Biochar highlights 2011. The year at Biochar Project.
Some might call him a maverick, others a genius, but Northern Rivers identity Dolph Cooke is passionate about sustainable living and biochar—and in the last 12 months has shown that he is a man of action. Some (but by no means all) of his achievements in the last 12 months include:
Maverick or Genius ?
Biochar Highlights from Biochar project kunghur 2011
- Forming The Biochar Association of Australia, and Biochar Industries—and securing the ‘Hill of Abundance’ 3000 acre forest site at Kunghur as a base.
- Constructing the first commercial Adam retort biochar kiln in Australia, and making it available for community use. (It is also the first in the western world.)
- Holding community talks on biochar, and creating Biochar Action Learning Circles.
- Receiving the United Nations Millennium Project Award 2011-2012 (Australasian Node)—for the Biochar Project’s sustainable education program.
- Being awarded a commonwealth Government grant for the Biochar Project’s sustainable community ‘Weeds-out, carbon-in’ initiative.
- Setting up the ‘Hill of Abundance Project’—the goal being food security for 500 families.
- Hosting sustainable living working bees on site, ranging from swale-making to crop planting to compost making to biochar production to constructing buildings.
- Formalising plans for an organic compost site and biochar production facility for community use on Kyogle Road, Kunghur.
- Making biochar from ‘The Hill of Abundance’ available commercially, and marketing TLUD units (Top Lit Up Draft Gasifier) that make biochar and double as a cooking stove.
With this groundwork in place, 2012 looks even more action-packed. If you want to get involved or know what’s going on, log in to http://biocharproject.org/news and get on to the mailing list.
Sustainable living and social responsibility are the hot issues for 2012, and Dolph is a hands-on trail-blazer with a knack for turning big ideas into practical reality. Watch this man!
Biochar Highlights brought to you by the letters D and B and the number 1
