[Terrapreta] publicizing online help wanted service

[dyarrow at nycap.rr.com]

nice try, doug, but you may need a heavy hammer to get your points 
across.  

we have a lot of re-education to do, because terra preta's charcoal 
strategy flies in the face of conventional wisdom about fertilizers 
and soil fertility.  after all, the organic / ecological farm 
movement's emphasis on building organic carbon in soils by composting 
still hasn't made more than a small dent in the prejudices and pre-
judgments of existing agricultural institutions and their experts.  
for that matter, in nearly two decades, even no-till has had a stiff 
and steep upill struggle to gain limited credibility and practice.

my own perception that terra preta research is driven by 
archaeologsts, anthropoligists, ecologists, and soil scientists -- but 
very few agricultural scientists have paid attention.  terra preta 
contradicts their preconceived notions.  and while i haven't read all 
the papers of lehmann, steiner, antal, ogawa and all, i doubt a stack 
of documents will change many made-up minds.

my own view is you rarely teach an old dog new tricks -- better to get 
a new dog.  while we wait for conventional ag institutions to change 
their deep-dug mindset, let's recruit eco-aware farmers to collaborate 
in on-farm biochar field trials.  i hope this doesn't sound 
excessively negative and cynical. (hawaii doesn't count, as it's an 
island unto itself with unique motivations to find a way out of the 
big oil synthetic oil box)

my recommendation to terra preta advocates and promoters is to contact 
fred walters at acres USA and ask to give a 60-minute workshop at the 
next acres USA conference in dec. 2007.  better yet, teach an all-day 
or half-day pre-conference training session, preceded by a feature 
article in the october or november issue of acres USA magazine.  and 
ditto for all the other regional eco/organic farming conferences: 
NOFA, PASA, CCOF, etc.  and walk into those conferences with big bags 
of biochar for farmers to take home and test on small plots and pots.

we need this sort of strategy to recruit an initial crop of farmer-
collaborators in on-farm terra preta field tests -- assuming we can 
come up with a sufficient volume of proper quality bio-char to be used 
in such field trials.  i certainly will do my best to recruit farmer-
collaborators in the northeast, and NY in particular.  right now, i am 
confident i can convince the buffalo manager at onondaga nation to 
conduct field trials with bio-char on their carbon and trace element 
deficient pasture -- and this year they intend to start a 50-acre 
vegetable farm.  but i hate to consider the cost of shipping a few 
truckloads of charcoal to central NY from athens, GA.

i certainly agree with the assessment that corn-derived ethanol is not 
wise -- not until we develop less soil-destructive, energy-consumptive 
ways to grow corn.  the benefit of corn-based ethanol is only a slight 
reduction in dependence on imported oil -- we reduce our oil-
dependence for auto fuel, but still rely on energy-intensive 
fertilizers to grow the corn.

and so far, i haven't yet read anything about processes and costs to 
refine crude biofuel extracted by pyrolysis into various grades and 
qualities of usable fuels.  such refining technology already exists 
for crude oil, coal oil and other raw fuels, so it won't take a techno-
revolution to develop similar biofuel refining.  but it all reduces 
down to the numbers, and we need data to show biofuel refining is 
economical -- at least before crude oil reaches $100/barrel.

David Yarrow
"If yer not forest, yer against us."
Turtle EyeLand Sanctuary
44 Gilligan Road, East Greenbush, NY 12061
518-330-2587
dyarrow at nycap.rr.com
www.championtrees.org
www.OnondagaLakePeaceFestival.org
www.citizenre.com/dyarrow/
www.SeaAgri.com
 
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, 
if one only remembers to turn on the light."  
-Albus Dumbledore
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Douglas Clayton 
To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org 
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2007 9:01 PM
Subject: [Terrapreta] "unanticipated consequences"


Yesterday afternoon NPR's "Talk of the Nation--Science Friday" had a 
program "Is Biofuel a Viable Alternative to Gasoline?", in which they 
pretty effectively trashed grain based ethanol and promoted cellulosic 
for about half an hour. You can listen here: 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7806281

The guests were:
Dan Kammen, co-director, Berkeley Institute of the Environment; 
professor, Energy And Resources Group, University of California, 
Berkeley
Mitch Mandich, CEO of Range Fuels
Jim McMillan , manager, Biorefining Process R&D Group at the National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory

So after the show I wrote a letter to Dr. Kammen and Dr. McMillan. Dr. 
McMillan is on the road and couldn't be reached, but I had the 
following brief exchange with Dr. Kammen which I share with you here 
(my letter is below): 

--------------------------------------------------------------

On Mar 9, 2007, at 8:24 PM, Dan Kammen wrote:

i am very skeptical about soil altering as a real way to sequester 
carbon.

------------------------------------------------------------

Could you please elaborate? Is this after studying Lehmann's,
Steiner's, Ogawas', Laird's and others work, or is this just a hunch?
Can you please refer me to some of the papers refuting Lehmann et. al.?
Thank you.

Doug Clayton

--------------------------------------------------------

yes, these sorts of efforts have historically resulted in
initially unanticipated consequences and other ecological impacts.

--------------------------------------------------------

"these sorts of efforts"? Please site an example of what you are 
referring to. Are you familiar with this bio-char research or not? I 
am unaware of any historical effort to sequester carbon in the soil 
beyond the traditional strategies for increasing biomass through 
improved agricultural practices and restoration of forests.

-------------------------------------------------------

That is where it ended, just moments after it began. Perhaps he was 
offended by my style. But I am left wondering what he was talking 
about and I put it out there to the rest of the group: 

Who are the skeptics, what are they saying and where are they saying 
it? Are there academics publishing papers that contradict the "hopeful 
news" we've all been pumping each other up with?

My letter:

Dear Dr. Kammen and Dr. McMillan,

I just heard you two on NPR's "Science Friday" and spent a
frustrating half hour redialing in an attempt to get on. Enjoyed 
hearing your
discussion anyway. Too bad it was so short.

A few weeks ago I woke up to all the excitement one can find on the
web regarding Terra Preta soils and the potential to recreate them,
sequester carbon, make bio-fuels, engage in "carbon trading", etc.,
etc. Since there are scientist like Dr. Lehmann at Cornell, Dr. Laird
at the USDA lab in Iowa, Dr. Brown at the Iowa State and Dr. Antal at
the U. of Hawaii who are doing some of the primary research, I'm
inclined to hope that there may be something to it.

I want to contribute to this effort in some way.

I have spoken and corresponded with Dr. Lehmann and Dr. Laird (and a
few others) and they have been very helpful and given some good
guidance. I have been reaching out to soil scientists in New England
in the hope of discovering or stimulating some research in my region.
And I have been seeking entrepreneurial partners with whom to pursue
economic opportunities. My primary motivation is a "save the planet"
one but I have aroused the interest of an investment banker friend in
New York with whom I have a good working relationship.

I am meeting with with Danny Day and others at Eprida in Athens
Georgia next week. The Eprida vision of distributed pyrolizers, 
producing
both a nitrogen rich charcoal based fertilizer and biofuels is the most
intriguing, holistic, multifaceted concept I've read about in this 
arena.

I would appreciate the opportunity to have a brief phone conversation 
with you
regarding Eprida and/or alternative technologies I should
be directing venture capital towards.

I'll gladly call you if you give me a number and time.

Douglas Clayton
50 Bullard Road
Jaffrey, NH 03452
H. 603-532-7321
W. 603-532-1120
Fax. 603-532-4581
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