Douglas County is set to operate the first county-run biochar facility in the nation after the county Planning Commission approved the project’s location and extent application. The $8 million facility is expected to open in September in Sedalia.
“It was a huge opportunity to acquire this site,” Dan Roberts, assistant director of Douglas County Public Works Operations, said at the Monday meeting.
Once operational, the facility will process roughly 10,000 tons of wood annually into biochar, a carbon-rich material primarily used to improve soil and water quality. County officials said the facility will increase capacity to process woody debris as forest restoration and wildfire mitigation efforts continue to grow…