South Florida Biochar Plant Poised to Be Key for Domestic Silicon Chip Makers

INDIANTOWN, Fla.–Martin Ellis is building a first-in-America business he says will boost domestic manufacturing of silicon chips, solar panels, and steel while enriching soil, purifying water, and generating electricity. The veteran entrepreneur is going to do this with a centuries-old process that refines a product man has used for millennia in a specialized production plant tested in Poland and moved piece-by-piece to a 17-acre pasture in South Florida’s swamp savannah. The key components in this high-tech venture? “If you want to make good silicon, you need good ‘coarse,’” Ellis said, referring to the area’s Myakka fine sand, Florida’s official state soil....