UK’s largest biochar facility set to open in Wiltshire

The new site, said to be the largest of its kind in the UK, will be run by climate tech firm A Healthier Earth, a subsidiary of Pure Data Centres Group. Operations will see A Healthier Earth using pyrolysis on local organic waste, converting it into biochar by heating it to over 500°C in the absence of oxygen. As well as sequestering carbon for thousands of years, biochar can also be used to improve soil health and as an additive to construction materials. 

When it ramps up to full capacity over the coming years, the site will produce 9,000 tonnes of biochar annually, correlating to up to 17,000 tonnes of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. According to A Healthier Earth, this will enable it to sell ‘high-integrity biochar carbon credits’ to industries looking to offset their energy use, including the data centre sector of its parent company.

“Biochar has the potential to have a huge impact in tackling climate change, but it currently isn’t being sufficiently scaled to reach it,” said Alastair Collier, chief R&D officer at A Healthier Earth.