[Terrapreta] Incineration and pyrolsis technology.

[Robert Klein]

Hi Gerald

That is a good question.  The real issue is the level
of carbonization.  Anything that is not fully
charcoaled can still be attacked by the local biology
very quickly.  And will be, even if wood.

Corn will revert to a powdered charcoal which the
Amazon proves is good for hundreds of years.  Wood
charcoal would actually need to be pulverized before
it is incorporated into soil.  Fortunately very easy.

What is wonderful about charcoal is that is sucks up
any soluable salt with a free ion and hangs onto it
until a biological agent appears capable of removing
it even years later. That sounds like a nutrient to
me.

I had speculated for years as to whether charcoal
could be beneficial to agriculture.  I never imagined
that the indians of the Amazon would hand us thousands
of years of proof!   Decades of research have just
been short circuited

regards

bob




--- Gerald Van Koeverden <vnkvrdn at yahoo.ca> wrote:

> 
> On 11-Jul-07, at 7:30 PM, Robert Klein wrote:
> 
> > Turning all of it into bio char is a wonderful
> > alternative since it applies to all organic waste
> and
> > the bulk of the contained carbon is then locked
> into a
> > form that can be put into the soil, rather than re
> > escaping into the air while it rots.
> 
> What but is the longevity of biochar made from
> annual plants like  
> corn stalks compared to that made from woody
> materials?  Woody  
> biochar might last for 1,000's of years, but I don't
> have any  
> estimate for that made from annuals..I have the idea
> that it is not  
> nearly so resistent to degeneration.
> 
> Gerrit
> 



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