[Terrapreta] Welcome New Members
Shengar at aol.com
Shengar at aol.com
Sat Apr 5 22:29:45 CDT 2008
Welcome All,
I hope you become as passionate as I have to spreading the news of the
multiple solutions Terra Preta soils provides.
I'm sort of a TP cub reporter for the list, most of my post are on news and
collaborative efforts caught in my Google filters., my lobbying efforts with
writers, companies, academics, journals or governments.
Below is my current TP posting of News & Links which I promiscuously post to
anyone who has an iron in this fire, cut and paste it freely .
Cheers,
Erich
Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
(540) 289-9750
_shengar at aol.com_ (mailto:shengar at aol.com)
My Current efforts are trying to contact folks doing Metagenomic research
and putting the Terra Preta bug in their ears.
This technology represents the most comprehensive, low cost, and productive
approach to long term stewardship and sustainability.Terra Preta Soils a
process for Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration, 1/3 Lower
CH4 & N2O soil emissions, and 3X Fertility Too.
UN Climate Change Conference: Biochar present at the Bali Conference
_http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/steinerbalinov2107_
(http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/steinerbalinov2107)
SCIAM Article May 15 07;
_http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E4
0_
(http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40)
After many years of reviewing solutions to anthropogenic global warming
(AGW) I believe this technology can manage Carbon for the greatest collective
benefit at the lowest economic price, on vast scales. It just needs to be seen
by ethical globally minded companies.
The main hurtle now is to change the current perspective held that the soil
carbon cycle is a wash, to one in which soil can be used as a massive and
ubiquitous Carbon sink via Charcoal. Below are the first concrete steps in that
direction;
S.1884 – The Salazar Harvesting Energy Act of 2007
A Summary of Biochar Provisions in S.1884:
Carbon-Negative Biomass Energy and Soil Quality Initiative
for the 2007 Farm Bill
_http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html
_
(http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html)
Bolstering Biomass and Biochar development: In the 2007 Farm Bill, Senator
Salazar was able to include $500 million for biomass research and development
and for competitive grants to develop the technologies and processes
necessary for the commercial production of biofuels and bio-based products. Biomass
is an organic material, usually referring to plant matter or animal waste.
Using biomass for energy can reduce waste and air pollution. Biochar is a
byproduct of producing energy from biomass. As a soil treatment, it enhances the
ability of soil to capture and retain carbon dioxide.
Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.
Potential Carbon Emissions Reductions from Biomass by 2030by Ralph P.
Overend, Ph.D. and Anelia Milbrandt
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
_http://www.ases.org/climatechange/toc/07_biomass.pdf_
(http://www.ases.org/climatechange/toc/07_biomass.pdf)
The organization 25x25 (http://www.25x25.org/) released it's (first-ever,
55-page )"Action Plan" ; see;
_http://www.25x25.org/storage/25x25/documents/IP%20Documents/ActionPlanFinalWEB_04-19-07.pdf_
(http://www.25x25.org/storage/25x25/documents/IP%20Documents/ActionPlanFinalWEB_04-19-07.pdf)
On page 29 , as one of four foci for recommended RD&D, the plan lists: "The
development of biochar, animal agriculture residues and other non-fossil fuel
based fertilizers, toward the end of integrating energy production with
enhanced soil quality and carbon sequestration."
and on p 32, recommended as part of an expanded database aspect of
infrastructure: "Information on the application of carbon as fertilizer and existing
carbon credit trading systems."
.
There are 24 billion tons of carbon controlled by man in his agriculture and
waste stream, all that farm & cellulose waste which is now dumped to rot or
digested or combusted and ultimately returned to the atmosphere as GHG
should be returned to the Soil.
Even with all the big corporations coming to the GHG negotiation table, like
Exxon, Alcoa, .etc, we still need to keep watch as they try to influence how
carbon management is legislated in the USA. Carbon must have a fair price,
that fair price and the changes in the view of how the soil carbon cycle now
can be used as a massive sink verses it now being viewed as a wash, will be of
particular value to farmers and a global cool breath of fresh air for us
all.
Also Here is the Latest BIG Terra Preta Soil news;
_Biopact_ (http://biopact.com/2008/03/biopact-creates-biochar-fund.html) , a
leading bioenergy web site, has announced the creation of a "_Biochar Fund_
(http://biocharfund.com/) " to help poor farmers improve their quality of life
without hurting the environment.
_http://biocharfund.com/_ (http://biocharfund.com/)
Beyond Zero Emissions interviews Dr Lukas Van Zweitan senior research
scientist of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI). Who is working hand-on
with soil research focusing on Bio Char ;
" ten-fold reductions in nitrous oxide soil emissions."
_More Carbon for Soils More Carbon for Crops - Carbon Negative Farming with
Bio Char | Zero Emissions Climate Change Global Warming Solution_
(http://beyondzeroemissions.org/2008/03/30/lukas-van-zwieten-nsw-dpi-biochar-agrichar-terr
a-preta-soil-trials-zero-carbon)
The Honolulu Advertiser: "The nation's leading manufacturer of charcoal has
licensed a University of Hawai'i process for turning green waste into
barbecue briquets."
See: _http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/antalkingsford_
(http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/antalkingsford)
ConocoPhillips Establishes $22.5 Million Pyrolysis Program at Iowa State
_http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007news/04-10-2007.htm_
(http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007news/04-10-2007.htm)
Glomalin, the recently discovered soil protien, may be the secret to to TP
soils productivity;
_http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2003/030205.htm_
(http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2003/030205.htm)
Mycorrhizae Inoculents; _http://www.mycorrhizae.com/_
(http://www.mycorrhizae.com/)
The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) conference held at Terrigal,
NSW, Australia in 2007. The papers from this conference are posted at their
home page; _http://www.biochar-international.org/home.html_
(http://www.biochar-international.org/home.html)
Here is my current Terra Preta posting/prapganda which condenses the most
important stories and links;
Terra Preta Soils Technology To Master the Carbon Cycle
Man has been controlling the carbon cycle , and there for the weather, since
the invention of agriculture, all be it was as unintentional, as our current
airliner contrails are in affecting global dimming. This unintentional warm
stability in climate has over 10,000 years, allowed us to develop to the
point that now we know what we did,............ and that now......... we are over
doing it.
The prehistoric and historic records gives a logical thrust for soil carbon
sequestration.
I wonder what the soil biome carbon concentration was REALLY like before the
cutting and burning of the world's forest, my guess is that now we see a
severely diminished community, and that only very recent Ag practices like
no-till and reforestation have started to help rebuild it. It makes
implementing Terra Preta soil technology like an act of penitence, a returning of the
misplaced carbon to where it belongs.
On the Scale of CO2 remediation:
It is my understanding that atmospheric CO2 stands at 379 PPM, to stabilize
the climate we need to reduce it to 350 PPM by the removal of 230 Billion
tons of carbon.
The best estimates I've found are that the total loss of forest and soil
carbon (combined
pre-industrial and industrial) has been about 200-240 billion tons. Of
that, the soils are estimated to account for about 1/3, and the vegetation
the other 2/3.
Since man controls 24 billion tons in his agriculture then it seems we have
plenty to work with in sequestering our fossil fuel CO2 emissions as stable
charcoal in the soil.
As Dr. Lehmann at Cornell points out, "Closed-Loop Pyrolysis systems such as
Dr. Danny Day's are the only way to make a fuel that is actually carbon
negative". and that " a strategy combining biochar with biofuels could ultimately
offset 9.5 billion tons of carbon per year-an amount equal to the total
current fossil fuel emissions! "
Terra Preta Soils Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration,
1/3 Lower CH4 & N2O soil emissions, and 3X FertilityToo
This some what orphaned new soil technology speaks to so many different
interests and disciplines that it has not been embraced fully by any. I'm sure
you will see both the potential of this system and the convergence needed for
it's implementation.
The integrated energy strategy offered by Charcoal based Terra Preta Soil
technology may
provide the only path to sustain our agricultural and fossil fueled power
structure without climate degradation, other than nuclear power.
The economics look good, and truly great if we had CO2 cap & trade or a
Carbon tax in place.
.Nature article, Aug 06: Putting the carbon back Black is the new green:
_http://bestenergies.com/downloads/naturemag_200604.pdf _
(http://bestenergies.com/downloads/naturemag_200604.pdf)
Here's the Cornell page for an over view:
_http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/Biochar_home.htm _
(http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/Biochar_home.htm)
University of Beyreuth TP Program, Germany
_http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=taxonomy/term/118 _
(http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=taxonomy/term/118)
This Earth Science Forum thread on these soils contains further links, and
has been viewed by 70,000 self-selected folks. ( I post everything I find on
Amazon Dark Soils, ADS here):
_http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta.html _
(http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta.html)
There is an ecology going on in these soils that is not completely
understood, and if replicated and applied at scale would have multiple benefits for
farmers and environmentalist.
Terra Preta creates a terrestrial carbon reef at a microscopic level. These
nanoscale structures provide safe haven to the microbes and fungus that
facilitate fertile soil creation, while sequestering carbon for many hundred if
not thousands of years. The combination of these two forms of sequestration
would also increase the growth rate and natural sequestration effort of growing
plants.
The reason TP has elicited such interest on the Agricultural/horticultural
side of it's benefits is this one static:
One gram of charcoal cooked to 650 C Has a surface area of 400 m2 (for soil
microbes & fungus to live on), now for conversion fun:
One ton of charcoal has a surface area of 400,000 Acres!! which is equal
to 625 square miles!! Rockingham Co. VA. , where I live, is only 851 Sq.
miles
Now at a middle of the road application rate of 2 lbs/sq ft (which equals
1000 sqft/ton) or 43 tons/acre yields 26,000 Sq miles of surface area per Acre.
VA is 39,594 Sq miles.
What this suggest to me is a potential of sequestering virgin forest
amounts of carbon just in the soil alone, without counting the forest on top.
To take just one fairly representative example, in the classic Rothampstead
experiments in England where arable land was allowed to revert to deciduous
temperate woodland, soil organic carbon increased 300-400% from around 20 t/ha
to 60-80 t/ha (or about 20-40 tons per acre) in less than a century
(Jenkinson & Rayner 1977). The rapidity with which organic carbon can build up in
soils is also indicated by examples of buried steppe soils formed during
short-lived interstadial phases in Russia and Ukraine. Even though such warm,
relatively moist phases usually lasted only a few hundred years, and started out
from the skeletal loess desert/semi-desert soils of glacial conditions (with
which they are inter-leaved), these buried steppe soils have all the rich
organic content of a present-day chernozem soil that has had many thousands of
years to build up its carbon (E. Zelikson, Russian Academy of Sciences, pers.
comm., May 1994). _http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/carbon1.html_
(http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/carbon1.html)
All the Biochar Companies and equipment manufactures I've found:
Carbon Diversion
_http://www.carbondiversion.com/_ (http://www.carbondiversion.com/)
Eprida: Sustainable Solutions for Global Concerns
_http://www.eprida.com/home/index.php4_ (http://www.eprida
.com/home/index.php4)
BEST Pyrolysis, Inc. | Slow Pyrolysis - Biomass - Clean Energy - Renewable
Ene
_http://www.bestenergies.com/companies/bestpyrolysis.html _
(http://www.bestenergies.com/companies/bestpyrolysis.html)
Dynamotive Energy Systems | The Evolution of Energy
_http://www.dynamotive.com/_ (http://www.dynamotive.com/)
Ensyn - Environmentally Friendly Energy and Chemicals
_http://www.ensyn.com/who/ensyn.htm_ (http://www.ensyn.com/who/ensyn.htm)
Agri-Therm, developing bio oils from agricultural waste
_http://www.agri-therm.com/_ (http://www.agri-therm.com/)
Advanced BioRefinery Inc.
_http://www.advbiorefineryinc.ca/_ (http://www.advbiorefineryinc.ca/)
Technology Review: Turning Slash into Cash
_http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17298/_
(http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17298/)
3R Environmental Technologies Ltd. (Edward Someus)
WEB: _http://www.terrenum.net/_ (http://www.terrenum.net/)
The company has Swedish origin and developing/designing medium and large
scale carbonization units. The company is the licensor and technology provider
to NviroClean Tech Ltd British American organization WEB:
_http://www.nvirocleantech.com_ (http://www.nvirocleantech.com/) and VERTUS Ltd.
_http://www.vertustechnologies.com_ (http://www.vertustechnologies.com/)
Genesis Industries, licensee of Eprida technology, provides carbon-negative
EPRIDA energy machines at the same cost as going direct to Eprida. Our
technical support staff also provide information to obtain the best use of biochar
produced by the machine. Recent research has shown that EPRIDA charcoal
(biochar) increases plant productivity as it sequesters carbon in soil, thus
reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.
_http://www.egenindustries.com/_ (http://www.egenindustries.com/)
If pre-Columbian Kayopo Indians could produce these soils up to 6 feet deep
over 15% of the Amazon basin using "Slash & CHAR" verses "Slash & Burn", it
seems that our energy and agricultural industries could also product them at
scale.
Harnessing the work of this vast number of microbes and fungi changes the
whole equation of energy return over energy input (EROEI) for food and Bio
fuels. I see this as the only sustainable agricultural strategy if we no longer
have cheap fossil fuels for fertilizer.
We need this super community of wee beasties to work in concert with us by
populating them into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos.
Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
(540) 289-9750
_shengar at aol.com_ (mailto:shengar at aol.com)
**************Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides.
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