Who we are

Christina and Bodie established their individual businesses around 12 years ago; one gardening focussed (FIMBY) and one timber focussed (Dovetail Timbers) and connected through a shared set of values around environmental protection, sustainable resource use, and circular economies.

The New Black Biochar project emerged from their conversations, and was kick started by a crowd funding campaign in 2017 which raised funds for the purchase of some of the equipment needed to bring their vision to life.

At Bodie’s sawmill site in Glen Huon, process engineer James Fox has been designing and building the ‘tri-generation plant’ that turns sawdust into biochar. James’ long experience in combustion and pyrolysis technology has been crucial to creating the machine from a combination of recycled and newly made parts. As well as help from Bodie’s team, James has included UTAS engineering students in the process, to give them an opportunity to apply their skills to real life project.

Christina

An agricultural scientist with a long standing interest in Regenerative Agriculture. Christina heard about biochar many years ago, and became interested in its potential benefits in home gardening with her FIMBY gardening customers. The opportunity to sequester carbon from waste streams, while providing soil and plant (and human) health benefits led her to making biochar in pit kilns for use in her own garden and with customers.

Bodie

A mechanical engineer who owns a sustainability-driven sawmill operation. Bodie has been looking for ways to keep ‘closing the loop’ in his timber business. He mills second grade timber to make cabins, garden beds and chicken coops, and was aiming to find a way to use the waste from his operation to create heat energy for kiln drying timber. The biochar opportunity not only satisfies his ethos of circular economy systems, but presents an interesting technical challenge with rewards for endless tinkering.

James

A process engineer with long experience in combustion systems such as sawdust kilns and coffee roasters. James believes that ‘junk engineering’ is a noble pursuit, where second hand machinery can find a new life when repurposed with meticulous design input. James has given many engineering undergraduates a chance to work on real life projects such as The New Black Biochar kiln – and their experience translates to confidence and capacity as they enter the work force.