Business: From waste to wood vinegar with PyroAg CEO, John Mellowes

John Mellowes saw an opportunity with wood vinegar, little did he know it would change the course of his life's work.

A civil engineer by trade, he and his business partner, Chad, began their journey with PyroAg about eight years ago and throughout that time they have discovered the many uses that pyrolyzed (don't worry, we'll explain that in the episode) wood chips can have.

But they’re not just any wood chips, it’s green waste.

“We’ve done work with macadamia nut shells, almond husks… we could probably take about 80% of people’s garbage if we were allowed to,” said John.

The wood chips create three main outputs: biochar/charcoal, gas and wood vinegar.

Whether you've heard of wood vinegar or not, it's definitely one to get across and hopefully you come away from this ep with some answers but also lots of curiosity!

 John answers these questions in the episode:

• What is John's background and how does it intertwine with agriculture?

• What is PyroAg?

• How do you take a waste product and turn it into a high value good of a different kind?

• Is one byproduct of the pyrolysis process better or are all the byproducts beneficial?

• If you had 10 tonnes of input (wood/green waste), what does that look like in terms of output?

• What kind of volumes are going through the process at the moment and where do you source the input from?

• How much does wood vinegar cost?

• How much wood vinegar do farmers buy?

• How is wood vinegar applied?

• How are you making sure the product is safe for use on crops?

• What are the benefits to the soil and what are you learning about microbial activity?

• Where do you see PyroAg in 10 years?

It looks like a lot... but trust us, it's all in this 15 minute ep so let's get into it!