Izmir Metropolitan Municipality has signed yet another exemplary environmental project for Turkey. A facility was established to convert vegetable wastes from parks and gardens into biochar. 15 tons of biochar per month obtained at the facility will be used as a soil conditioner, and carbon emissions will decrease thanks to the nature-friendly facility.
Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç SoyerAnother environmental project that will set an example for Turkey has started in İzmir in line with the '2050' carbon policy in the city until 0, to bring waste into the economy by using it as raw material. The Metropolitan Municipality, which converts plant wastes into organic fertilizer at the facility established in Çiğli Harmandalı and is preparing to establish an organic fertilizer facility in Bornova, put into service the first and largest mass production biochar facility in Turkey with its capacity at the construction site of the Parks and Gardens Department in Konak. took. Thanks to the use of biochar produced at the facility, the emission of 75 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted by a vehicle along a 15 kilometer road will be prevented.
15 tons of coal per month
At the facility, which started production, the organic wastes obtained from the pruned trees are converted into biochar without removing carbon dioxide after the thermal decomposition (pyrolysis) process at 500 degrees in an oxygen-free environment in approximately one and a half hours. Biochar, obtained through a nature-friendly recycling method, will be used as a soil conditioner in afforestation areas, parks and gardens where soil conditions are bad in the coming days. Biochar will contribute significantly to the protection of the environment and nature by reducing the emission of carbon dioxide gas that causes global warming. The facility has the capacity to produce 15 tons of biochar per month.
“The air and the land are getting better”
Providing information on the benefits of biochar, Bilal Kaya, a Senior Agricultural Engineer at Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Parks and Gardens Department, stated that this practice improves both the soil and the air. Bilal Kaya said, “In a world where carbon emissions are increasing day by day, biochar preserves carbon. The carbon content of an organic material is between 40-50 percent, while the carbon content of biochar is between 70 and 80 percent. In other words, we do not release carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. We trap the carbon in the material, inside the material. This is how we give carbon to the soil. In other words, the carbon content in the soil is increasing. Carbon storage capacity is increasing. Thus, microorganisms in the soil use carbon as an energy source. In this way, the biological activity of the soil increases.”
“Healthy for plant and soil”
Stating that the biochar obtained at the facility, which operates with a capacity of 20 kilograms per hour, will be used as a soil conditioner in afforestation areas, parks and gardens where soil conditions are bad, Kaya said, “In regions where we use biochar, the water holding capacity of the soil increases. The amount of water used in parks and gardens in the next irrigation season is thus reduced. When the amount of carbon in the soil increases, a healthier environment is created for the plant and the soil. Fertilization is also done from time to time in parks and gardens. It prevents the mineral fertilizers from being washed away from the soil. While organic fertilizer stays in the soil for a few years, the permanence of biochar varies between five hundred and a thousand years. Kaya stated that they can also convert animal manure into biochar at the facility when necessary, and that they also meet the demands from public institutions and universities at the facility.
The EU's highest budget grant program
Within the scope of HORIZON 2020, the highest budget grant program of the European Union, the “Nature Based Solutions” project of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality was selected among 39 international projects and was entitled to receive a grant of 2,3 million Euros. Continuous Feed Biochar Production System was also implemented within the scope of this project. It is aimed to grow various agricultural products with biochar obtained from vineyard, garden and pruning wastes, and to use biochar in park arrangements designed by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. With the biochar used in the parks sequestering the carbon in the soil, it is aimed to reduce the carbon emissions in the city centers and to increase the soil productivity.
What is biochar?
Biochar is a product with high carbon and mineral content by obtaining organic materials by being exposed to high temperature in an oxygen-free environment.
The source of both organic fertilizer and biochar is organic waste. Persistence of organic fertilizer in the soil is 1-3 years. Organic fertilizer containing plant nutrients in the form of fertilizer acts directly on the soil and feeds the plants in the soil better than biochar. Although biochar is weak in terms of plant nutrients, its persistence in the soil varies between 500-1000 years.
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