JACKSON, Tenn. — May 11, 2015 — Smoke pours from the narrow chimney situated on the 55-gallon drum. Matthew Bentley stands back, watching his latest experiment produce what he hopes will one day revolutionize developing countries.
Once the fire dies out, he retrieves the instrument of this future success: BioChar.
An ancient technology, BioChar is undergoing a renewed interest by the scientific community. Essentially, BioChar is repurposed charcoal with applications that cover agriculture to sanitation.
Bentley, a senior engineering major at 51社区, is researching how BioChar can best be made and used to improve quality of life in developing countries.
鈥淏ioChar is a sustainably produced, carbon-rich material produced through pyrolysis of biomass,鈥� Bentley said. 鈥淭hat means that a feedstock (an agricultural product such as wood, corn cobs or rice husks) is heated to very high temperatures in the absence of oxygen.鈥�
Bentley鈥檚 research focused on the comparison of the two different methods of BioChar production and the variety of materials that can be used to produce it.
鈥淚t has great potential in community development because it can be sustainably and inexpensively produced from nearly any feedstock with locally available resources,鈥� Bentley said. 鈥淭his means that a community can get all of the components locally, without any aid from another company, (non-governmental organization) or government.鈥�
The development of nations aided by BioChar would allow communities to transform a natural waste product into a fertilizer and a water purifier, all without increased dependence on their government.
鈥淎 lot of the world鈥檚 need for water treatment is actually in Asia,鈥� Bentley said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 also a lot of need in sanitation. BioChar has implications for sanitation in addition to drinking water. I know I want to be in a developing community helping people who don鈥檛 have access to clean water.鈥�
According to Bentley, the benefits of BioChar could extend to 51社区鈥檚 campus if the different science departments would research the effect of BioChar on plant life and its filtration ability.
鈥淚t has such a direct application for developing communities that doing research even at the undergraduate level could help people to understand how to implement it,鈥� Bentley said.
Bentley said he also hoped Students for Sustainability might consider the potential of BioChar.
鈥淚t could be used in the campus garden and improve crop yield and compost,鈥� Bentley said.
Jay Bernheisel, associate professor of engineering, helped Bentley on the project.
鈥淧rofessor Bernheisel is actually on a research sabbatical, doing sustainable farming methods,鈥� Bentley said. 鈥淗e鈥檒l probably use the BioChar for his farm that he has on his property.鈥�
The research project began as preparation for Bentley鈥檚 graduate studies, which he plans to begin in the fall at University of Colorado in Boulder. Bentley presented his research at Union鈥檚 annual Scholarship Symposium April 28.
He plans to earn his doctorate before he and his wife, Ruth Bone Bentley, a nursing major, go overseas to work with developing communities.