The Government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, visited on Tuesday the facilities of Coal Emergente, a company located in the municipality of Escalante and a pioneer in the production of biochar, an innovative technology for soil regeneration and the fight against climate change.
Emerging Coal is the second plant of these characteristics in Spain, positioning itself as a national reference in circular bioeconomy and decarbonization.
During the visit, the delegate congratulated its founders, the mechanical engineer Sebastián Shrady and the French agronomist Morgan Thomas, for betting on the Cantabrian rural environment as the basis of their project, highlighting its “vision, environmental commitment and capacity for innovation”.
This company is dedicated to producing biochar, which is a type of charcoal that is obtained from pruning residues, or agricultural or forest residues.
Instead of burning these wastes or letting them lose, they are transformed into a material that is incorporated into the earth. This has two great benefits: it improves the quality of the soil to be cultivated and, at the same time, helps to capture and store carbon, since biochar acts as a sink and can remain in the soil for centuries, thus contributing to the mitigation of climate change.
Its promoters explain that this product, also known as biocoal, can also be used as a food additive in livestock farming, since it significantly improves the digestion and hygiene of animals.
The production of biochar is done through the technique of pyrolysis, which does not use fossil fuels and also produces renewable energy.
"It is a very intelligent and natural way to turn a problem - waste - into a solution to regenerate soils and contribute to the sustainability of the planet. And they are doing it from here, from Cantabria," said Gómez de Diego.
Support from the Government of Spain
The delegate has transferred the support of the Government of Spain to initiatives such as this one, which “generate green employment, fix population in rural areas and contribute to achieving national and European climate objectives”. In particular, the project has approved a grant of 266,000 euros financed from the European funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
"The Government of Spain wants to show our support for this type of projects that combine economic development, green employment and care for the environment. This is the direction we are heading in: a more sustainable economy, more circular and more committed to the future of our generations," he said.
Likewise, Gómez de Diego thanked the promoters of the project "for choosing Cantabria to develop an innovative activity in the environmental and energy sector" and wished them "the greatest successes".
Coal Emergent
The company Coal Emergente is a Spanish startup founded in 2020, specialized in circular bioeconomy and decarbonization solutions through the production of biochar. Its headquarters are located in Escalante.
The plant, which has successfully completed its installation phase, is completing the previous tests and plans to start the production and marketing of biochar soon.
Biochar is a charcoal obtained through a process of pyrolysis of organic waste, which when incorporated into the soil improves its structure and fertility, while acting as a long-lasting carbon sink.