[Terrapreta] some thoughts about Terra Preta

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi John Cowan,

Welcome to our discussions.  Have you ever attempted to measure the effect on carbon dioxide uptake there is by plants that show increased growth, due to enhancement of the soil under them with even a small amount of charcoal (say 5% in the top 15cm)?
What if charcoal was put into soil that was used to grow and energy crop, like Salix (fast growing willow), or sugar cane, or switch grass?  Those crops could be harvested annually, or coppiced every three years (Salix), the biomass used to produce carbon neutral fuels (like ethanol, methanol, or synthetic diesel) and/or carbon neutral electric power.

If only part of the biomass energy was used for fuel and the rest left in charcoal, then that charcoal could be used to make another field of an energy crop grow faster and bigger, increasing it's uptake of atmospheric CO2 and its yield of energy.  It would also make the energy originally harvested for use into CARBON NEGATIVE energy.

There are areas of the planet, countries and governments even, who have pulled their heads out of their donkey's and they have enacted a "carbon cap and trade system" to provide an economic incentive to reduce CO2 emissions.  I believe that charcoal production from biomass and the consequent gains in biomass yield (CO2 uptake), along with a worldwide market for carbon trading, can change our worldwide energy economy over to one which is carbon negative.  In the current state of the world, I believe there are better economic incentives in harvesting carbon negative energy, than there are in harvesting carbon neutral energy.  Charcoal in soil will enhance the productivity of both.

Regards,

Sean K. Barry
Principal Engineer/Owner
Troposphere Energy, LLC
11170 142nd St. N.
Stillwater, MN 55082
(651) 351-0711 (Home/Fax)
(651) 285-0904 (Cell)
sean.barry at juno.com<mailto:sean.barry at juno.com>
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Cowan<mailto:johncowan at earthlink.net> 
  To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 6:40 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] some thoughts about Terra Preta


  After monitoring this group for a month, I am both encouraged and 
  disheartened by the messages submitted by others.

  First off, Terra Preta is about adding charcoal and other 
  organic-derived nutrients to the soil. The spinoffs of somehow saving 
  the earth from runaway carbon dioxide by dreaming of massive charcoal 
  production and soil incorporation are just a bit unrealistic when you 
  consider the scope of the problem, the complexity and who controls the 
  infrastructure resources of the planet to make such a program possible.

  After years of doing my own organic growing research, I would say that 
  from my experiments done last year that the use of charcoal in specific 
  ways can be a very powerful tool for improving the physical, chemical, 
  colloidal properties of the soil.and microbiological ecology.

  One of the big reasons that charcoal is so beneficial to worn out 
  tropical soils is that the colloidal nature of the soil is changed so 
  that it can hold on to cations in a way similar to most temperate soils. 
  Check out mellitic acid and its variants. Google for "Soil: Our 
  Interface with the Environment" by Bruce Johnson. This explains the CEC 
  transformation.

  The most important issue about improving the soil for plant growth is 
  the microbiology. Charcoal provides all sorts of factors favorable to 
  beneficial microbes. Everyone needs to know about mycorrhizia and the 
  exudates they produce. Also about the nitrogen fixers like rhizobia, 
  azosprillium and azotobacter who need excellent soil structure to 
  perform. Think about the living process of granule formation and crumb 
  structure. These are the true marks of progress to a healthy soil.

  This leads me to the crazy notions about adjusting soil pH like we are 
  adjusting the air/fuel mixture on a carburetor. Applying large amounts 
  of sulfur, chemical nitrogen or various limes to move the pH down or up 
  has many problems - nutrient imbalances, microbe die out, toxicity to 
  name a few. Yes, it is espoused by ag and hort experts as important and 
  pragmatic. Consider the source and what other sterling advise they give out.

  The biggest problem with charcoal is how to make it efficiently on a 
  small scale with local materials. I don't have any good answers yet. 
  Some of the work in India looks good but requires lots of time to manage 
  the process. Like Sean said high tech retorts aren't cheap. Plus you 
  have to be in an area where such a process is legal to do.

  So far I have used Cowboy lump charcoal ground to a powder, more or 
  less, with an old meat grinder and/or an electric coffee mill. Don't 
  laugh. It works for a few pounds. I have cultured the charcoal with my 
  own high quality worm castings, about 50/50, plus a small amount [3-5% 
  vol.] of soluble fish powder [or krill meal] plus a little rock 
  phosphate. I've use a very small amount [ maybe a couple of heaping 
  TBS.] of this on problem plants in pots or as a test on a few plants in 
  the veggie garden with positive results that were very obvious. And, 
  yes, I've used these materials separately without these results. It is 
  not a raw nutrient effect. This was all surface applied and watered in.

  I've also played around with potting soil tests and found the charcoal 
  to be too much at 5-10% compared to controls. A coarser charcoal might 
  be different but seems a waste [expensive] unless you have lots of 
  charcoal at hand. For potting soil there are lots of other granular 
  materials to increase porosity.

  Here is another idea worth pondering - "magic coal" made by pressure 
  cooking biomass. It avoids certain problems with making charcoal but has 
  some new issues to overcome.
  http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2071791,00.html<http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2071791,00.html>

  If anything I have said is worth discussing publicly or privately, 
  please have at it.

  John Cowan

  _______________________________________________
  Terrapreta mailing list
  Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070418/2c43e5c2/attachment-0001.html