[Terrapreta] Flash carbonization

[Michael Bailes]

On 19/08/07, Robert Flanagan <saffechina at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> The key question regarding good char and bad char is, what is the
> microbial response to different char and does that response dramatically
> change when the char is produce at different temperatures? If we're looking
> for long term carbon storage in the soil then the biological response should
> be one of the key areas of research."
>


I would hypothesize that the more resins in the char the more microbial life
will be stimulated

In the Amazon hardwood trees are used.

So then the lower the temperature the more oil/resins; therefore more soil
microbial activity.

If we think "feeding" the soil, rather than "fertilising" the soil, this
might change how we see SOM.
Testing this in situ will be very difficult (Testing almost anything about
soil life is fraught)

I would imagine the fertiliser content of the feedstock-manure will also
have a marked effect on soil microbiology.
I am not sure if it would encourage or suppress it.  Some recent research
has shown high nitrogen fertilisers having a harmful effect on soil
microbiology.


Michael the Archangel

"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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