A visiting United States advocate of biochar says closed-loop production systems can eliminate waste, improve energy efficiency and the business bottom line.

"Closed loop systems, that's what I'm really energised about," says Kathleen Draper.

Listen Duration: 6 minutes 28 seconds 6 m Listen Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Kathleen Draper is director of the Finger Lakes Biochar in the US Download 3 MB

"On farms there are tonnes of different ways you can produce it, [and] use the heat and the biochar."

The self-styled 'bioCHARista' and 'CHARector' at Ithaka Institute for Carbon Intelligence in the Finger Lakes district of the United States is visiting Tasmania in the wake of the Mullumbimby Bio-charfest, an event held in northern News South Wales early in September.

"I'm most interested in producing the biochar where the biomass exists, and then using the biochar as close to that as possible," says Ms Draper.

She says a number of Tasmanian rural businesses are researching closed-loop biochar production models, to eliminate waste and improve their energy efficiency and their bottom line.

Ms Draper says biochar uses range from simple biochar soil conditioners, to 3-D printing with the carbon and even biochar-impregnated paper.

"So I call it 'CHARdboard'", she said,

"It was made with varying degrees of biochar, made in this case from coffee chaff.

"What I think is most interesting is that once you've use it up, you can easily toss it in your compost bin.

"It doesn't need to degrade like biodegradable paper because it is biochar, which doesn't degrade.

"But it helps absorb toxins, it provides the carbon content and even it you send it to the landfill, it's going to provide a net benefit.

"So we're talking about all the different things you can do with biochar, from the soil uses to the non-soil uses.

"From biochar paper, that we're just experimenting with now as a very bio-upgradable, sustainable packaging material, to biochar plaster and different soil and water treatment uses."

Biochar advocate, Frank Strie is using a range of woody waste to fire up his KON-TIKI-TAS deep cone kiln ( Frank Strie )

Ms Draper says US engineer, Dr Behrokh Koshnevis has invented and developed very large 3-D printers capable of using biochar and other biological materials.

She says after talking with Dr Koshnevis at Mullumbimby she's confident biochar from recycled waste is the best feedstock for the new technology.

"3-D printing is one of those transformational technologies." she said.

"But if it is not managed with the right kind of materials, we're just going to add more and more to our landfill.

"The last thing we need is more plastic.

"So the idea of using something that can be produced locally will really set places like Tasmania on a self-sufficiency course.

"You can print what ever you want using biochar and 3-D technology.

"From small scale to furniture to printers.

"And at the end of the life span of those objects you could just put them in your soil.

"And that's the way we need to be thinking."