The Terra-preta Trailer

Roaming Old Tree brewing platform


The Terra-preta trailer is a hotplate, brewing and cooking platform designed to capture the as much of the heat as possible from the charcoal making process.

Capable of transforming any end-of-life dry wood into hot water, cooked food and Biochar - without smoke!! This is a closed loop food and drinks platform that is in service for the provision of outdoor hot and cold drinks, carbon-negative cooking and roaming brewing workshops.

Terra–preta means "Black Earth", which describes the soil created by ancient human civilizations - the Inca's & the Mayans. These civilization's used controlled fires in and around forest environments in which they lived, to get rid of all wastes – animal remains and fecal matter, combined with all wood and plant surpluses. The way in which they did this created the most fertile man-made soils on the planet.

The material they created is called 'Bio-char' today and is being pioneered by the UK company Carbon gold who make excellent horticultural products that radically improve soil for plants and trees to thrive. 

Bio-char is charcoal that makes a safe habitat for bacteria and fungi populations (out of reach from predators) to thrive. Mychorrizal Fungi and other beneficial bacteria can then collaborate with plants – providing them with minerals and other nutrients in exchange for sugars the plants feed them from photosynthesis, this process also builds soil itself. 

The idea for using the vast heat energy created by the charcoal making process was inspired by Ed Revell and his project Soil Carbon Regeneration. We had the idea for a brewery powered by the technology Ed was innovating the farming practices for - a brewery that stored carbon through its fueling process, and could create another material that could be used to make the earth better. We found funding by virtue of the Blackbird Fund and inspiration of the late Adrienne Campbell.

The story of Terra-preta is an inspiration to us as it demonstrates that humans can enrich the living word that feeds us, instead of deplete and waste it.

With the synergy of microorganisms and plants to cycle nutrients and draw down carbon, alongside this technology – we now have the power to heal the earth, AND make tea!







The Terra-preta solution









@oldtreebrewery 2017


Full story coming soon.