[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

I think I have given up.

Like backyard composting, TP's time will come in 20 years.

I am half amind to ear bash my two new local members and take them up to BEST's prototype pyrolysis machine. But I think I am too down or run out of energy for now.

Fair suck of the sav!

Don't cark it mate! She'll be apples.

[Philip Small]

MA: Get some vitamin D in you stat. Go for a run. Then follow with chocolate. Repeat chocolate.

[erich]

Let us all Please incant ritual supplications for Michael's smooth transition back to the fold.

I offer these words From Lou;

VISIONSHARE

"To devise a system that honored our humanness

The old saw that "it matters not so much what you do but how you do it" may hold the deeper truth. The secret of abundance may lie in the giveaway. Google is proving this daily within the info-sphere. Terra Preta may prove it within the eco-sphere. Really, it isn't so much about giving or taking but more about where and how we leave the residues."

[erich]

Here is a strait forward conversion of the impact of building soil organic material (SOM) on ppm of atmospheric GHGs, using just marginal land and standard SOM building processes. Adding Biochar protocols would really jump start this solution.

Restoring soil carbon can reverse global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss Restoring soil carbon can reverse global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss


Tony Lovell of Soil Carbon P/L ( Soil Carbon : Putting Carbon Back Where It Belongs - In The Earth )in Australia estimates that by actively supporting regrowth of vegetation in damaged ecosystems, billions of tons of carbon dioxide can be sequestered from the atmosphere.


"Determining how much carbon dioxide (CO2) can physically be consumed from the atmosphere?



As the planet has 7.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in circulation for each 1 ppm of atmospheric CO2, and there are 5 billion hectares of inappropriately managed or unmanaged, desertifying savannahs on the Earth (which on empirical evidence we contend to be the case), the question that should sensibly be asked is: How much carbon dioxide would be absorbed if policies were put in place (in Australia and elsewhere) that caused the focus of on-ground management to be deliberately directed towards the widespread consumption of cyclical GHGs within the currently under-utilised savannah lands?

Consumption of CO2 per hectare
One hectare is 10,000 sq. metres. If a hectare of soil 33.5 cm deep, with a bulk density of 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre is considered, there is a soil mass per hectare of about 4,700 tonnes.
If appropriate management practices were adopted and these practices achieved and sustained a 1% increase in soil organic matter (SOM)6, then 47 tonnes of SOM per hectare will be added to organic matter stocks held below the soil surface
This 47 tonnes of SOM will contain approximately 27 tonnes of Soil Carbon (ie 47 tonnes at 58% Carbon) per hectare
In the absence of other inputs this Carbon may only be derived from the atmosphere via the natural function known as the photo-synthetic process. To place approximately 27 tonnes of Soil Carbon per hectare into the soil, approximately 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide must be consumed out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis
A 1% change in soil organic matter across 5 billion hectares will sequester 500 billion tonnes of physical CO2
Converting global Soil Carbon capacity to ppm of atmospheric GHGs
Every 1% increase in retained SOM within the topmost 33.5 cm of the soil must capture and hold approximately 100 tonnes per hectare of atmospheric carbon dioxide (the variability in the equation being due only to the soil bulk density). We submit that under determined, appropriate management, that this is readily achievable within a very few years
For each 1% increase in SOM achieved on the 5 billion hectares there will be removed 64 ppm of carbon dioxide from atmospheric circulation (500,000,000,000 tonnes CO2 / 7,800,000,000 tonnes per ppm = 64 ppm).
Soil Organic Matter is the plant material released into the soil during the natural phases of plant growth. It includes root material sloughed off below the soil surface and plant litter carried into the soil by microbes, insects and rainfall
Soil Carbon is the elemental carbon contained within Soil Organic Matter (SOM).
One tonne of CO2 contains 12/44 units of carbon (ie 0.27 tonnes of carbon per tonne of CO2.). Therefore 27 tonnes of carbon sequesters 27/0.27 = 100 tonnes CO2 (rounded). NB Carbon atomic weight 12, oxygen atomic weight 16 ie CO2 = 12+(16+16) = 44
The global opportunity and numbers



It appears that the pre-industrial level of atmospheric carbon dioxide was 280ppm, and that globally we are now at 455ppm, and heading towards 550ppm. To get from 550ppm back to 280ppm, 270ppm must be removed. Globally, a 4.2% increase in SOM would potentially reverse the expected situation. In any case, any form of determined management will substantially reduce the now crippling legacy loadings in the atmosphere. "



Erich J. Knight
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
540-289-9750
shengar@aol.com

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by erich

Let us all Please incant ritual supplications for Michael's smooth transition back to the fold.

I offer these words From Lou;

VISIONSHARE

"To devise a system that honored our humanness

The old saw that "it matters not so much what you do but how you do it" may hold the deeper truth. The secret of abundance may lie in the giveaway. Google is proving this daily within the info-sphere. Terra Preta may prove it within the eco-sphere. Really, it isn't so much about giving or taking but more about where and how we leave the residues."

Not quite over the wobbles, but two emails to local Federal MPs today and one each to Minister for Climate Change and Minister for the Environment( Yes one each, in new Federal Labor Govt.!!!).
Local Members at least, should be aware of what BEST Energies is doing locally
Thanks for your kind thoughts.

[erich]

From a posting by Richard Haard, Let us hope it ends up on Clinton's & Obama's desks, and if not Macain should steal it. After all TP is most righteously a conservitive policy.

"For those of you interested here is a 440 word presentation I will make to a local grass roots Dem party plank meeting this evening. Thanks to some of our list members for input and helpful narrative.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the desk of Richard Haard, Monday, March 17, 2008

A proposal for a Whatcom County, Washington, Democratic Party, agricultural platform plank committee topic: Carbon Sequestration

Terrestrial carbon sequestration is recognized both by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as the European Union as a viable way to reduce atmospheric carbon content. However, this technique was not taken up in the Kyoto Protocols (clean development mechanisms). Since scientists, NGO’s and conservation groups are advocating its inclusion in a post Kyoto agreement and also since the United States is not yet a signatory to this convention here is something we can do immediately to join the rest of the world in this action to cleanse our atmosphere of carbon.

The problem. Climate change can wreak havoc on food production and displace millions of people. If we see an atmospheric temperature change of more than 2 degrees C in the next 50 years we could enter a period of runaway climate warming. We can either clean up our atmosphere or we might perish trying to live in the conditions of runaway climate change.

Burying charcoal in soil is one element of many in what we need to do to reduce the carbon content of our atmosphere. The use of charcoal in agriculture will address multiple purposes: climate mitigation, food production and a viable renewable energy source. Wide scale implementation of carbon sequestration in the soil will significantly reduce atmospheric carbon.

Biochar is charcoal with specific properties and is made by pyrolysing biomass derived from agricultural and forestry waste and crops grown specifically for this purpose. If these source materials were for example composted and added to soil the carbon in them would eventually decay and be released to the atmosphere.

Charcoal on the other hand remains active in the soil for many thousands of years forming a permanent functional substitute for organic matter. The second property of charcoal in soil is its high affinity to nutrients (adsorption). Lastly, in the formation of charcoal the microscopic features of the wood are preserved making habitat for beneficial organisms thereby reducing the need for commercial fertilizer.

Plank this: ‘Cleansing our atmosphere of carbon is the issue for our times’ Make a law that puts ‘earning carbon sequestration credits’ into the US tax code. This will be implemented either as a check box for creation of a carbon removal fund or direct tax credit towards activities that:

1. Disseminates carbon removal technology and information on how to use biochar here and abroad.

2. Provides a direct payment for every verified ton of biochar permanently buried in the United States and territories to make local use feasible .
=

_______________________________________________
Terrapreta mailing list




Here's my only edit:

"Charcoal on the other hand remains active in the soil for many thousands of years forming a permanent functional substitute for organic matter."

Should read;

permanent functional infrastructure for organic matter & minerals


Cheers

Erich

[freeztar]

Looks good erich, good luck!

[Michaelangelica]

A one page word handout That you could give to charcoal Chicken or other Charcoal shops.

Uses of Charcoal in Horticulture and Gardening.
Charcoal has been used for horticultural purposes for at least two thousand years,
archaeological research has come up with evidence of charcoal being used as a soil
ameliorator in the Amazon basin around the time of Christ. (Do a web search for "Terra preta" for more information)
Green keepers of golf and bowling clubs used charcoal extensively as a top dressing but
in recent years this has been substituted by sharp sand, the reason may have been that
the demise of the British charcoal industry caused a shortage in supplies of the correct
grades. Fine charcoal powder used on lawns (golf) absorbs and eliminates excess
amounts of fertilizer and chemicals present in the soil
.
Charcoal was widely available from horticultural sundriesmen up until the late 1960's,
for use mainly in bulb fibre where the pots do not have drainage holes. The charcoal was
said to keep the compost 'sweet'.

Orchid growing employs the use of charcoal and specialist growers of carnations and
pinks find charcoal to be invaluable.
Research has shown that growing mediums that have charcoal present, are able to buffer
the effects of sporadic watering, by reducing the frequency of watering whilst helping to
prevent 'damping off'
Charcoal also reduces the leaching of fertilise in free draining soils as the charcoal's porous carbon structure enables the nutrients to be held for slower release to the plants
.
The inclusion of charcoal in open seedbeds showed that it facilitates the uptake of
nutrients. Calcium uptake almost doubles, with significant increases in potassium,
magnesium and phosphorus, the pH increases slightly and there is an obvious increase
in organic matter.

Charcoal has been recommended as part of the treatment for the eradication of a fungal
disease, Cylindrocladium that infects Box hedges.
Charcoal has proved to be an ideal renewable substitute for perlite and vermiculite,
compost additives used to increase aeration and aid drainage, but both finite resources.
The currently favoured water retaining gels are not liked by all growers
and there are doubts about how well they actually release the water they have absorbed "Petunias in
hanging baskets tested in greenhouses showed no benefits when water-absorbing
polymers were used. And plants grown in media containing water-absorbing polymers
required watering just as often as plants grown in potting soil containing no water-
absorbing polymers. Also, their usable life is limited by the amounts of salt or fertilizers
in the soil
". Hence, charcoal could be used where watering may be a problem, e.g.
hanging baskets, or where it is hard to change the compost, e.g. in large tubs.
Charcoal could be incorporated into locally produced 'green compost'. No further
processing, other than simply grading would be required and transport costs would be
low. We have had preliminary discussions with Scarborough Borough Council about
adding fines to their Green Compost and they hope to do some simple trials in hanging
baskets.
The full article is here
cache:I0TgdV-gQ_UJ:www.visitthemoors.co.uk/uploads/publication/978.pdf - Google Scholar
See also
Terra Preta - Science Forums
and
Terrapreta mailing list
Terrapreta@bioenergylists.org
Terrapreta Info Page
Terra Preta | Intentional use of charcoal in soil
BioEnergy Discussion Lists


--

[scalbers]

I posted a mention about TP in this RealClimate Forum discussion - we'll see if I get a reaction once it is moderator approved (see #18).

RealClimate

[erich]

I posted this to Realclimate:

The co-benefits of Biochar must also be considered beyond Bio-fuel gains; 3X fertility,17% less water use, Massive fungi (Glomalin) and wee-beastie microbes to worms, are sequestered carbon adding to that of the Biochar which in Terra Preta soils has C13 tested to 7000 years.

Dr. Lukas reports 10X N2O soil emission reductions:

Beyond Zero Emissions interviews Dr Lukas Van Zweitan senior research scientist of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI). Who is working hand-on with soil research focusing on Bio Char (Terra Preta de Indio / Agri Char)

“we’ve found with some of the biochars in that we’ve had very, very significant reductions in nitrous oxide emissions from the soil; between five- and ten-fold reductions in nitrous oxide emissions.”

http://beyondzeroemissions.org/2008/...ls-zero-carbon

Erich