[Terrapreta] Pyrolysis-An article you MAY find of interest

[joe ferguson]

Check out this site http://www.fantasycongress.com/legislation/S.1884
 and cast your own vote on the matter.  At this point there is little 
reported progress on the bill and no discussion at the site.

Michael Bailes wrote:
>
> Towards carbon-negative bioenergy: US Senator introduces biochar *...* 
> <http://biopact.com/2007/10/towards-carbon-negative-bioenergy-us.html>
> By Biopact team(Biopact team)
> The energy produced from the remainder of the biomass is used to heat 
> the *pyrolysis* unit and/or provide energy for on-farm use, such as 
> heat and electricity for lighting, fans, refrigerators, milking 
> machines, etc. *...*
> biopact - http://biopact.com/ <http://biopact.com/>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This week Biopact will zoom in on the latest developments in 
> carbon-negative biofuels and bioenergy. Over the coming days we will 
> be looking at the science behind the concept, at results of field 
> experiments, at information resources and documentaries, and at new 
> educational initiatives. By way of introduction, we present new 
> legislation recently introduced to promote biochar research in the 
> United States.
>
> Biofuels and bioenergy are often presented as 'carbon-neutral' because 
> the carbon dioxide emitted by their use is taken up again as new 
> energy crops grow. Like wind or solar power, they do not add CO2 to 
> the atmosphere. But the bioenergy community has long gone beyond this 
> concept and has begun looking at the production of carbon-negative 
> fuels and energy instead. These do not merely avoid new emissions from 
> entering the atmosphere, they effectively take CO2 from the past out 
> of the atmosphere.
>
> Carbon-negative bioenergy can be obtained via two ways: a high-tech 
> and a low-tech process. The high-tech pathway involves transforming 
> biomass into energy and fuels, while capturing the CO2 and 
> sequestering it in its gaseous form into geological sites such as 
> depleted oil and gas fields, unminable coal seams or saline aquifers. 
> They draw on 'carbon capture and storage' (CCS) techniques currently 
> being developed by the coal industry.
>
> The low-tech route consists of transforming biomass into useable fuels 
> while keeping part of the carbon locked into an inert form, called 
> biochar ('agrichar'). This biochar is then simply added to 
> agricultural soils, in which the carbon can be sequestered safely for 
> hundreds, possibly thousands of years. The discovery of ancient 'terra 
> preta' soils demonstrates that carbon effectively remains locked up 
> for a very long period of time.
>
> More and more research shows that soils amended with the char have 
> very beneficial effects on crop growth. The enhanced nutrient 
> retention capacity of biochar-amended soil not only reduces the total 
> fertilizer requirements but also the climate and environmental impact 
> of croplands. Char-amended soils have shown 50 - 80 percent reductions 
> in nitrous oxide emissions and reduced runoff of phosphorus into 
> surface waters and leaching of nitrogen into groundwater. As a soil 
> amendment, biochar significantly increases the efficiency of and 
> reduces the need for traditional chemical fertilizers, while greatly 
> enhancing crop yields. Experiments have shown yields for some crops 
> can be doubled and even tripled (previous post 
> <http://biopact.com/2007/06/research-confirms-biochar-in-soils.html>).
>
> Biochar thus offers the promise of carbon-negative biofuel production 
> sustained by a cycle in which crop production is boosted, emissions 
> lowered, and reliance on synthetic fertilizers reduced. Moreover, 
> unlike CCS it is a cost-effective carbon sequestration method: under a 
> basic scenario sequestering biochar from biofuels produced by 
> pyrolysis would be competitive when carbon prices reach US$37 (carbon 
> currently fetches €21.55 on the European market, that is $30.5, and 
> prices are expected to increase strongly in the near future).
>
> The great advantage of biochar is the fact that the technique can be 
> applied world-wide on agricultual soils, and even by rural communities 
> in the developing world because it is relatively low tech. It is hoped 
> that at the upcoming UNFCCC summit in Bali, experts will include 
> biochar as a strategy to fight climate change that would be eligible 
> for carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism.
>
> The biochar concept has meanwhile received formal political support. 
> In order to speed up biochar research the U.S., Colorado's Senator Ken 
> Salazar (D) recently introduced 'The Salazar Harvesting Energy Act of 
> 2007' 
> <http://www.biochar-international.org/images/S.1884_Salazar_Harvesting_Energy_Act_of_2007.pdf> 
> [*.pdf], focused on carbon-negative bioenergy production. The bill 
> (S.1884) is awaiting discussion in the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition 
> and Forestry Committee. The following is a summary of the legislation 
> as it relates to biochar:
> energy <http://technorati.com/tag/energy> :: sustainability 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/sustainability> :: climate change 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/climate+change> :: carbon cycle 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/carbon+cycle> :: biomass 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/biomass> :: bioenergy 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/bioenergy> :: biofuels 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/biofuels> :: biochar 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/biochar> :: terra preta 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/terra+preta> :: carbon negative 
> <http://technorati.com/tag/carbon-negative> ::
>
> Carbon-Negative Biomass Energy and Soil Quality Initiative for the 
> 2007 Farm Bill
>
> "You can fix all the world's problems in a garden. . . .
> Most people don't know that"
> FROM
> http://www.blog.thesietch.org/wp-content/permaculture.swf
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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