[Terrapreta] alkaline soils

[Michael Bailes]

Interesting experiment and observations Randy thanks.
I think I am now even more confused :)

There was a Canadian guy at the IAI conference who was just making liquid
bio-oils for fuel.(I think it gets cold in Canada) He said this was one of
the easiest and cheapest ways of transporting bio-energy as you could use
tankers.
I suggested to him that he try experimenting with the bio-oil as a soil
amendment.
My suggestion may have fell on deaf ears; but it would be fascinating to see
what different concentrations of "pure" bio-oils would have on soil.
m


On 17/05/07, Randy Black <rblack at hillcity.k12.sd.us> wrote:
>
>
> For the acid loving plants you may need that or some other source
> material that was acidic to start with. From my research the more
> bio-oil you have in the char the more acidic




Also the more partial the pine needle char the higher the
> acidic effects.
>
> Discussion
> The results in Experiment 1 show that the acidic effects of pine needles
> rest mainly in the volatile oil/acids contained in pine needles as seen
> in the partial char and bio-oil results bringing the ph levels down to
> below 7. However pine needle char will bring the ph level of water down
> to towards the neutral level of ph 7 as seen in Experiments 2 and 3 with
> longer exposure.




The difference between the ph affects of bio-oil and
> charred pine needle may be due to a chemical process versus and
> physical-chemical process as low temperature biochar does contain some
> of the parent materials properties as impurities with the char. More
> investigations are needed to identify what affects the high surface
> area, adsorption properties, and impurities in low temperature pine
> needle biochar have on modifying ph. Dry ground uncharred pine needles
> also lower the ph of water but take much more processing time and energy
> and do not have the adsorption properties or increased cation exchange




capacity of char.
>
> The results of Experiment 4 show that a small amount of pine needle
> bio-oil can significantly reduce the ph of large amounts of water.
>
>
> What affects partial char, char, and bio-oil would have on high ph soils
> would need to be field tested with a variety of soil under various
> condition and with differing percentages of pine needle biochar/bio-oil.
> Reducing the ph of water and reducing the ph of soils are two different
> processes and long term field testing is needed. Most likely the
> acidifying affects of the bio-oil and partial pine needle biochar would
> be temporary but due to the recalcitrance of charcoal, its high surface
> area, and adsorption properties, charred pine needles may be able to
> maintain soil at a ph level of 7 for much longer.
>
>
>
> Summary
> The implications of pine needle biochar for Terra Preta research and
> charcoal enhanced soils are tremendous. First, we now have the ability
> to add char to soil that will reduce the ph level instead of increase it
> but still contribute the benefits of charcoal in soil using a common
> readily available material. This has implications for alkaline soils and
> to create soils for crops that need acidic conditions. Second, this
> demonstrates that we can tailor one of the chemical properties of
> biochar to match soil conditions based on the chemistry of the parent
> material. This means that Terra Preta science can be applied to a wide
> variety of soils and has the potential to be individualized to match
> soil ph conditions and crop ph ranges. Third, if we can do this with ph
> levels can Terra Preta science be applied to doing this with trace
> minerals for crop nutrients or for a chemical/mineral balance that may
> be selective in establishing a desirable specific microbial community.
> The physics and chemistry of pine needle biochar's ph affects are
> entirely different from what would be needed to add specific
> minerals/chemicals to soil but demonstrates that Terra Preta technology
> is much more than just adding charcoal to the soil and could
> revolutionize our ideas on soil and crop management.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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