Despite being a native species, eastern redcedars are causing problems for Oklahoma’s ecosystems. The trees have spread quickly over the last 50 years and use up water in areas without adequate supply.
Redcedar removal has been discussed in the state legislature for several years. In a recent interim study led by Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, lawmakers learned the thirsty trees could be given a new life as biochar. The material is made by heating trees, plants or agricultural waste to change their physical and chemical makeup.
University of Oklahoma professor Lori Han directs the Han Nature-Based Solutions Lab, which studies biochar. The remade material can improve soil, she said, and has been used for thousands of years. The process became less popular with the invention of chemical fertilizers but has recently moved back into the mainstream.
Han said multiple studies show the material can remove contaminants like heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” from water. Biochar can also help with carbon storage.
It could also have potential use for some of Oklahoma’s thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells. Orphan wells can contaminate soil or groundwater and emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
“Biochar can be used on abandoned oil drilling sites containing soils contaminated by [petroleum hydrocarbons,] and this includes things like spills and leaks of fuel and oil that have occurred on the site during years of industrial activity,” she said.
Still, Han said there are challenges like scaling up biochar operations, making sure products are consistent and gauging interest from investors and consumers.
Eric Perner is the chief operating officer of Tulsa-based Rebellion Energy Solutions. The company plugs orphan wells and remediates the surrounding area. Perner said many of the sites are covered with redcedar. In some cases, removing them has allowed native plants to thrive.
“The potential to restore ecosystems and biodiversity and increase land value are just tremendous from what I have seen,” he said.
Adding biochar to cement used to plug orphan wells, Perner said, could improve the integrity of the blockage.
“That not only helps us plug the well, but really acts as a tremendous barrier so that methane doesn't seep to the surface again,” he said.
The state has an existing redcedar removal program headed by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. The cost-share program was created after the 2023 Terry Peach Watershed Restoration Act was signed into law.
Matt Chandler, founder and CEO of company Infinite Eco, said building on the state program by converting those removed trees into biochar could be an economic opportunity.
“It's a great program and it's already had a lot of success in mitigating a lot of the eastern redcedars,” he said. “But as we know, this is a Dust Bowl-sized problem. It is a very large one, so it takes a lot of different efforts to try to get there and make a complete full solution.”
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