About Us & Contact

the Biochar Journal is published by the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Intelligence

Europe: Rue de l'Ancienne Eglise 9, CH-1974 Arbaz, Switzerland, phone: ++41 27 398.12.92
USA: 142 County Road 9, Victor, NY 14564 USA

email: tbj@ithaka-institut.org

Editors

Kathleen Draper

After a decades long career in the consulting industry working on projects around the globe, Kathleen obtained a Masters in Managing for Sustainability and is now focused on designing closed loop systems which upcycle waste into value added, bio-beneficial products. She is heading the US branch of the Ithaka Institute running biochar projects with Cornell University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Kathleen writes the famous Finger Lake Blog where plenty of biochar ideas were and are born. Her main interest and expertise is biochar product design and education.

Hans-Peter Schmidt

Hans-Peter initiated with his Mythopia vineyard the movement of carbon positive winegrowing with high biodiversity. He pioneered the use of biochar-substrates in winegrowing and established in 2007 the first biochar field trial in Europe. Subsequently, he founded the Ithaka Institute for carbon intelligence in Valais (Switzerland) developing concepts for the remediation of agro-ecosystems and carbon sequestration through agronomic methods. He is behind the concept of biochars cascading application in animal farming and developed biochar feed products for livestock, biochar manure treatment and bedding materials. He guided the development of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC). In 2012 he initiated the Carbon Intelligent City (CIC) project and started to create biochar based building materials like insulating plasters, light weight bricks and fire retardant panels.

Contributing Editor

Ronal W. Larson (policy)

Ron is a writer/editor, retired Professor (Georgia Tech, EE) and government lab Principal Scientist (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). He has been active in biomass policy (since 1995) as the coordinator of the Google “Stoves” list and (since 2005) of the Yahoo “Biochar” list. He helped organize and still serves on the board of the US Biochar Initiative (USBI), is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of USBI’s parent group, the International Biochar Initiative (IBI), and has attended nine biochar conferences (helping organize all five in the US). His biochar policy interests stem from being in the first (1973-75) class of AAAS Congressional Fellows, having served as a USAID Chief-of-Party in Sudan, having helped form three Colorado renewable energy NGOs, and being board chair of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).

Kelpie Wilson (technology)

Kelpie is a writer and a mechanical engineer who has worked in the biochar field since 2007. She was a project developer and writer for the International Biochar Initiative (from 2008-2012) and now works as a consultant with the US Ithaka Institute and with her company Wilson Biochar Associates. Previous to her biochar involvement, she was the environmental editor at Truthout.org, and she accepts freelance writing assignments for consumer and industry magazines. She has worked in the solar PV industry and for a startup doing R&D on Stirling cycle engines. She has been a tree hugger, an auto mechanic and a science fiction author, and has lived off-grid in the Oregon woods since 1990, getting almost all of her power from solar PV and small hydro. Have a look at her valuable backyard biochar website with many low budget biochar production devices developed by Kelpie & others.

Sofware System Design

Andy Behrendt: object4, Berlin (Germany)

the Biochar Journal is a publication of

Ithaka Institute for Carbon Strategies

Switzerland (international office)

Ancienne Eglise 9, CH-1974 Arbaz
phone ++41 27 398 12 92
info(at)ithaka-institut.org

USA

142 County Road 9
Victor, NY 14564 USA
us(at)ithaka-institut.org

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