Conferences, Symposiums, Field Trips, and Commercial Demonstrations

[erich]

Hi all,
This is a great opportunity to show off your production and field work.

Erich


[biochar] IBI call for photos


Dear list members,

I am now working for the International Biochar Initiative (IBI) doing
press work and helping develop outreach materials. The IBI will be
going to Poznan, Poland in December to advocate for biochar at the
UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) meeting. The IBI will have some
display materials there including several large posters that we will
use to illustrate some of the myriad activities related to biochar
that are taking place around the world.

Please send us your high resolution photos with clear and
understandable captions for possible inclusion in these posters. Here
are the categories that we are looking for:

Field and pot trials - please include all relevant information such as
location, dates, soil types, amendments, biochar characteristics,
plant species, growth measurements, etc...

Production - we are looking for pictures of kilns, pyrolisers,
gasifiers and other char production facilities. Please include
information such as feedstocks, fuel handling, production volume,
operating time, temperatures, co-products, etc...

Thanks very much for your help. Please email the photos to me -
kelpie@kelpiewilson.com. If you wish to mail me a CD with photos, you
can send it to this address:

Kelpie Wilson
PO Box 1444
Cave Junction, OR 97523

[erich]

Biochar at Bioneers conference;

Bob Hawkins of Eprida described their carbon-negative fuel system of gasification and biochar (similar to experiments we've described before, but further along with DOE studies and commercialization.) He described making hydrogen out of waste biomass (chicken manure, municipal wastewater, etc.), and making char similar to terra preta which not only sequesters carbon itself, but jump-starts natural soil-building (bacterial & other processes) so much that the carbon you put into the soil ends up being dwarfed by the carbon fixed by microorganisms (your carbon is less than ¼ the carbon you end up with; in fact, Amazonians who live in areas with terra preta soils dig it out and sell it to people, because they know it will grow back.) Hawkins pointed out that if we wanted to use terra preta to sequester all of humanity's excess CO2 emissions (1.9GT/yr), it would take an area about three times the size of Texas (2.2 x 10^8 ha), which I found surprisingly small. This was very encouraging.


WorldChanging: Bioneers 2008

[erich]

Double posted ........sorry

[erich]

IBI Special Edition Newsletter:

IBI's Activities at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland

December 1 - 12, 2008

IBI is pleased to announce that it will participate in conference activities in Poznan, Poland at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference. The UN Climate Change Conference is the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Poznan Poland COP 14 logoDuring the 2 weeks of the conference, an estimated 8,000 people and over 190 government delegations will participate. The UNFCCC is one of the most important environmental agreements to lay down a framework for international actions to address global climate warming. For additional information go to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website, at: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

IBI will present a technology exhibit, rent an office and meeting space providing biochar materials and samples, and host a seminar. This venue offers an excellent opportunity for IBI to showcase the role of biochar in addressing climate change. Highlighted below are IBI's specific activities as well as an opportunity for IBI network members to contribute information. New information and updates will be posted on the IBI website at:
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

Biochar Technology Exhibit

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) and the Biochar Energy Corporation (BEC) are jointly presenting a Biochar Exhibit at the Poznan Exhibition "Technologies for Climate Protection". The exhibition site will be on the grounds of the International Poznan Fair, in Pavilion 5. Look for the joint IBI/BEC Exhibit, which will be on display from 1-14 December. The exhibit will feature BEC's Biochar Batch Production Unit (shown in the photo), BEC Pyrofarmeras well as an information board on biochar production and utilization, to include a description of other biochar production technologies, and other relevant information. We will also be presenting a new film on biochar at the exhibit, featuring Johannes Lehmann and others discussing Terra Preta, biochar production, biochar's beneficial properties in soils, biochar and climate change, as well as the potential for carbon sequestration.

Please plan to come by and view the exhibit, and see the biochar information boards and the film!

Visit the Technologies for Climate Protection Exhibition homepage here.
IBI Office and Meeting Space

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) and the Biochar Energy Corporation (BEC) are jointly renting an office and meeting space at the Poznan Technology Exhibit in Exhibition Hall 5, first floor. Look for the IBI logo outside our office. We will have biochar materials to hand out, technical information, a video display, and biochar samples.

IBI Personnel in Poznan, Poland:
Please come by and say hello to the IBI staff staffing the IBI Office and Meeting Space at the Poznan Technology Exhibit in Exhibition Hall 5:

Johannes Lehmann
Chairman of the Board
International Biochar Initiative

Debbie Reed
Executive Director, Policy Director
International Biochar Initiative
IBI Side Event/Seminar

IBI is also hosting a seminar on biochar during the UNFCCC meeting. The seminar, scheduled from 4:00-4:50 pm on Friday, December 5, is entitled: "Biochar: A Carbon-Negative Technology to Combat Climate Change and Enhance Global Soil Resources". The seminar will be held in the Discussion and Banquet Room at the Poznan Technology Exhibition hall 5.
How IBI Network Members can Participate

Materials
IBI would like to invite its network members to submit printed information (brochures or pamphlets or similar items) on their organization, projects, technologies, policies and other relevant topics to be displayed in the IBI Office and Meeting Space during the Poznan Conference. However, all interested parties must arrange delivery of their materials to the site, and IBI cannot be responsible for the delivery (or return) of these materials. IBI will not return these materials after the conference. IBI will display printed materials on a tabletop or on shelving in the IBI office, and may make materials available as handouts, if desired. For more information on submitting materials, and to receive a list of forwarding services identified by the Polish government for sending materials to the site, please email Thayer Tomlinson at info@biochar-international.org with the subject line "Materials for Poznan".

Photos
IBI is developing a number of printed materials for the conference and is updating the IBI website and would like to include photos of projects, technologies, field trials, and biochar. If you have photos you would like to contribute, please send them with explanations of the subject and photo credit information to Kelpie Wilson at kelpie@dishmail.net with the subject line "Biochar Photos". Photos for Poznan need to be submitted by Nov 1, 2008. IBI will be assembling a photo database with these images and will use them on the IBI website as well. Please send the highest resolution possible.

[erich]

Kelpie Wilson
to biochar


Dear list members:
Please use our handy project reporting template to submit your
projects to the IBI database. You will find it here:

http://www.biochar-international.org...rprojects.html

Thank you everyone for helping out with this.

-Kelpie

[erich]

After years of waiting, Virginia Tech's Mobile chicken litter pyrolysis deminstration;

Educational Tour of Nutrient Reduction Technologies for Shenandoah Valley Farmers and the Bay
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction
2839 Lumber Mill Road, Dayton, Virginia
Program Agenda
8:30 a.m.
Sign in at the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction
9:00 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Suzy Friedman and Hobey Bauhan, co-chairs, the Waste Solutions Forum (WSF)
Dr. Katharine Knowlton and Eric Bendfeldt on behalf of Virginia Tech's National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation Project Team
9:20 a.m.
Overview and Update from the Market Maker
Becky Barlow, Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)
9:30 a.m.
Depart in vans for Oren Heatwole's River Bank Farm and Shop
9:45 a.m.
Pyrolysis of Poultry Litter for Nutrient Reduction and Value-added Utilization
Dr. Foster Agblevor, Virginia Tech
Cooperating Farmer's Perspective, Experience and Expectations
Oren Heatwole, Owner, River Bank Farm, and Co-owner, Poultry Specialties
11:00a.m.
Manure Separation and Removal of Phosphorus from Dairy Manure by Struvite
Precipitation & Site Tour
Dr. Jactone Arogo Ogejo, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech
Cooperating Farmer's Perspective, Experience and Expectations
Dale Heatwole, Owner, D & D Dairy Farm
12:15 p.m.
Catered lunch at the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction
1:00 p.m.
Question and Answer Session and Panel Discussion: Next Steps?
Panel participants: Dr. Foster Agblevor, Virginia Tech
Oren Heatwole, River Bank Farm and Poultry Specialties
Hobey Bauhan, Virginia Poultry Federation
Dr. Jactone Arogo Ogejo, Virginia Tech
Dale Heatwole, D & D Dairy Farm
Dale Gardner, Virginia State Dairymen's Association
2:00 p.m.
Survey and Evaluation
2:30 p.m.
Adjourn - Have a Safe Trip Home!
Page 2
Sponsored by Virginia Tech and the Waste Solutions Forum, in cooperation with:
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Environmental Defense Center for Conservation Incentives
Farm Pilot Project Coordination
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Virginia Poultry Federation
Virginia State Dairymen's Association

[erich]

HURRAY!!!!
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) a Reality. I knew that we were always the MOST Adaptable
of folks.

Cheers to Johannes, Thayer, Debbie & Kelpie !!! and all of you listers

Your Chartarian,
Erich





IBI Announces Success in Having Biochar Considered as a Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Tool

IBI Logo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2008

POZNAN, Poland, December 10, 2008 - The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) announces that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has submitted a proposal to include biochar as a mitigation and adaptation technology to be considered in the post-2012-Copenhagen agenda of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A copy of the proposal is posted on the IBI website at
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI).

Biochar is a fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain nutrients and water. The carbon in biochar resists degradation and can sequester carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years.

IBI Executive Director Debbie Reed said, "The UNCCD submission is a great success, and is paralleled by a lot of very positive discussions and interest in biochar amongst country delegates as well as observers of the process."

The UNCCD, a sister convention to the UNFCCC, has identified biochar as a unique opportunity to address soils as a carbon sink. According to the submission document: "The world's soils hold more organic carbon than that held by the atmosphere as CO2 and vegetation, yet the role of the soil in capturing and storing carbon dioxide is often one missing information layer in taking into consideration the importance of the land in mitigating climate change."

UNCCD proposes that biochar must be considered as a vital tool for rehabilitation of dryland soils: "The fact that many of the drylands soils have been degraded means that they are currently far from saturated with carbon and their potential to sequester carbon may be very high ... making the consideration of Biochar, as a strategy for enhancing soils carbon sequestration, imperative."

UNCCD also cites the ability of biochar to address multiple climate and development concerns while avoiding the disadvantages of other bioenergy technologies that deplete soil organic matter (SOM). IBI Executive Director Debbie Reed said, "Pyrolysis systems that produce biochar can provide many advantages. Biochar restores soil organic carbon and soil fertility, reduces emissions from agriculture, and can provide clean, renewable energy. Conventional biomass energy competes with soil building needs for crop residue feedstocks, but biochar accommodates both uses."

Reduced deforestation is another biochar advantage cited by the UNCCD in their submitted proposal for including biochar in carbon trading mechanisms: "The carbon trade could provide an incentive to cease further deforestation; instead reforestation and recuperation of degraded land for fuel and food crops would gain magnitude."

Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black's Organic Chocolate, is in Poznan to help educate delegates about biochar. Sams believes that the climate and ancillary benefits of biochar are so great that biochar systems should be eligible for double credits. Sams said, "Adding the rewards for abandoning carbon emitting practices such as slash and burn cultivation, deforestation and wood fire cooking, to the rewards for adopting biochar practices in agriculture, forestry and cooking, ought to qualify for double credits."

UNCCD proposes to include biochar in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and to revise the rules to account for biochar as a permanent means of carbon capture. UNCCD also proposes adjusting the carbon offset rules to allow greater financial flows to help developing countries increase soil organic matter with biochar.

Biochar has one important additional advantage over other land use carbon sequestration projects - carbon sequestration through biochar is easy to quantify. It is also relatively permanent. The UNCCD says: "Potential drawbacks such as difficulty in estimating greenhouse gas removals and emissions resulting from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), or destruction of sinks through forest fire or disease do not apply to biochar soil amendments."

Overall, the potential magnitude of biochar as a climate mitigation tool is great. IBI Board Chair Dr. Johannes Lehmann said, "We are pleased that the UNCCD has recognized the potential of biochar. Results from IBI's preliminary model to estimate the potential of biochar carbon sequestration show that biochar production from agriculture and forestry residues can potentially sequester one gigaton of carbon in the world's soils annually by 2040. Using the biochar energy co-product to displace fossil fuel energy can approximately double the carbon impact of biochar alone."

IBI's objective for the remainder of the UN meeting at Poznan is to interest more countries in proposing biochar for consideration as a mitigation and adaptation technology in the post-2012 Copenhagen process of the UNFCCC.

About IBI
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is a registered non-profit organization that serves as an international platform for the exchange of information and activities in support of biochar research, development, demonstration and commercialization. IBI participants comprise a consortium of researchers, commercial entities, policy makers, development agents, farmers and gardeners and others committed to supporting sustainable biochar production and utilization systems that remove carbon from the atmosphere and enhance the earth's soils.
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)


For further information, please contact:

Debbie Reed, Executive Director and Policy Director, International Biochar Initiative
Phone: 202-701-4298 email: Debbie@biochar-international.org

Johannes Lehmann, Chairman of the Board, International Biochar Initiative
Phone: 607-254-1236 email: cl273@cornell.edu

Thayer Tomlinson, Communications Director, International Biochar Initiative
Phone: 914-693-0496 email: info@biochar-international.org

To contact the UNCCD:

UNCCD Communications Officer
Awareness Raising, Communications and Education Unit
Marcos Montoiro-Allue
mmontoiro@unccd.int

[erich]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2008

IBI Announces Biochar Sessions at American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting, Following Success in Promoting Biochar at the UN Climate Meeting in Poznan, Poland

San Francisco, California, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - IBI Board Chairman Johannes Lehmann, IBI Science Advisory Committee member James Amonette, and other researchers will present important scientific information on biochar at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, December 15 -19.

[erich]

Hi List,

I'm not complaining mind you, but those precocious Ausse's are ahead of us all ( probably Michael's doing ).
They have an endowed Biochar chair at the academic level , years of field testing, at least some americans bought BestEnergy, but
it seems by now, BestEnergy would be showing off field work in north america.


It's great to see CSIRO involved & An Asia-Pacific Biochar Conference too!

Cheers,
Erich



"A recent meeting at the University of New South Wales, jointly organised by NSW DPI and CSIRO Land and Water, brought together Australian and New Zealand biochar researchers. The Network of Australian and New Zealand Biochar Researchers was formed as a result and it will ensure better dissemination of information about biochar and its benefits. Members of the network will coordinate the first Asia-Pacific Biochar Conference, to take place on the Gold Coast from 17–19 May 2009.

The network's researchers are focusing on the use of biochar for carbon sequestration and soil amelioration. While most studies focus on biochar application in agriculture, future work will examine other beneficial uses including its capacity to adsorb organic and inorganic contaminants, and its role in the rehabilitation of degraded soil and waterways.

Dr Neil McKenzie, Chief of CSIRO Land and Water, said CSIRO had an outstanding record of research into the dynamics of soil carbon. 'Our work on the age, chemistry and abundance of char in soil has provided the foundation for our new studies into the potential of biochar. This research is essential for developing one of our most promising mitigation strategies against climate change."

Amazonians? black magic has multiple benefits(ScienceAlert)

[belovelife]

IAF home page

The 60th International Astronautical Congress will take place between 12 and 16 October 2009 in Daejeon, South Korea.

IAC 2009 is being organised by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and Daejeon Metropolitan CIty. Daejeon is the third-largest city in South Korea, home to many of Korea's hi-tech industries.

IAC 2009 will provide an international focus for the global space industry, academic researchers and students worldwide through the presentation of the latest ideas, current activities and future ambitions across a diverse range of pace-related topics. The theme for the 2008 IAC congress will be: "Space For Sustainable Peace and Progress."

Space Generation Congress 2009 - Daejeon Korea

The SGC09 will take place in Daejeon, South Korea on 8-10 October 2009.
Each year, delegates made up of students and young professionals from around the world, participate in selected project groups at SGC chosen by SGAC. This year, the projects will be centered around the 5 themes of the IAC: agency, industry, climate, exploration, and peace. We have restructured the entire process of SGC to create a more effective and productive atmosphere before, during, and after the congress. SGC is seeking the best and brightest from around the world to be the future leaders in space.

More information on the projects will be provided soon.

A series of industry leaders will be joining SGC to discuss topics such as the history of the Space Generation, how space benefits all people, and how individuals can be more involved in space even if they are not scientists and engineers. The industry leaders will be available to the delegates for small discussions and will also mingle with the project group to offer their expert advice from years of experience.