Terra Preta in the news

[Michaelangelica]

All three of these latest articles have links to other articles including the row starting about the whole idea. I suppose it is better than being ignored. But years of putting up with GW denialists now we have to deal with drop-kick 'biochar denialists' who are not up to speed on Charcoal.
Been there done that just get on and do it.

'Biochar' goes industrial with giant microwaves to lock carbon in charcoal

A ripe whiff of sludge drifts across the sewage works in Bingen, Germany, as a conveyor belt feeds a stream of semi-dried effluent into a steel container.

Behind the container, the treated effluent emerges in the form of glittering black granules. In a flash of eco-alchemy, they are turning sewage into charcoal.

The charcoal is then buried to lock the carbon into the ground and prevent it entering the atmosphere.

Proponents of the technology say it is so effective at storing carbon that it should be included in the next global climate agreement.

Video at site
Microwave that locks carbon in charcoal may be our best weapon in the fight against global warming, say scientists | Environment | guardian.co.uk

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45534000
Biochar: Is the hype justified?
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Biochar: Is the hype justified?

This gift of nature is the best way to save us from climate catastrophe

This gift of nature is the best way to save us from climate catastrophe

[Essay]

Thanks for that New Scientist link Michael; it was helpful.

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

I have sent it on to the biochar list group.
I am a bit snowed under too
Did you see this?
One last chance to save mankind - environment - 23 January 2009 - New Scientist

"The Charm of Char" is the title to a little article in the May/June, 2009 issue of Sierra: the magazine of the Sierra Club.

Link to the article at:
Grapple - Sierra Magazine
Scroll down to find: The subtitle to the article is "Can baked poop save our bacon?"

The article lists many of char's benefits such as: "take carbon out of the atmosphere, increase crop yields, cut fossil-fuel use, and reduce the fertilizer runoff that creates offshore dead zones;" as well as helping "soil retain nutrients, store water, and sustain beneficial microorganisms."

It also quotes James Lovelock, the "visionary British scientist," from his interview in the February New Scientist article:
One last chance to save mankind - environment - 23 January 2009 - New Scientist
where Lovelock advocates for char as "the solution to climate catastrophe."
[Last month I personally gave photocopies of that New Scientist article to my State Representatives; after I explained the science behind it, and the local jobs potential for biochar industries]

The Sierra article is a little shakey on the history of biochar, but they nicely describe the West Virginia poultryman's gasifier that heats his henhouse and gives him tons of char--which he sells to farmers "for $480 a ton." Wow!
===

Most importantly, the Sierra article says that "Micronesia has placed biochar on the agenda for this December's Copenhagen climate talks as a 'fast-start' strategy...."

Yea! Maybe there's hope yet....

~

[erich]

Throwing Down The Soil Carbon Gauntlet
How I wish the US media would pick-up these stories of Turnbull's challenging the current governments CO2 plans by pointing out how they ignore SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION.
Erich


Turnbull puts biochar at centre of emissions talks | The Australian

[erich]

Hi All,
Nothing on their web site about this new product, I do wonder who supplies their char

Erich

"Today Converted Organics announced that they are supplying to Whole Food Stores their all-natural fertilizers. They have previously announced supply to Home Depot and with these high level associations have created a market for a new line of fertilizer products that are not dependent on oil and chemicals. I believe this is a giant step in the right direction. In the next few installments, I will outline what I perceive as the ultimate answer to the use of fertilizers and our food."

Mobile Musings: Using Waste to Make Fertilzer …

[Eclipse Now]

Anyone got any "back-of-the-envelope" calculations about how much biomass agriwaste is produced around the world?

Apparently 10 tons of biomass = 3 tons of synfuel and 1 ton of char. (Eprida).
1 ton of char is a fair bit of Co2 locked away.... so... any "rough" calculations about how much Co2 the world's agriculture could lock away each year?

(Remembering that we produce about 9-10 billion tons Co2 from fossil fuels and 30 billion when all industries and deforestation are calculated.)

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Eclipse Now

Anyone got any "back-of-the-envelope" calculations about how much biomass agriwaste is produced around the world?

Apparently 10 tons of biomass = 3 tons of synfuel and 1 ton of char. (Eprida).
1 ton of char is a fair bit of Co2 locked away.... so... any "rough" calculations about how much Co2 the world's agriculture could lock away each year?

(Remembering that we produce about 9-10 billion tons Co2 from fossil fuels and 30 billion when all industries and deforestation are calculated.)

Well, let's start simple.

In the US, there were 70,537,000 acres in corn production, with an average yield of 134 bushels per acre (at 56lbs. per bushel).
Source: Corn--Acreage, Production, and Value, by Leading States statistics - USA Census numbers

If we assume half of this is waste (cornstalks etc.) then we have (per 1999 numbers) a waste of 70,537,000 x 134/2=4,725,979,000 lbs. of corn "waste". In tons, this would be 2,362,990. So, from the Eprida numbers, this would provide for 236,299 tons of char and triple that for syngas.

Of course, this is *just corn in the US*!
Also, these numbers do not reflect the explosion of corn production we've seen here in the US this last decade.

[erich]

ABC Interview with Ozzie Biochar Luminaries

LUKAS VAN ZWIETEN: We're getting very significant improvements in yield in our cropping situation. We've increased yield of sweet corn from 16 tonnes up to 35 tonnes of fresh cob per hectare and we've more than doubled our yield of fibre bean crops as our winter crop. So we're getting quite significant and also economic returns on the investment of applying biochar to soil.

STEPHEN KIMBER: We've seen very significant impacts in the laboratory where things are a lot easier to measure and we've had up to a 90 per cent reduction in nitrous oxide generation. Nitrous oxide is important because it has a potency of around 300 times that of carbon dioxide. So small fluctuations in the nitrous oxide story have a profound influence on the overall greenhouse gas story.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: For the life of me I cannot understand why they don't do it. It is pretty straightforward. It's readily measured. The science is very well known. It's been around for centuries, thousands of years, in fact. So it's something that we should just get on with and support.

TIM FLANNERY: I would argue using these technologies to repay our historic debt to the world, calculate how much carbon pollution we put in the atmosphere over the last century and seek to repay it using biochar and other biological carbon options.

Char Grilled - Landline - ABC

[erich]

Someone finally got to Branson, when he ran his Carbon Prize last year I nominated the the Kayapo Amazonians for a posthumous award, no reply.

Erich


It takes more than the web to capture the Zeitgeist - Media news - Media Week

[erich]

I'm surprised Max DeRungs didn't post this to us, he's a regular commenter on the Biochar List;

Borgford Octaflame Gasification System

Solid State Technology- Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry News covering Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, Process, Services

Borgford Bioenergy
Evergreen BioEnergy - Home



Just about trees, no char, but shows what we earthlings can do;

Pakistanis set tree planting record: 1,800 each a day
Pakistanis set tree planting record: 1,800 each a day | Distant-Help
If you feel proud about having planted a tree sometime to help protect the
environment, you may have to think again.
Pakistan has apparently set a record for tree plantings, with volunteers
planting about 1,800 mangroves each in a day in mud and temperatures of up to
37 Celsius, according to the WWF International conservation group.
Maybe such competitions will catch on [...]




BFW UK ran this piece on Lovelock & Richard Branson, with no derision of biochar.

Biofuel Watch: biofuelwatch - Branson interview claims on "clean fuel" and biochar

I should have much to report after the NABC nrxt month
Cheers,
Erich

[freeztar]

I received the following from Folke Günther recently (via Facebook).

Participate in the 350 events the 25th of October: Dig down a kilo of char in the soil!

Seems easy enough! Anybody else participating?