[Terrapreta] Methane and pottery

[Sean K. Barry]

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Hi Robert,

All the CH4 in the stratosphere is not "consumed".  It has a half-life of 7 years in the oxygenated atmosphere.  I pointed this out to you.  It doesn't mean it all goes away in 7 years.  It does mean that half of what is there will go away in 7 years.  That does not necessarily mean the concentration is reduced by half in 7 years, either.  The concentration is a closed system measurement.
It needs to take into account the rates and the growth in the rates of both the in-fluxes and the out-fluxes.

It's simple math.  It's like balancing your church's checkbook!

     Church checkbook balance = current Church checkbook balance + debits - credits

     GHG concentration = current levels of GHG +  GHG inputs - GHG outputs 

On average during recent times the measured CONCENTRATION is going up (look at the graphs below).  This absolutely means the inputs of atmospheric GHGs are exceeding and outpacing the outputs (e.g. degradation of CH4, absorption by the oceans, etc.).  It can be shown too, that human inputs of GHGs are the vast bulk of all the GHG inputs.
      <http://photos.msn.com/Viewing/Album.aspx?PST=8nK2AN1B!1LmPLmC9HXTY9LVsn5oiMLNcNwcDMLfTqK6LQ*y*tj!VQ9D3GwufbX*U85hUQkbQEmicdXS6bsL!Q%24%24> 
      All GHG concentrations are going up, so (input - outputs) > 0.  This is not rocket science, its pictures.  Look at all the up slopes in these timed graphs.  This shows GHGs are ALL increasing recently. 
      <http://photos.msn.com/Viewing/Album.aspx?PST=8nK2AN1B!1LmPLmC9HXTY9LVsn5oiMLNcNwcDMLfTqK6LQ*y*tj!VQ9D3GwufbX*U85hUQkbQEm3dtf2HHNpkQ%24%24> 
     
In this graphic above. there is a picture of the globe, showing the locations of surface plumes of Methane-CH4.  They are around areas with known large populations.  They are showing where oil exploration is occurring in northern Alaska, disturbing the primordial Arctic permafrost and releasing Methane gas.  They are over jungles, too.  The new Methane plumes (increasing sources) on ON LAND, where people, animals, and livign things on land produce it.

This graphic shows concentrations from spanning 1.6 ppmv to 1.84 ppmv (ppmv = parts per million by volume, a tiny amount really), in full color separation.  The global average for surface Methane-CH4 concentration, as shown in the set of graphs above this one, has grown from 1.62 ppmv to 1.750 ppmv in just 25 years.  That spans this entire graphic!  The history of growth over the last 25 years alone of Methane-CH4 inputs to the system (global atmospheric concentration) are shown in this single graphic!

This is clear evidence that truly large increase in GHG have occurred and that recent human activity is primarily responsible for it.

You saying otherwise, does not help our cause.

You "naturally pospulated" that, huh?

Did it come to you this morning, that the bowl would smother maybe a "bowls worth" of charcoal?

You gotta start to grip the scope of this problem, Bob!  Releasing only 2% output of CH4 in the producer gas, coming from enough "open-air" earthen kilns to make 6 BILLION tons of charcoal every year, is just going to blow the current growth in Methane concentrations AWAY.

No where, worldwide, do we currently release anything like 2% Methane-CH4 concentrations, from the processes we do on an industrial scale.  2% is 20,000 parts per million, Bob.  That is way beyond the worst 1.84 ppm plume on that map above.

Do you get this now?  Are you missing the 10,000 fold expansion in Methane-CH4 emissions, that your proposal for making Terra Preta will bring to the world?

Regards,

SKB
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Klein<mailto:arclein at yahoo.com> 
  To: terra preta<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 2:09 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] Methane and pottery


  I posted this on my Blog.  Go there for my ongoing
  discussion on Terra Preta

  http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com<http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/>

  In the end concerns over methane production are
  irrelevant. We have doubled production in the last
  century and it is all gone. The reason is ultimately
  very simple. It migrates to the upper atmosphere and
  is consumed. This is something that is not an option
  for CO2.

  Does the sharp increase in methane reaching the
  troposphere have any effect whatsoever? The quick
  answer is nothing that is obvious. It is a little like
  measuring the effect of the Mississippi on the
  Atlantic. The practical answer as always is to make as
  much as you desire and see were it takes you. My guess
  is nowhere.

  That means that methane production concerns regarding
  all forms of biowaste combustion are misplaced. My
  real concern would be for well intentioned government
  regulation been actively imposed forcing a larger
  industrial price for the use of the method.

  The second issue that has attracted comment is the
  association of pottery shards in the terra preta
  soils. I naturally postulated that this was partly to
  do with the disposal of kitchen waste in the corn
  stover stack kilns as we described in earlier postings
  in July. I also realized that a large bowl would have
  to be used to transport hot coals to the top of the
  stack and perhaps dumped into a prepared chimney.

  These bowls are as primitive as you can get and very
  prone to heat breakage, so the presence of pottery is
  no surprise. My discomfort came from the fact that
  they would have normally taken broken pottery away
  with them for disposal elsewhere. So why not?

  The answer came to me this morning. It is natural to
  take the bowl of coals to the top of the stack and to
  dump them there in the center and to let the coals
  slowly burn out a chimney. The problem is that you
  have to cover these coals with dirt to prevent flame
  out. The best way to do that is to upend the bowl on
  top of the coals and to throw dirt on top of that.
  Otherwise, the coals will end up been smothered by the
  dirt. The bowl would then migrate slowly to the bottom
  of the stack. In the process the high heat would cause
  this low quality pottery to breakup into very small
  pieces not worth recovering or causing any difficulty
  for cultivation.

  Actually a pretty nifty solution to the problem of
  controlling the ignition coal mass. While this was
  progressing, the farmer would stand by to throw dirt
  on any emerging openings in the stack to prevent a
  flare up.


         
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