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

[Ron Larson]

Michael and Terra Preta members:

    1.  In addition to the link that Michael has provided below, I recommend http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html
for a complete summary of this Salazar bill and a direct link to the full bill.

    2.  Such a bill will have a lot more traction if it can gather more co-sponsors from other Senators.  If you have any way of talking to anyone influential with any US Senator, your influence could be very helpful in moving biochar ("terra preta") into a greater chance of consideration.

Ron


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michael Bailes 
  To: Terrapreta 
  Cc: Steve Hopley ; Natural Capital - Gus ; Stephen Joseph 
  Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 10:34 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] Pyrolysis-An article you MAY find of interest


  Towards carbon-negative bioenergy: US Senator introduces biochar ...
  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/ 


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  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).

  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' [*.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 :: sustainability :: climate change :: carbon cycle :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: biochar :: terra preta :: 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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