Via Cordis Wire:
The multi-talented biochar is one of the world's fastest growing research topics. The 1st International Biochar Summer School “bio:char crossroads”, September 9 to 16, Potsdam 2012, offers excellent young scientists from around the world a valuable means of information exchange and professional development.

ReChar started a Kickstarter project funding:
Black Revolution is a soilless growth media for plants containing biochar, coconut husk and compost. Biochar is a charcoal soil amendment made from waste that improves nutrient retention, offsets CO2 and has the potential to help feed our growing planet. Black Revolution is the world's first carbon-negative replacement for soil made entirely from waste. It's lighter than traditional soil, so it works great in rooftop or urban environments. The potting soil and chemical fertilizer industries are traditionally some of the most environmentally destructive in the world.

Chemical fertilizers require massive amounts of fossil fuels and pollute our rivers and streams. Potting soils contain peat moss and vermiculite: non-renewable resources mined from endangered areas around the world.

The U.S. State Department announced:
The United States continues to be deeply concerned by the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa, and particularly the hard-hit Somali population. Despite the end of famine conditions in February, nearly 10 million people in the region still require humanitarian assistance. For this reason, the United States Government is providing an additional nearly $50 million in aid for refugees and drought-affected communities in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya in addition to what we have already provided.

The Guardian writes:
There has been a huge effort to phase out the use of peat by both amateur and professional gardeners. Defra has been at the forefront, with support from B&Q. So it is surprising that B&Q is increasing the use of peat this year and more so given that it is a member of the Horticultural Trades Association's Growing Media Initiative and ran its own peat-free campaign last year.

By Dr Adriana Downie for Eco Generation magazine March/April 2012.

Pacific Pyrolysis (PacPyro) has been offered $4.5 million by the Victorian Government to pilot a commercial-scale production facility in Melbourne. The project will demonstrate PacPyro’s proprietary technology’s ability to deliver a solution for urban green and wood waste by converting it into renewable electricity and biochar.

You can buy now "Biochar action T-Shirts" with glow in the dark effect. This is a pretty cool idea to spread the message about this high potential soil amendment and to support the Biochar Earth Network!

Available through Europe and United States Spreadshirt (see links below).

Eliza Barclay from NPR writes:
You've probably heard of compost – that thick chocolate-colored stuff that's an organic gardener's best friend and supplies plants with all kinds of succulent nutrients.

But what about biochar? It's another ancient farming material made from slow-burned wood (also known as charcoal) that holds nutrients and water into soil without them draining away. And lately it has enjoyed a certain revival because it can also pull and store the carbon in greenhouse gases from the air. Everyone from California grape growers to home gardeners on YouTube is trying it out.

From PR Web: Worm condos. Terra Preta. Black Gold. Whatever it’s called, healthy soil is the most important tool in successful gardening. With the new Soil Reef™ blend being launched this spring, gardeners can create a healthy, organic and permanent home for beneficial organisms living in the soil.

The new blend combines OMRI-listed compost and worm castings from Organic Mechanics® with biochar, adding a unique porous carbon to the soil to create a habitat for life to thrive. How does it work? Soil Reef creates a network of nearly permanent, natural carbon structures throughout your soil, which hold onto water and nutrients, and create homes for microorganisms.