With the help of a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Western Excelsior Corp. is busy developing a prototype to turn by-product from its erosion-control products into biochar, a wood-based charcoal that has the ability to strengthen local agriculture by improving soil quality.

Biochar production could also aid in reducing airborne particulates, one of the biggest headaches for neighbors of the Mancos mill.

Biochar is a charcoal produced by heating organic materials like wood and fiber by-product, to extreme temperatures in the absence of oxygen.

At its Mancos mill, the company produces erosion and sediment control products ranging from mulch to straw wattles. The production of biochar will allow Western Excelsior to put that waste to use while reducing the dust and particulate problem, management says.

"This is a great thing for us, the by-product has historically been a cost, so if we can do something more productive with it and not have to haul it, we're always ahead," said Kyle Hanson, business unit manager for Western Excelsior in Mancos. "The production (of biochar) should also contain the movement of all of this material to right where it's collected. We've had issues with particulates, and this is going to be a huge change to that."

Uses for biochar could be huge locally. The product's roots as a soil amendment date to pre-Columbian Amazonians, who scholars say used it to improve soil quality in the rainforest. It's essentially a tool to increase agricultural productivity in areas with severely depleted soils, scarce organic resources, and inadequate water supply.

"It does neat things in terms of creating micro-climates and acidic soils, and buffering of soil pH," said Hanson. "If you have alkaline soils like around here, you can make the biochar slightly acidic before you put it down. ... It makes plants respond to more neutral conditions and helps increase moisture.

Because of its ability to fortify depleted soil, biochar also has the ability to be used as a mine reclamation tool, he said.

The company is working with a Silverton soil scientist on conducting field testing using Western Excelsior's biochar.

"The grant really is paying for us to develop current technology and develop prototypes with the idea of having full scale production by 2016-2017," said Hanson.