[Terrapreta] carbon monoxide producing agricultural crops

[jim mason]

i was browsing the lindbergh foundation grants, which have some
interest in innovative agriculture (see here
http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/content/grants/index.html), and
came across this interesting previous grantee, working on
characterizing the variable carbon monoxide production in different
crop species.  i didn't realize this was an issue.  see the summary
below.  following a link to his faculty page shows much other
interesting work in characterizing trace gas outputs from soil
microbes and their relationship to atmospheric gas composition.

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Dr. Gary M. King
Professor, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine

"Reducing the Adverse Impacts of Carbon Monoxide-Producing
Agricultural Crops on the Atmosphere"

(Categories: Agriculture and Conservation of General Resources-Air)

Technological advances in agriculture, together with the expansion of
agricultural land use, have been directly responsible for changes in
atmospheric composition and the increasing severity of global warming
resulting from the use of fossil fuel. Dr. King discovered that widely
cultivated nitrogen-fixing agricultural crops such as legumes
(peanuts, soybeans, beans, peas, clover and alfalfa) produce
quantities of carbon monoxide sufficient to affect the composition of
the atmosphere. With legume cultivation on the rise, especially in the
tropics, Asia, Africa, and other developing nations, the risk of
regionally elevated levels of ozone, and its related health problems,
are of significant concern. Dr. King hopes to determine strategies to
reduce the impact of these crops on the atmosphere while sustaining
their expanded use as a food and economic resource in the tropics
through a combination of field and laboratory investigations. It is
hoped that results from this project will reduce the impact of major
agricultural crops on the atmosphere, globally improve atmospheric
stability, and decrease rates of change in the composition of the
atmosphere.


http://www.umaine.edu/meem/faculty/king.htm


-- 
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jim mason
website: www.whatiamupto.com
current project: mechabolic (http://www.mechabolic.org)
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