The ‘Pilzkohle’ project – PIKO for short – focuses on converting the growth produced by paludiculture into biochar, and on using this paludiculture biochar as a covering medium for the cultivation of button mushrooms.

At present, black peat is still the main component of the growing medium. As peat extraction has severely negative consequences for biodiversity and the climate (release of greenhouse gases such as CO₂) and, in accordance with the German Government’s peat reduction strategy, the proportion of peat in the growing medium is to be gradually reduced, alternatives to peat are needed. This is where the PIKO project comes in, as we are testing the use of biochar as a growing medium. To this end, various growth products from so-called paludiculture are converted into biochar using two methods: pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC). Following chemical and physical analyses of the biochar in the laboratory, the biochar will be used both individually and in mixtures, with or without compost, as topsoil in laboratory-scale oyster mushroom cultivation trials to test the extent to which it is suitable as a substitute for peat. These findings will then be tested under real-world conditions with the help of our project partners Pilzland and Griendsveen.

Image: Mushroom cultivation at project partner Pilzland. The mushrooms growing from the dark-coloured growing medium are clearly visible. Photo: M. Röhrdanz

Project duration: 07/2026 to 06/2028

This project is funded by the European Social Fund Plus / European Regional Development Fund.
www.europa-fuer-niedersachsen.de