Boulder County’s local grants will Improve farming and decrease wildfire risks
Boulder County, CO — Five projects have been awarded grants from Boulder County’s newly launched Climate Innovation Fund. Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action & Resilience (OSCAR) created the fund in early 2022 to encourage innovation and provide seed capital for cutting-edge technologies that fight climate change locally through nature-based solutions, carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and landscape restoration and resilience. Through a competitive application process, OSCAR received a total request of nearly $2 million in funding.
“The enormity of the global climate crisis can feel overwhelming, especially as we continue to experience the breadth of its impacts right here in Colorado,” said OSCAR Director Susie Strife. “Now, more than ever, we need innovative solutions and Boulder County is committed to supporting cutting-edge science and emerging technologies working to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. These grant recipients are local climate innovators who are generating opportunities to combat climate change in our community.”
A panel of 17 national and local experts — including Colorado State University Soil Carbon Solutions Center Director Dr. Jane Zelikova and Carbon Direct Chief Scientist Dr. Daniel Sanchez — selected five ground-breaking projects for funding. The recipients are Biochar Now, Boulder Watershed Collective, Drylands Agroecology Research, Ollin Farms, and Takachar.
“Congratulations to all of the recipients of Boulder County’s first-ever Climate Innovation Fund grants,” said Commissioner Marta Loachamin. “We need to kickstart fresh ideas and creative solutions to tackle the climate crisis and these grant recipients will do that locally. Grounding innovation and technology development through a place-based approach can advance equity and amplify outcomes that respond best to our community’s needs, which is why the county selected projects that will have positive local impacts and community co-benefits. We look forward to seeing this work make a difference right here in Boulder County and we also look forward to sharing what we learn with our community and with innovators and scientists around the world.”
Selected projects:
Biochar Now, Berthoud, CO: $100,000 — Biochar Now will use their grant to mobilize their biochar production equipment, which will allow greater access to remote locations where waste wood is found. This waste wood is used as feedstock for their patented biochar production process. Biochar Now has already been removing charred trees from landscapes impacted by the Marshall Fire, CalFire, and Cameron Peak Fire. This project will reduce wildfire risk by removing excess fuel, in the form of woody debris, from Boulder County’s wildland–urban interface.
Boulder Watershed Collective, Boulder, CO: $100,000 ($50,000 will be provided City of Boulder’s Climate Initiatives team) — In collaboration with Grama Grass & Livestock and Boulder Mushroom, the Boulder Watershed Collective will inoculate wood chips with native mycelium to transform excess woody biomass into activated organic matter. This process occurs when wood is digested by fungal enzymes, creating activated organic matter that can be applied to degraded land to improve carbon sequestration, watershed resilience, eco-system resiliency, and biodiversity. This project will reduce fire risk through the removal of excess wood debris, while also regenerating soils to increase agricultural productivity and forest health
Drylands Agroecology Research, Longmont CO: $100,000 — Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR), in partnership with Britton, Yellow Barn, and Metacarbon Farms, will transform dry, degraded landscapes into agro-ecosystems with increased biodiversity and improved soil carbon sequestration. This project will implement dryland agroforestry practices to build water harvesting earthworks that catch and distribute rainfall, making it possible for trees to be integrated into regeneratively grazed pasture. This integration of diverse tree and grassland ecosystems has the potential to sequester the maximum amount of carbon possible for semi-arid climates, while also supporting enhanced fire resilience, biodiversity, water retention, soil health, and agricultural productivity. Results from DAR’s initial pilot study on 14 acres of land resulted in a 200% increase in soil organic matter and an 85% survival rate of 950 fruit and nurse trees with no irrigation.
This funding will be used to scale this work to 100 acres by digging of 30,000 feet of contour swales, planting 18,000 trees and shrubs, and seeding diverse native grasses and forbs in advance of rotational grazing. Data collected from this project will be critical in understanding the potential for carbon sequestration in these systems and while also helping develop models for scaling beyond the county
Ollin Farms, Longmont, CO: $90,000 — Ollin Farms will use their grant to expand carbon farming and regenerative practices on the 135-acre Henry Laber Open Space parcel. This project will broaden carbon farming and agroforestry research efforts onto additional fields, expand composting operations, and facilitate detailed carbon analysis over a 5-year research period. This project will stack regenerative farming practices on irrigated and dryland agricultural fields with the goal of increasing topsoil. One focus area of this project’s on-farm research is carbon cycling, which converts waste streams into inputs that can quickly revert into soil.
Takachar, Boston, MA: $150,000 — Takachar, winners of a 2021 Earthshot Prize, will demonstrate a small-scale, portable prototype for on-site conversion of trees killed by the mountain pine beetle into a higher-value, carbon-negative biochar-based fertilizer blend. Takachar will work closely with Boulder-area farms, including Ollin Farms and DAR at Elk Run Farm, to illustrate the technoeconomic and carbon removal feasibility of Takachar’s technology. By tailoring this work to Boulder County’s unique community needs, Takachar hopes to drive the adoption of decentralized biochar production on local farms. This project aims to benefit rural, underserved communities by supporting a decentralized network of self-sufficient bio-based carbon economies that restore marginal drylands.
