Peter Reinhardt

Biomass Markets Could Finance Great Plains Aquifer Recharge

Charm founder Peter Reinhardt argues that water scarcity in the Great Plains is partly a restoration-finance problem: invasive trees and shrubs consume water and block aquifer recharge, but land managers lack a market to pay for their removal. His proposed solution is to turn unwanted biomass into biochar and bio-oil—the latter akin to the liquid-smoke flavoring associated with barbecue sauce—and use the revenue to fund invasive clearing and wetland restoration. Reinhardt says the model could return water to the Ogallala aquifer while improving soils, air quality and carbon storage.