[Terrapreta] Agrichar trialled in field at Wollongbar

[Michael Bailes]

 This is the first time I have seen anything on agrichar in a Oz
agriculture.Paper mill waste has up to 70% water content. You would not get
much free electricity from in a pyrolysis process  unless you added some
wood waste as well..
Paper mill waste is now dumped in landfill were it produces methane, a
greenhouse gas.

The emphasis and underlining in the article is mine.

Agrichar trialled in field at Wollongbar

 From the February 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
  [image: DPI research scientist, Lukas Van Zwieten, says charred feedlot
waste is now being applied at a rate of 20 tonnes per hectare to
Wollongbar's ferrosol soils.] DPI research scientist, Lukas Van Zwieten,
says charred feedlot waste is now being applied at a rate of 20 tonnes per
hectare to Wollongbar's ferrosol soils.

After very successful pot trials, Wollongbar Agricultural Institute
researchers are undertaking field trials to assess the value of agrichar on
iron-rich ferrosols.

Agrichar is organic matter that has been burnt very slowly with little
oxygen present, a process known as pyrolysis.

In the pot trials earlier this year, research scientist, Lukas Van Zwieten,
found charred paper mill waste applied at a rate of 10 tonnes per hectare
raised the soil pH by one unit, making the soil 10 times less acid.

The agrichar application also eliminated plant-available aluminium which is
toxic to some agricultural crops at low levels.

"The success of the pot trials encouraged us to do field trials," Dr Van
Zwieten said.

"In November we set up 36 replicated plots to investigate the benefits of
agrichar and lime on ferrosols.

"This time the agrichar is made from charred chicken and feedlot manure.

"We applied it at a rate of 20t/ha and incorporated it by rotary-hoeing to
15 centimetres.

"While it is extremely easy to spread because it is so light, we are looking
at ways of improving its handling and marketability.

"We have planted a peanut ground cover, arachnis pintoi, where we will
measure crop yields and hope to have results in early 2007.

"One of our main goals is to quantify carbon sequestration in soil.

"Agrichar has the potential to reverse 150 years of organic matter decline
in Australian soils.

"Results so far have been stunning.

"We will also measure the nutrient content of the agrichar, particularly
calcium and magnesium, its cation exchange capacity, pH and changes to
microbial activity and microbial biomass."

The agrichar research team has established a method for greenhouse gas
analysis to examine emissions from soils.

"Basically, we want to see if we can reduce the formation of nitrous oxides
which develop following fertiliser application," Dr Van Zwieten said.

"We suspect agrichar may help bind the nitrogen into the soil, reducing the
biological reactions that cause loss of nitrogen.

"Char itself has a high fertiliser value, depending on its source.

"We want to know how much nutrient in char is available to plants."

The Wollongbar field trials will provide information for a similar trial in
central Vietnam next year to build soil health and provide forage crops as
part of an ACIAR aid project.

The trials will complement Best Energy Australia's US work in charring dairy
and beef feedlot wastes.

There they are harnessing the energy generated by the pyrolysis process to
dry the effluent before it is pyrolised and spread on soil.

Results of the Wollongbar trials will be announced at an international
agrichar initiative conference at Terrigal in April.

Dr Van Zwieten is on the organising committee for this conference (website:
www.iaiconference.org).

*Contact the NSW DPI Environmental and Agricultural Health team at
www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/wollongbar/eah.htm*

*
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/news/agriculture-today/february-2007/agrichar-trialled-wollongbar
<http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/wollongbar/eah.htm>*


-- 
Michael Bailes.

"Human beings,
who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of
others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
Douglas Adams, "Last Chance to See"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070424/f877a586/attachment.html