In course of the residue analysis, Austrian Partner BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Solutions tested Nutshells from Nussland. Nussland offers different products made from walnuts. The eatable part of a walnut is only 1/3 of the whole nut, while the rest is considered as a residue. Walnut shells can be used for energy production , for instance they can be combusted to produce heat. This is already implemented at Nussland, but the company produces much more shells than needed to cover the heat demand. Therefore, the conversion of the shells into products with a high value, such as biochar, is highly interesting to the company. “Within the Alps4GreenC project, we are looking forward to knowing the composition and properties of the biochar produced from our walnuts, as this will be the starting point to develop ideas on the possible uses of biochar. A detailed knowledge of the biochar as a material is necessary to uncover ideas that were not imagined before.” so Julia Taubinger and Marcus Schindelegger from Nussland.
