Despite the enthusiasm, experts said data on biochar is scarce and estimates on the size of the market in South Africa vary widely, potentially due to different classifications of what constitutes biochar.
Romain Pirard, an environmental economist at the School for Climate Studies at Stellenbosch University, said to his knowledge there is “no centralisation of information or any sort of policy specific to biochar”.
Finding willing customers is also a challenge for the promotion of biochar, said Phipps.
“Farmers are extremely cost-sensitive, and if there’s anything that increases the cost, it damages the sales potential,” he said.
Pirard said subsidies to incentivise farmers to use biochar in place of chemical fertilisers, and using invasive alien trees as a form of biomass, could help biochar “take off”.
The department of environmental affairs, the predecessor to the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment, said in a 2015 report that “consideration could be given by government to subsidising” small biochar businesses. The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment did not immediately respond to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s request for a comment.
Despite showing potential as a green job creator, attempts to create a biochar association to centralise data and information on initiatives have not led anywhere, and the feasibility of the sector “remains to be demonstrated”, Pirard said.
However, Phipps is adamant they are on to something big, if more finance arrives.
He said: “From my children’s perspective, I want to leave behind a legacy, something positive that gave back rather than extracted wealth from the world.”
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