BRI Biochar Program Puerto Rico for Bamboo Biomass and Flood mitigation. 5-Train Pyrolyzer Delivered January 2023.
The BRi Program received Carbon Pre-CORCS (Carbon Offsets Payments) from Zurich Insurance through GECA and Puro.earth (the NASDAQ registered exchanges) for over $300K.
In Puerto Rico, the weather can be very damaging to bamboo forests and settlements which grow along waterways and roadsides. Sometimes, fallen and broken bamboo even cause blockages in rivers. This can lead to flooding, erosion and other problems for local communities and the environment. The BioRestorative Ideas project in Puerto Rico will transform fallen, broken and problematic bamboo into Biochar while creating about 20 high-quality local jobs.
The project should transform about 13,000 mTons of bamboo into 3000 mTons of Biochar annually. The project will collect the bamboo, process it and sequester carbon through its transformation, right on the island. The resulting Biochar will be used in different applications, including to better soils, in materials and in agriculture. The project is not going to use plantation bamboo, only residues which have to be managed by local authorities. Generally, this bamboo is burnt on site or exported to be burnt.
As a second phase of the project, BRi intends to transform biomass residues that are unusable following hurricanes and tropical storms which are devastating for the island. This will allow the population to generate energy, producing Biochar which can help with poor soils, while cleaning up the community.