Beyond the Bailout … a Bigger Problem… and a Solution
As job losses soar and major parts of the financial world descend into insolvency, you may feel that you’re apocalypsed-out. If so, you may not immediately leap at James Lovelock’s new book, The Vanishing Face of Gaia. His warning that climate change is spinning us into a hotter world, where billions will starve and whole ecosystems will collapse, is a horror few want to contemplate. But his prophecies are plausible and they will also make you think, which are two good reasons to grit your teeth and read him. The Vanishing Face of Gaia, hailed as “the most important book for decades”, is powerful because Lovelock is a serious, hands-on scientist. What he calls his “final warning” has new resonance because of the increasingly alarming data that is coming from the observation of everything from species numbers and deforestation to sea levels and Arctic ice.
Now for the good news…black is the new green. As reported first in last month’s SLDI Newsletter, Lovelock believes that charcoal produced from biomass, known as “biochar,” is one of the only answers to climate change we have. He states, “There is one way we could save ourselves and that is through the massive burial of charcoal…you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast.” The theory is that biomass – any plant or animal material – can be turned into charcoal by heating it in the absence of oxygen and by taking CO2 out of the atmosphere; the impact on climate change could be huge. According to some early estimates of biochar’s potential, this wonder substance alone could achieve all the carbon reductions necessary to prevent further global warming. Furthermore, the properties of biochar allow us to address three or four critical crises at once: the climate-change crisis, the energy crisis, and the food and water crises, because renewable bio-fuel is a by-product of the pyrolysis production process. Putting biochar in the soil not only fertilizes the soil, but also helps it to retain and purify water.
Sustainable Land Development International has partnered with Ocean Mountain Ranch–a planned eco-forestry sustainable development overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the largest remaining old growth forest on the southern Oregon coast–to research and develop woody biomass utilization opportunities in cooperation with the Port Orford Community Stewardship Area under a comprehensive forest stewardship management plan, which has been approved by the Oregon Department of Forestry and Northwest Certified Forestry under the high standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Your participation and comments are welcome.
Terry Mock
Executive Director
Sustainable Land Development International
SLDI March 2009 Newsletter – http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIMar2009.html
Filed under: Uncategorized on March 3rd, 2009
Biochar Soil Technology…..Husbandry of whole new orders of life
Biotic Carbon, the carbon transformed by life, should never be combusted, oxidized and destroyed. It deserves more respect, reverence even, and understanding to use it back to the soil where 2/3 of excess atmospheric carbon originally came from.
We all know we are carbon-centered life, we seldom think about the complex web of recycled bio-carbon which is the true center of life. A cradle to cradle, mutually co-evolved biosphere reaching into every crack and crevice on Earth.
It’s hard for most to revere microbes and fungus, but from our toes to our gums (onward), their balanced ecology is our health. The greater earth and soils are just as dependent, at much longer time scales. Our farming for over 10,000 years has been responsible for 2/3rds of our excess greenhouse gases. This soil carbon, converted to carbon dioxide, Methane & Nitrous oxide began a slow stable warming that now accelerates with burning of fossil fuel.
Wise Land management; Organic farming and afforestation can build back our soil carbon,
Biochar allows the soil food web to build much more recalcitrant organic carbon, ( living biomass & Glomalins) in addition to the carbon in the biochar.
Biochar, the modern version of an ancient Amazonian agricultural practice called Terra Preta (black earth, TP), is gaining widespread credibility as a way to address world hunger, climate change, rural poverty, deforestation, and energy shortages… SIMULTANEOUSLY!
Modern Pyrolysis of biomass is a process for Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration,10X Lower Methane & N2O soil emissions, and 3X Fertility Too.
Every 1 ton of Biomass yields 1/3 ton Charcoal for soil Sequestration, Bio-Gas & Bio-oil fuels, so is a totally virtuous, carbon negative energy cycle.
Biochar viewed as soil Infrastructure; The old saw, “Feed the Soil Not the Plants” becomes “Feed, Cloth and House the Soil, utilities included !”. Free Carbon Condominiums, build it and they will come.
As one microbologist said on the TP list; “Microbes like to sit down when they eat”. By setting this table we expand husbandry to whole new orders of life.
Senator / Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has done the most to nurse this biofuels system in his Biochar provisions in the 07 & 08 farm bill,
http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html
Charles Mann (”1491″) in the Sept. National Geographic has a wonderful soils article which places Terra Preta / Biochar soils center stage.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/soil/mann-text
Biochar data base;
http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node
NASA’s Dr. James Hansen Global warming solutions paper and letter to the G-8 conference, placing Biochar / Land management the central technology for carbon negative energy systems.
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0804/0804.1126.pdf
The many new university programs & field studies, in temperate soils; Cornell, ISU, U of H, U of GA, Virginia Tech, JMU, New Zealand and Australia.
Glomalin’s role in soil tilth, fertility & basis for the soil food web in Terra Preta soils.
UNCCD Submission to Climate Change/UNFCCC AWG-LCA 5
“Account carbon contained in soils and the importance of biochar (charcoal) in replenishing soil carbon pools, restoring soil fertility and enhancing the sequestration of CO2.”
http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/AWGLCA5/menu.php
This new Congressional Research Service report (by analyst Kelsi Bracmort) is the best short summary I have seen so far – both technical and policy oriented.
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40186_20090203.pdf .
Given the current “Crisis” atmosphere concerning energy, soil sustainability, food vs. Biofuels, and Climate Change what other subject addresses them all?
This is a Nano technology for the soil that represents the most comprehensive, low cost, and productive approach to long term stewardship and sustainability.
Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.
Cheers,
Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
540 289 9750
Biochar Studies at ACS Huston meeting;
Most all this work corroborates char soil dynamics we have seen so far . The soil GHG emissions work showing increased CO2 , also speculates that this CO2 has to get through the hungry plants above before becoming a GHG.
The SOM, MYC& Microbes, N2O (soil structure), CH4 , nutrient holding , Nitrogen shock, humic compound conditioning, absorbing of herbicides all pretty much what we expected to hear.
578-I: http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4231.html
579-II http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4496.html
665 – III. http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4497.html
666-IV http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4498.html
Company News & EU Certification
Below is an important hurtle that 3R AGROCARBON has overcome in certification in the EU. Given that their standards are set much higher than even organic certification in the US, this work should smooth any bureaucratic hurtles we may face.
EU Permit Authority – 4 years tests
Subject: Fwd: [biochar] Re: GOOD NEWS: EU Permit Authority – 4 years tests successfully completed
Doses: 400 kg / ha – 1000 kg / ha at different horticultural cultivars
Plant height Increase 141 % versus control
Picking yield Increase 630 % versus control
Picking fruit Increase 650 % versus control
Total yield Increase 202 % versus control
Total piece of fruit Increase 171 % versus control
Fruit weight Increase 118 % versus control
HOMEPAGE 3R AGROCARBON: http://www.3ragrocarbon.com
Also:
EcoTechnologies is planning for many collaborations ; NC State, U. of Leeds, Cardiff U. Rice U. ,JMU, U.of H. and at USDA with Dr.Jeffrey Novak who is coordinating ARS Biochar research. This Coordinated effort will speed implementation by avoiding unneeded repetition and building established work in a wide variety of soils and climates.
http://www.EcoTechnologies.com
Hopefully all the Biochar companies will coordinate with Dr. Jeff Novak’s soils work at ARS;
http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=24434
I spoke with Jon Nilsson of the CarbonChar Group, in their third year of field trials ;
An idea whose time has come | Carbon Char Group
He said the 2008 trials at Virginia Tech showed a 46% increase in yield of tomato transplants grown with just 2 – 5 cups (2 – 5%) “Biochar+” per cubic foot of growing medium. http://www.carbonchar.com/plant-performance
‘Biochar’ goes industrial with giant microwaves to lock carbon in charcoal
Climate expert claims to have developed cleanest way of fixing CO2 in ‘biochar’ for burial on an industrial scale
March 13, 2009 – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon
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The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is a non-profit organization supporting 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.
IBI Biochar Video – http://www.venearth.com/index.html
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Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI) has partnered with Ocean Mountain Ranch–a planned eco-forestry sustainable development overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the largest remaining old growth forest on the southern Oregon coast–to research and develop woody biomass utilization opportunities in cooperation with the Port Orford Community Stewardship Area under a comprehensive forest stewardship management plan, which has been approved by the Oregon Department of Forestry and Northwest Certified Forestry under the high standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
SLDI March Newsletter – http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIMar2009.html
From: Terry Mock [mailto:tmock@sldi.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 10:05 AM
To: pnw-biochar@googlegroups.com; info@biochar-international.org
Subject: Avoiding a Biochar Train Wreck…
In an effort to avoid the disastrous misunderstanding and misapplication of a promising technology, I respectfully and urgently call on all to address the following recently published concerns with answers that are truthful and persuasive:
“Here comes the latest utopian catastrophe: the plan to solve climate change with biochar” – http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/03/24/woodchips-with-everything/
“The push for biochar today can be compared with that for agrofuels around 2002: Unfounded promises to solve the climate crisis and poverty with one stroke, while, behind the scenes, a massive lobbying effort is paving the way for artificial markets through state support” – http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/news.php?id=1180
Your participation and comments are welcome.
Terry Mock
Trustee, Ocean Mountain Ranch
Executive Director, Sustainable Land Development International – http://www.SLDI.org
SLDI Newsletter – http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIMar2009.html
Promoting and enabling land development worldwide that balances the needs of people, planet & profit – for today and future generations.
From: IBI Information [mailto:info@biochar-international.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 10:06 AM
To: Terry Mock
Subject: RE: Avoiding a Biochar Train Wreck…
Thank you Terry,
IBI is working on a response to the recent negative press to get our view heard.
Best regards,
Thayer
Thayer Tomlinson
International Biochar Initiative
Communications Director
Ph: (914) 693 0496
http://www.biochar-international.org
From: Terry Mock
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:04 AM
To: ‘pnw-biochar@googlegroups.com’
Cc: ‘info@biochar-international.org’
Subject: The Great Biochar Debate – Avoiding a Biochar Train Wreck…
Biochar: Much is unknown but this is no reason to rule it out
Biochar – where wood and crop wastes are cooked to release the volatile components buried in the soil – is a cheap and highly beneficial way of disrupting the global carbon cycle – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/mar/24/response-biochar-chris-goodall
Chris Goodall
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 March 2009
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James Lovelock on Biochar: let the Earth remove CO2 for us
James Lovelock: George Monbiot is wrong to dismiss biochar out of hand – burying carbon is one way to tackle climate change – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/24/biochar-earth-c02
James Lovelock
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 March 2009