Making sustainable charcoal in Wakehurst's woodland | Kew
Charcoal is made by heating wood to high temperatures. This burns the volatile compounds out of the wood, leaving carbon behind. At Wakehurst, we make charcoal using a kiln is stacked with air dried hard wood, such as ash, oak, birch, alder, sweet chestnut, hazel and hornbeam. The wood needs to be heated slowly so that it dries out but ...