MIRAIA’s Garlin biochar project – joint report by Biofuelwatch and Forêts Vivantes Pyrénées
Executive Summary
The start-up company MIRAIA wants to build six or seven pyrolysis plants to produce biochar as well as bio-oil (which can be used in some heating appliances) and electricity. It is proposing to build its first commercial-scale plant in the town of Garlin, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Department in southern France by 2026. For that, MIRAIA plans to use 135,000 tonnes of wood every year, of which, according to information they shared at a consultation meeting, 70% would be roundwood, supplied by France’s largest forestry cooperative and company, Alliance Forêt Bois. According to investigations by the French NGO Canopée, Alliance Forêt Bois’s forestry model consists of clearcutting biodiverse forests and then planting conifer monocultures.
As discussed in this briefing, there are many open questions about the impact which adding biochar has on soil carbon in different circumstances. However, even if one assumes that a large share of the carbon it contains will remain stable in soil over long periods, this does not make biochar produced from trees from clearcut biodiverse forests climate friendly. Forest ecosystems, after all, play a vital role in regulating the climate by storing and sequestering carbon and helping regulate the water cycle as well as the local climate.
Finally, the briefing highlights the fact that biochar, depending on feedstock and production methods, can contain different toxins, but that there are no regulations to prevent such toxins from being introduced into soils and, potentially, food crops.