[Terrapreta] Fwd: Google Alert - "terra preta "

[lou gold]

Sean,

I am pleading against a reductionist view that tries to separate wholes into
parts and pieces. It may very well turn out that the fundamental
'technology' of the Indios da Terra Preta  was spiritual, lying in a
foundation belief that the earth is sacred and must be treated as a whole
landscape of people and plants and soil and air and water and more.

The modern rational economic approach of agri-business is coming from
another place. Mostly it follows the path of massive public subsidies put in
place by agricultural and industrial lobbies that have learned how to turn
pieces into profits.  It is reductionist and not holistic. You have read
Michael Pollan's analysis of the Ag bill, correct?

I don't expect farmers to go "woo-woo" or suddenly see the spiritual light
of the ancients. Today is what it is and farmers are what they are. People
too! So let's make big subsidies that will turn waste into profits and
prosperity for all.

The rule in golf is "keep your eye on the hole, not on the ball." There's
got to be some equivalent phrase for agrichar. Got any ideas?

best,

lou



On 9/7/07, Sean K. Barry <sean.barry at juno.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Brian, Lou,
>
> I think this question about which is the most appropriate or most
> effective biomass feedstock to use for charcoal has a basic underlying
> premise first ...  What is the intended use of the charcoal?   Is it for
> soil remediation or carbon sequestration?
>
> These two objectives may require different properties of the charcoal,
> that may or may not mesh or overlap.  On the one hand, charcoal for soil
> remediation purposes may need to have certain volatile matter consistency,
> process temperature, porosity, etc., which give it properties that help the
> improvement of soil biology.  On the other hand, charcoal made for the
> purpose of simply "burying" it into the ground to sequester carbon may only
> require significant "fixed carbon" yield from the feedstock.
>
> I don't know that there is any overlap.  But, if agricultural wastes are
> used as feedstock and the charcoal is applied to the agricultural land that
> the feedstock came from, then I think it may be a requirement that it do
> something to improve the productivity of that agricultural land.  I don't
> think farmers will just "willy-nilly" start making charcoal from corn stover
> and putting it onto their land, just to save the planet.  They are going to
> want to see some benefits for them on their farm, as a result.
>
> The funny thing is, though ...  An argument could be made that massive
> carbon sequestration through burying massive amounts of charcoal made from
> ag waste onto ag land, even without direct or immediate soil biology
> benefits, may still be the best things farmers could do to improve the
> productivity of their land.  They would benefit if we could remediate the
> problem of GHG build up in the atmosphere and the consequent Global Climate
> Changes and Global Warming.
>
> Regards,
>
> SKB
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Brian Hans <bhans at earthmimic.com>
> *To:* Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> *Sent:* Friday, September 07, 2007 8:40 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [Terrapreta] Fwd: Google Alert - "terra preta "
>
> SKB,
>
> Because there are so many different feedstocks vs recipes vs soils vs
> ....  the question as to 'more or less effective' may never be answered and
> liken tend to liken it to art.
>
> Imagine a chef and his local marketplace, I find Thai and Spanish cuizine
> equally delicious tho I prefer Italian. And I most prefer the Italian in
> Italy and Chicago over others.
>
> I am always for more tests. Everything that we dont 100% fully understand
> needs more tests... No argument on more tests comment. But in the
> end...typically art and situ trump.
>
> Brian Hans
>
>  I wonder if the charcoal from corn stover would have less effectiveness
> as soil amendment, than charcoal made from, say, a Mahogany tree?
>
> It's worth a test, isn't it?
>
>
> SKB
>
>
>
>
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