Home Business Ideas

So, in the preceding two posts I outlined a plan for a biochar-based home business. Remember, this is premium product you are producing, if you want to make money price it accordingly. Consider giving free samples of your biochar-enriched mulched soil for people to try out — maybe a small pot with some easily grown flowering plants in it.

For the charcoal, some people prize charcoal made from particular wood — claiming it makes better steaks or burns hotter, etc. This is mostly nonsense, but if you have a premium wood available, why argue with them? Texans, for example, think Mesquite wood charcoal makes better steaks than regular charcoal. In fact, of course, any aromatic oils that might make Mesquite wood fragrant, would be burned off in the charcoal-making process. Similarly, Hickory charcoal is favored in some areas. In both these cases, the wood itself may indeed have constituents that make the smoke impart a distinct flavor to meat, but that characteristic is not present in the charcoal.

And speaking of charcoal — do not mistake charcoal briquettes for real charcoal. Those uniform little cubes they sell are made of coal, sawdust, binders and other ingredients and are NOT suitable for making biochar, even if you wanted to go to all the trouble of grinding them up fine to make them into a powder.

Also, speaking of sawdust — that can be a great source for making biochar, so long as it comes from untreated wood. If you have a carpenter nearby who will give or sell you his sawdust, fine; just be sure he does not cut pressure-treated wood or wood composites (like plywood or fiber-board). The same goes for wood chips, though they can be a little more difficult to pulverize after carbonization, depending on their size.

Finally, let me plug another biochar site, this one my own — it is a brand new blog called Biochar and Fertilization — not much in it yet, but come join us and follow the developments.