[Terrapreta] char vs. diatomaceous earth

[Gerald Van Koeverden]

If the value of char is mainly as a habitat for micro-organisms,  
would another multi-porous material like diatomaceous earth have the  
same effect?

In looking for a cheap source of charcoal fines, I checked out the  
local distillery - Labatt's.  I had understood that charcoal is what  
was used to filter alcohol, just as it is used for filtering corn  
starch.

However, I discovered that Labatt's uses diatomaceous earth instead  
in all their beer breweries.  Their waste management people recycle  
it through compost.  I am guessing that the purpose of the composting  
process is to 'clean up' all the gunk collected in its pores, since  
this waste can become rather malodorous.  If added directly to the  
soil and incorporated, the smell should be minimal.

However, I can't find any research related to the effects of using it  
as such.

Anybody have any experience using it as such (as opposed to its use  
as an organic pesticide)?

If I can get some of it, I'll do a comparison test with char

Gerrit