Organizational Update:
Since our founding in late 2019, C6 has worked to advance our mission of reducing the risk of extreme wildfire in the Pacific Northwest by advancing forest health.
This spring our team has completed and shared the results of our feasibility study on the viability of biochar production in Chelan County and made all of its findings available on our website. With those deliverables complete, C6 will cease operations as of May, 2024.
Feasibility Study:
If you want to learn more, we encourage you to read our feasibility study, it provides an assessment of the resources and planning required for a profitable biochar production facility. We hope the resources we’re sharing support another organization, whether a private company or nonprofit, in building and sustainably operating a biochar production facility in the region. We are proud of the progress we have made alongside our partners and the community. And we are grateful to all the individuals and organizations who have supported our mission and work. Thank you, the C6 Team!
Resource
Description
1. Feasibility Study
(PDF)
Feasibility study to assess the potential for a new class of high-value forest products to energize wildfire risk reduction in Chelan County.
Summary of our feasibility study that was shared with key stakeholders including Chelan County, and USFS. The presentation includes helpful animation, so we suggest it is viewed in slide show mode.
Additional Resources
3. Risk Log
(Google Sheets)
A list of risks we identified for the operation, rated based on likelihood and multiple consequence areas. You’re welcome to make a copy of the view-only document.
A high-level description of the process flow and unit operations that the facility could include.
5. System Requirements List
(Google Sheets)
A starter list of facility requirements, including derivations from biochar carbon standards and multiple code agencies. You’re welcome to make a copy of the view-only document.
A description of the physics included in the mass & energy flows built into the Engineering Model workbook, with particular focus on the “Mfg. X” reactor.
A description of the physics included in the mass & energy flows built into the Engineering Model workbook, with particular focus on the Combind reactor.
8. Engineering Model
(Google Sheets)
Includes mass & energy balance models for each system configuration. You’re welcome to make a copy of the view-only document.
9. System CAD
(online CAD client)
View-only CAD showing a few of the latest overall layout configurations in context of the Winton mill site. Basic equipment only – electricity generation and bioliquids capture not included.
10. Pilot Financial Model
(Excel)
Working financial model for 9 different biochar plant configurations designed and analyzed by C6 for a 15 year operating life. Can be useful for understanding impact of changing assumptions. See the “Pilot Financial Dashboards” file for summaries of existing configurations. Please refer to the “content” tab to understand file structure and the “FAQ” tab. Highly recommend downloading this excel file vs. viewing it as a google sheet file.
Financial dashboards for 9 different biochar plants configurations designed and analyzed by C6 for a 15 year operating life. Please refer to the “content” tab to understand file structure. Highly recommend downloading this excel file vs. viewing it as a google sheet file.
12. Pilot Analyses
(Excel)
Financial analysis for a number of different plant related investments. For example, are there higher returns for electricity generation or selling liquids. Recommend downloading this excel file vs. viewing it as a google sheet file.
A summary of our customer return on investment analysis. Summarizes the use case we analyzed, the questions we tried to address and the results we found.
14. Biochar Customer ROI
(Excel)
An estimate of customer return on investment from using co-compost (compost + biochar) vs. traditional compost application.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) for our planned pilot biochar plant completed by CORRIM (certified environmental consultants) and the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Science. This analysis estimates how much carbon, after deducting all our operational emissions, our pilot biochar plant would sequester.
A summary of the findings by a partner undergraduate chemical engineering capstone team on the potential uses for the pyrolysis vapor stream.
If you have questions about these resources, please contact us at [email protected]. Former C6 team members will keep an eye out for your email, and get back to you as soon as they can.