[Terrapreta] John Cowan's comments

[Michael Bailes]

There is much argument about whether growing forests does sequester carbon,
and if it does for how long.
But there is no need to grow forests for charcoal. (Although I see this as a
better use than in Australia and Tasmania and Indonesia at the moment where
old growth forests go to make paper.)
If you use the pyrolysis technology of BEST Energies you can turn anything
organic  with up to 70% water into charcoal.If they can make charcoal for
less than $200 a tonne as they are planning/hoping to a lot of things may
become possible
Much organic matter now goes into landfills and produces methane- a
greenhouse gas.

I think wholesale adoption of charcoal use by Agriculture and horticulture
Industries could stop the rise in CO2. That may be optimistic. You may be
skeptical or pessimistic, that's OK. Every kilo of charcoal that goes into
the soil is carbon not going into the atmosphere .
 At the moment most would agree this is a good thing.

I enjoyed your post John but can't understand your disappointment in the
list.It is very new. Perhaps you are just further along the experiment and
TP knowledge road than most. Posts like your last will hep others catch up.
Why not browse though the list research archives in the meantime?
Michael B
On 19/04/07, adkarve <adkarve at pn2.vsnl.net.in> wrote:
>
>  Dear John,
> I am a hundred percent with you. Charcoal is a valuable fuel. A small
> quantity of charcoal added to the soil as an amendment would be acceptable,
> but making charcoal and burying it in the soil just as a means of carbon
> sequestration would not be acceptable. Growing forests is a better way of
> carbon sequestration. Charcoal is highly porous. It is my hunch that it not
> only offers extra surface for microbes to settle on, but also a place where
> they can survive in the dry season. I have also aired my view, that the
> microbes degraded soil minerals because they needed the mineral ions for
> their own metabolism. Plants learned the trick of feeding the microbes with
> organic matter, so that their numbers increased and they thus made more
> nutrients available to the plants.
> Yours
> Dr.A.D.Karve, President,
> Appropriate Rural Technology Institute,
> Pune, India.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
>
>


-- 
Michael Bailes.

"I know the answer!
The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!
The answer is twelve?
I think I'm in the wrong building."
         -- Charles M. Schulz
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