[Terrapreta] Terra Preta Specifications

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Lou

lou gold wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> I just re-read Scott Bidstrup's, Saving the Planet While Saving the 
> Farm. I recommend it to you/. (maybe you already know it?) 
> http://www.bidstrup.com/carbon.htm
> /

Thanks very much. A very good article.
> /
> I'm sure that many of the details need to be better understood and 
> worked out but I think he lays down a pretty decent basic picture. 
> Also, my suspicion is that by Terra Preta Nova Sean simply means 
> carbonization of the soil along with some other useful amendments and 
> good practices but I'll let him speak for himself.
> /

I see his general concept, but in order to take action, one needs to do 
something specific. Without guidance that would come from a recipe or 
specifications, we would all be going in different directions, and we 
could expect very mixed results. We can't simply "put a bunch of char in 
the soil, and hope for the best." Having a recipe or specification would 
result in much more good being accomplished.

Best wishes,

Kevin
> /
> hugs,
>
> lou
> /
> On Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 11:25 PM, Kevin Chisholm 
> <kchisholm at ca.inter.net <mailto:kchisholm at ca.inter.net>> wrote:
>
>     Dear Sean
>
>     So that we are all on the same page, could you kindly define or
>     describe "Terra Preta Nova"?
>
>     Could you provide a "Recipe", or a "Specification" so that if we,
>     in various parts of the world made some, we would have a product
>     that would be comparable?
>
>     With all that has been written, I still don't know what Terra
>     Preta is, other than the trivial description of "Black earth with
>     pottery shards." Could you, or anyone on the List provide a
>     similar "Recipe" or "Specification" for "Old Terra Preta"? Perhaps
>     there is a URL with sufficient detail such that one could make a
>     batch of Terra Preta from it.
>
>     You suggest making a lot of charcoal and putting it into lots of
>     soil now.What would you recommend as the addition rate, for
>     example, in pounds per square foot, or kG per square meter, etc?
>     Is there anything else that should be added along with teh charcoal?
>
>     Thanks very much,
>
>     Kevin
>
>
>     Sean K. Barry wrote:
>
>         Hi Lou, Michael, et al,
>          It would be interesting to fell a hardwood in the rainforest
>         now, in a muddy area, with girdling and fire alone?  Just to
>         clear an area for sunlight?  With no stone or metal tools?
>          Then light it a fire on the ground (how?, in parts?) and bury
>         it?  But to what end would we do this?  To replicate what
>         ancient Amazonians did?  If that is what they did?  For what
>         reason would we do this?  Do you see my point?
>          I do not think we want to consider harvesting old growth
>         forests anyway now, to make charcoal to put into Terra Preta
>         Nova soils.  No one hear thinks that is what needs be done and
>         it's because the ancients did it that way.  I think the most
>         logical source of biomass feedstock for pyrolysis/gasification
>         into charcoal and usable energy is biomass that is likely to
>         decay anyway.  Waste biomass (RFS, MSW, etc) and annual growth
>         that falls and decays annually anyway from amongst both crops
>         and other natural plants.  Biomass forms that grow higher tons
>         of "fixed Carbon" per hectare (fC ha-1) of usable for
>         pyrolysis feedstock are potential energy crops.  Charcoal
>         application, fertilizer amendments, and sufficient watering
>         into energy crop soils might have feedbacks that enhance both
>         fC ha-1 yields and soil carbon sequestration rates.
>          Forward looking models for development of Terra Preta Nova,
>         which includes conversion of biomass to charcoal and
>         harvesting usable bio-energy, need to consider all charcoal
>         uses (agricultural benefits/food production enhancement,
>         carbon sequestration, energy replacement, etc) and high
>         charcoal production rates needed very soon for some of those
>         uses.  Specifically, charcoal made for charcoal-in-soil carbon
>         sequestration will requires perhaps several billion tons per
>         year (Gt yr-1) of charcoal production within 10-25 years, I
>         suppose?
>          Agriculture interest seem as if they cannot figure out a way
>         how to use it?, or where, or a reason to do making and using
>         anything near several Gt yr-1 of charcoal right now.  No body
>         has the "Terra Preta de Indio" recipe and the farmers are all
>         saying that "... unless it is a proven, economically viable,
>         agriculturally more productive, profitable benefit product for
>         me to use, than I'll never use it or do it!"  SO, there is not
>         a market for any Gt yr-1 of charcoal there, right?  Now what
>         do we do?
>          I think the answer to, "Now what do we do?", is to start
>         making charcoal for Terra Preta Nova development now, anyway.
>          Do it like we're going to turn the whole world into a Terra
>         Preta soiled landform, a planet sized TP garden!  We put
>         charcoal into soil to work now on preventing further GW and
>         GCC problems later and for the agricultural benefits that we
>         will learn about along the way.  We will need to do something
>         like this eventually, anyway, right?  We might as well get
>         started.  It's going to take years, perhaps more than a
>         century, to even begin to push back a little against where the
>         climate is headed now.
>          There is promise, too, that left untended, GCC could move
>         into an era of positive feedbacks: Methyl hydrate releases
>         (thawed CH4) and CO2 releases from the oceans (plant and
>         animal die offs), Methane gas-CH4 releases from permafrost
>         wetlands in the northern former Soviet Union, northern Canada
>         and Alaska, increased N2O concentrations from continued
>         industrial fertilizer use, adiabatic heating due to less
>         snow/ice cover on land and oceans, etc.  These positive
>         feedbacks will accelerate the warming and need to be avoided.
>          I think we can make positive feedbacks work now to our
>         advantage, too, in making "Terra Preta Nova", if we increase
>         the scale of our operations.  Already using MSW and
>         agricultural residues, that decay anyway, as feedstock for
>         charcoal is a positive feedback in our desired direction
>         (removing CO2 from the atmosphere).  It removes some CO2 now
>         and prevents further CO2 cycling into and out of the
>         atmosphere for many years into the future.  Improved soils
>         under charcoal and bio-energy producing crops is another
>         potential large feedback.  Overall increased plant growth and
>         consequent CO2 uptake by plants planted in Terra Preta Nova
>         soils, could also prove to be a large positive feedback
>         towards and help in lowering the CO2 concentration in the
>         atmosphere at a faster rate.
>          Let's make lots of charcoal and put it into lots of soil now!
>          Regards,
>          SKB
>           
>            ----- Original Message -----
>            *From:* lou gold <mailto:lou.gold at gmail.com
>         <mailto:lou.gold at gmail.com>>
>            *To:* Michael Bailes <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com
>         <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com>>
>            *Cc:* terra pretta group
>         <mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
>         <mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>>
>            *Sent:* Friday, April 18, 2008 2:11 PM
>            *Subject:* Re: [Terrapreta] Earthen Kilns Conjecture
>
>            I'm not sure of the relevance either but I want to assure
>         you that
>            nothing amazing is going on. The life and structure of a large
>            tree is concentrated in the outer layers. Hollow trees are
>         quite
>            natural.
>
>            On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 10:35 PM, Michael Bailes
>            <michaelangelica at gmail.com
>         <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com>
>         <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com
>         <mailto:michaelangelica at gmail.com>>> wrote:
>
>                Australian Aboriginals encouraged the burning of large
>         gums so
>                that a hollow was made though the centre of the gum.
>                Amazingly gums survive this traeatment and live on.
>                The hollows became great nesting places for native
>         animals and
>                therefore convenient larders for fresh food for the
>         aborigines.
>
>                I am not sure how this is relevant
>                But it would be interesting to set alight to a rainforest
>                hardwood tree to see if it formed ash or charcoal.
>                Michael B
>
>                __
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
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