‘Karrikins’ for a sustainable future

Karrikins is the new name scientists at the University of Western Australia use
to describe a family of compounds they’ve discovered that stimulate plant growth. Derived from the Noongar word Karrik, meaning smoke, it is a name that Professor Kingsley Dixon from Kings Park in WA believes is appropriate.

“This new name recognises that the scientific discovery was made on Noongar Land and it reflects the importance of fire and smoke to plant ecology and the Aboriginal culture.” For me this brilliant name is a reminder of how wisdom from Indigenous cultures, both here and internationally, can guide us towards a truly sustainable future.

I first became aware of the amazing attributes of biochar (charcoal) when I visited Cuba. A newspaper article I came across showed that European scientists had discovered that the local technique of using bowls of charcoal in hospitals absorbed airborne toxins and viruses almost like a magnet. This blew my mind and it was the start of my biochar journey.

I have experimented with it ever since and through this journey I’ve met some brilliant humans (who probably should be writing this very piece). About 15 years ago I read about Russell Burnett, who studied and worked as a food technologist then turned to life on the land; first dairy, then large-scale irrigated cropping. His observations in the field of healthier and higher crop densities after the burning to char of dead trees led him to ultimately give farming away and dedicate the rest of his life to all things biochar. Building and exporting pyrolysis machines to universities in the U.S. and Europe all from Bendigo in Victoria, Russell’s endless research, trials and experimentation led him to become one of the world’s experts on the practical possibilities this technology can offer.

Biochar’s Greenhouse legacy

Russell and I first worked together on the original no-waste eco-house project at Federation Square, Melbourne in 2008. The Greenhouse had a 120-tonne rooftop food garden and incorporated a tonne of biochar in its soils.

It wasn’t until years later that I saw the true value of this product. The growing bins used on the rooftop were moved to my farm after the demonstration house was dismantled and were left completely neglected. Amazingly, the gardens thrived with biochar’s water-holding capacity becoming clear in the heat of the following summer.

Even after three years with no attention, I could see it was the ultimate slow-release fertiliser and soil stimulant. We used it in the Perth Greenhouse, even using biochar Russell had made from the pips of olives used in the restaurant’s pizzas. In 2011, I flew to China with 30 kilos of biochar where, in a factory, I blended the material into magnesium oxide sheets for the Sydney Greenhouse, as I believed our building materials could be designed to absorb pollution.

For the 2012 Greenhouse we used biochar to print ‘It’s all about the soil!’ onto staff t-shirts. For the Future Food System in 2020 we collected all the sawdust from the build and gave it to Russell, who then turned it into almost 2,000 kilos of biochar. Most of this was blended into vertical and roof top gardens, but 300 kilos went into the walls, floor and ceiling, impregnating the straw panels so they would forever absorb toxins and pollution – an idea that’s about to be scientifically tested by the CSIRO.

One gram of this incredible material has the surface area of a tennis court, which is almost impossible to comprehend and one of the reasons why it is so remarkable, especially in soil.

Air is the most crucial element, not only for us, but for complex soil biology. Biochar is a long-lasting housing complex for soil biology. The compounds it releases have been shown to also help mycelium (fungal threads that bind and feed soil) thrive.

Through extensive research, especially in the last 10 years, it’s clear that seeds, moss, algae, plants and trees all thrive where biochar is used.

Waste: a failure of imagination

If we can appreciate the energy potential of organic ‘waste’ by first fermenting it into ethanol and methane whilst also using pyrolysis to create biochar and build soils, I believe that future generations will thank us.

We now know that biochar is utilised by many cultures across the globe including Terra Preta in the Amazon and Karrikins here in Australia. Through the careful use of fire and biochar preparation, these Indigenous cultures ‘created’ biologically rich and stable soils, using charcoal to improve nutrient absorption, forest regeneration and water-holding capacity of the soil. There’s much for us to learn from them.

Written by Joost Bakker, florist, designer and waste warrior.