Climate Kiln

Jason mixes biochar into topsoil with farmers in Musamba village, in Bungoma, prepping a biochar test plot.

re:char’s Climate Kiln is a small pyrolysis system capable of generating biochar or fuel charcoal. We are currently engaged in a pilot in East Africa to evaluate biochar for use with 1-2 acre farmers. With the help of our Kenyan Outreach Coordinator, Salim Mayeki, re:char has been able to reach over 750 farmers in 30 villages in Kenya’s Western District.

Jason and Salim work with volunteers to load the climate kiln.

Small-holder farmers in rural Kenya spend more than half their annual incomes on traditional fertilizers, and they are experiencing diminishing returns. These chemicals are derived through energy-intensive processes using finite stores of nitrogen, phosphorus, and fossil fuels. The production, distribution, and use of traditional fertilizers is at a high cost, both to farmers and to the environment.The farmers we work with in Kenya are not strangers to climate change–with delayed rains in 2011, farmers are feeling the heat.

Not only are the fertilizers detrimental to the environment and farmers’ wallets, but the ammonia in these fertilizers actually leads to acidification and thinning of agricultural soils over time.

re:char offers farmers an alternative to expensive, dirty fertilizers. Our biochar systems enable farmers to actually generate their own biochar using their crop waste. The biochar not only improves crop yields by holding on to water and nutrients, but it even improves soil quality by bringing pH back to healthy levels, undoing the damages caused by prolonged fertilizer use. Through our outreach efforts and education, re:char and our partners on the ground have been able to demonstrate the efficacy of biochar and organic compost while saving farmers a great deal of money. Our climate kilns enable farmers to produce their own soil amendment using their waste, ensuring them food security and supplementary income. Best of all, these farmers help to combat global climate change. Our farmers have experienced up to 200% improvement over traditional fertilizers in as little as one planting season!

A biochar test plot (left) as compared to traditional fertilizer (right) at Stoyek's farm in Lukhuna, Kenya

Email orders@re-char.com to get your very own back-yard climate kiln. Now, every kiln purchased in the USA will fund the distribution of a climate kiln to a farmer in need in Kenya!