[Terrapreta] Flash Carbonization in the news

[Green Waste Recycle Yard]

A couple of links today about UH's flash carbonization. I was interested to
read about carbon fuel cells, which apparently promise to be more efficient
than hydrogen. Also his remarks about the degree of carbonization being a
factor in increasing agricultuiral productivity.
 
Excerpt (emphasis mine):

Uehara said Amazonian Indians were adding charcoal to soils centuries ago to
create fertile terra preta, or dark soil, which altered their productivity
permanently. "It is so valuable now, people are mining it."

UH soil scientists are "way ahead" of researchers elsewhere in
characterizing the charcoal, said Tai McClellan, UH graduate student.

She did initial experiments on plants with Antal's charcoal as an
undergraduate with soil fertility specialist Jonathan Deenik. The first
results were disappointing, she said, "but we didn't want to quit. We
decided to look at the charcoal itself."

They found that the more "cooked," or carbonized, it was, the better it was
for growth, she said. Now Antal is producing "designer charcoal" with high-
and low-volatile matter for research, Uehara said.

Antal also is doing research on charcoal-powered carbon fuel cells, which he
said are much more efficient than hydrogen fuel cells.

"The military is investing a lot of money in developing carbon fuel cells,"
he said, adding that he is a consultant to Stanford Research Institute,
which is doing a lot of work in that area.

 
http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/17/news/story06.html
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http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/17/news/story08.html
<blocked::http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/17/news/story08.html> 
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