Some useful resources relevant to the Transition Town Vincent (TTV) My Healthy Soils Project including program logic, guidelines, papers, and videos.
Project
Newsletters
Information
Guideline Planting fruit trees with biochar and compost
Guidelines – Operation of the Top Lit Updraft TLUD Biochar Oven V2
Biochar Workshop Flyer NPCG v2
Biochar for Community Gardens Booklet August 2024
Soil health
Get the Soil Health app from the app store
Presentation – Plant Soil Relationships by Professor Lyn Abbott
Soils are Alive videos (although developed for agriculture principles are applicable to urban soils too)
Mapping
National Map – Organic Soil Carbon in the top 0-30cm
Other projects
Biochar for sustainable soils (B4SS)
Papers
Francis, J. (2013) Re-imagining our Cities as Carbon Sinks
Antti Kinnunen et al (2022) Carbon sequestration and storage potential of urban residential environment – A review
Mari Ariluoma et al (2024) Optimizing the co-benefits of biodiversity and carbon sinks in urban residential yards
Joseph et al. (2022) How biochar works, and when it doesn’t: A review of mechanisms controlling soil and plant responses to biochar
Other publications
Joseph, S. and Taylor, P. (2024) A farmer’s guide to the production, use and application of biochar
Jeff Cox (2019) Gardening with Biochar – Supercharge your soil with bioactivated charcoal. Storey Publishing.
Videos
What is biochar – A very good, short (2 minutes) introduction to the features and benefits of biochar.
The Secret of El Dorado (Horizon 2002) Discovery of Terra Preta – short version – This is a short, 15 minute version of the BBC Horizon documentary of 2002 which inspired the biochar movement and a generation of soil scientists. Essentially it is about the Terra Preta soils, the richest and most extensive man-made soils in the world.
The Secret Of Eldorado (Horizon 2002)- TERRA PRETA – The original, long version (48 minutes) of the BBC Horizon documentary.
Agrichar documentary only – This 10 minute video was made in about 2007 and features Professor Tim Flannery advocating strongly for the use of biochar and pyrolysis to mitigate climate change.
The Biochar for Sustainable Soils (B4SS) Project – Another short (3 minutes 20 seconds) video with good graphics and animation to explain the features and benefits of biochar.
Stockholm Biochar Project – Made in 2015, this short 3 minute video provides a good introduction to the Mayors Challenge and the associated Stockholm Biochar Project and in particular the process of engagement with citizens of the City of Stockholm.
Mattias Gustafsson on the Stockholm Biochar project – A presentation of the Stockholm Biochar Project by the project manager.
Björn Embrén | “Porosity With Stone Biochar and Compost” | FVPK – Also a presentation on biochar but this time by Bjorn Embren the Stockholm parks manager who introduced the use of biochar to improve the health and canopy cover of urban street trees back in 2008.
An Artist, A scientist and a Farmer Walk Into a Bar series and is called Falling in Love with Carbon: – a great little video which focuses on a Landcare project which uses art to communicate the features and benefits of biochar.
Rob Hopkins and Staffan Lindberg about biochar and the environment – I like this video because it features Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Towns movement, explaining how he is using biochar to offset his travel.
Workshops
Workshop: Biochar for Community Gardens, 17th August 2024
My Healthy Soils Information Products
Videos
Making Biochar with the Top Lit Up-draft Biochar Oven
Making Biochar in the Weber Family Q
Information resources for specific topics
Stormwater management
Biochar and stormwater management video prepared by International Biochar Initiative (IBI)