soil production resulting in bio-based solutions that can meaningfully address some of the largest economic, environmental, and societal challenges we face.
Northeastern Biochar is focused on building a sustainability movement where waste is not wasted, ensuring a healthy environment for generations to come. Here’s how. Where Science Meets Soil
The charcoal in biochar acts as a sponge helping the soil soak in and retain nutrients while improving the overall soil structure.
Soil that is amended with biochar increases waterholding capacity and lowers soil bulk density allowing roots to easily move and grow. This leads to healthy root systems and higher plant yields. Higher yields produce more food which, in turn, create more biomass residue to start the process all over again.
Northeastern Biochar processes all forms of biomass resources including human, agricultural, animal, and forest waste to produce the next-generation of engineered biomaterials. Our patented thermal-treatment process enables the production of engineered biochar that can be utilized as a soil amenity.
A pivotal agent in climate-smart agriculture, biochar sequesters approximately 50% of source carbon compared to composting (10-20%) and combustion (3%), adding it back into the soil or surface and ground waters to be used as nutrient instead of releasing into the atmosphere. Applying biochar to the soil not only provides an environment for essential microbes and fungi to thrive, but also separates CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil for hundreds to thousands of years.
Our industrial grade, high capacity technology solution provides final and thorough treatment of organic waste materials via a fully enclosed, continuous feed system.
Biosolids are first received in negative air pressure enclosed buildings which utilize such technologies as Regenerative Thermal Oxidization (RTO) or BioBed Filtration for odor elimination. Incoming waste materials must already be “dewatered” to a water content of approximately 75%.
In the first stage of treatment, waste materials pass through a reverse-flow rotary drier for dehydration. Water reclaimed from the first stage is captured and cleaned for release into a sanitary sewer system or can be further cleaned for permitted release into a surface water body. High efficiency cyclone collector is used in conjunction with high capacity fans for control of exhaust gasses.
Following the dehydration process, materials flow a rotary thermal treatment reactor (TTR) to temperatures exceeding 500oF in an oxygen starved environment (pyrolysis), generating energy-rich gases and a very clean, hard and stable material (Biochar). Volatile organic compounds and heat released in the thermal treatment process are captured and recycled into the fuel and heating system to be used as energy to maintain reactor heat. Following drier reactor startup procedures, with the correct mix of biosolid and dry wood or paper waste, our system is capable of achieving an “auto-thermal” continuous operating state, such that use of outside fuel is minimally or no longer needed during periods normal operation. The energy efficiency of this carbon-negative solution is unparalleled.
“Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.”