[Terrapreta] Using Biochar to Reduce N and P Use or Runoff

[Richard Haard]

Some thoughts on this topic - So far two methods of N and P runoff  
have been mentioned.

1. Introduction of N and P sequestered in biochar and thereby  
controlled release
2. Control somehow in the soil by charcoal of N and P movement by  
cation exchange and via micobial habitat sequestering as biomass.
3 A third is reduction of fertilizer needed by way of enhancement of   
chemautotrophic organisms  for nitrogen fixation and mycorrhizial  
organism enhancement to convert insoluble phosphorus into a plant  
available form with direct transfer into crop root zone.

Pyrolysis of chicken litter is an excellent method to prepare the very  
fertile material for application. I wonder what chemical form the  
phosphorus is in after complete or partial charring. Possibly some  
reduced and reactive version.

In our farm soil phosphorus is a limiting factor as well as nitrogen.  
I'm not a corn farmer but improving our use of fertilizer especially  
nitrogen input ensures that nitrogen at the end of season is  
sequestered by crop and as biomass in soil. In our plot study our end  
of season analysis for nitrate is close to or at zero for every plot.

Lastly the fate of nitrogen and phosphorus added to soil in  
traditional agriculture is either removed in finished product to be  
converted to waste elsewhere (animal and human waste), leaching from  
soil as soluble form and trapped as biomass with enhanced production  
and ecosystem dynamics. All three however ultimately result in  
elevated effluent levels.

Best
On Jan 1, 2008, at 5:43 PM, Shengar at aol.com wrote:

> Hi Tom,
>
> Virginia Tech's chicken litter pyrolysis process claimed that P was  
> held in the charcoal 10X longer than the litter spread onto fields.
>
> I don't know what the average volume of CH4 & N2O & CO2 soil  
> emissions are as soil type and conditions vary, but it wouldn't seem  
> to difficult to establish baselines to verify benefits.
>
> Extrapolating from the numbers bellow, say a conservative overall  
> 1/3 reduction of GHG soil emissions, what would that benefit be  
> expressed in equivalent tons of carbon per acre?
>
> http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/aug/tech/rr_biochar.html
>
> "Preliminary results indicate that biochar amendments to soil appear  
> to decrease emissions of nitrous oxide as well as methane, which is  
> a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than CO2. In greenhouse and  
> field experiments in Colombia, nitrous oxide emissions were reduced  
> by 80% and methane emissions were completely suppressed with biochar  
> additions to a forage grass stand, Marco Rondon of the International  
> Development Research Centre and colleagues told participants at the  
> U.S. Department of Agriculture Symposium on Greenhouse Gases and  
> Carbon Sequestration in 2005. Lukas Van Zwieten and colleagues at  
> the Wollongbar Agricultural Institute are seeing similar preliminary  
> results, and Lehmann's group also has greenhouse and field data  
> showing the same effect.
>
> Possible explanations, Lehmann says, include biochar's influence on  
> water-filled pore space, nitrification rates, and the microbial  
> community structure."
>
>
> To paraphrase Faraget;........Damn The Politic's....... FULL SPEED  
> AHEAD!
>
>
>
> ALSO;
> Hey Folks, you too can experience the warm glow I get when I recieve  
> replies like this;
> Nardi, a scientist at the University of Illinois, writes in his  
> newly published book, "Life in the Soil," that a square meter of  
> healthy garden soil is home to 10 trillion bacteria, 10 billion  
> protozoa, 5 million nematodes, 100,000 mites, 50,000 springtails,  
> 10,000 creatures called rotifers and tardigrades, 5,000 insects and  
> arachnids, 3,000 worms and 100 snails and slugs. Throw in the  
> occasional mammal such as a chipmunk or a mole, and a salamander or  
> two, and you get the idea that you don't have to travel to the  
> Brazilian rain forest to luxuriate in the biodiversity at our feet.
>
> washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area  
> news and headlines
>
>
> Jim Nardi to me;
>
> Dear Erich, Thank you for calling my attention to the Terra Preta  
> technology. Yes, it is definitely of interest to me - and I readily  
> inferred its vast promise from just my cursory reading . I shall  
> continue looking over the vast amount of fascinating information you  
> sent me and hope that I may speak with you about certain details  
> after I learn more.
>
> With much gratitude for sharing this information on Terra Preta, Jim  
> Nardi"
>
>
>
>
> So..Ya'll ...get posting......
>
> I cover; The Washington Post
> MIT Technology Review
> SCIAM
> Popular Science
>
> My GooGle filters cover; Terra Preta
> Agrichar
> Biochar
> Agricultural charcoal
>
> Please Report all sucesses to the TP List and /or the "Lobby for  
> Terra Preta" thread athttp://forums.hypography.com/terra-preta/13302-lobby-terra-preta.html
>
> Cheers,
> Erich
> Erich J. Knight
> Shenandoah Gardens
> 1047 Dave Berry Rd.
> McGaheysville, VA. 22840
> (540) 289-9750
> shengar at aol.com
>
>
>
> See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.
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