[Terrapreta] Selling Biochar in Climate Change Markets

[Richard Haard]

Folke

With scientific research and knowledge centered in the humid tropics  
it would seem that an outreach program funded perhaps by such a global  
sequestration fund could provide the technical assistance and training  
for small scale farmers to implement slash and char agriculture. For  
example, a hybrid corn seed company in order to sell their product  
conducts demonstration programs throughout the US corn belt and hosts  
special presentations for local farmers and county extension agents.  
If this agricultural practice is reduced to a standard of low cost on  
farm char production from farm waste and brush. As well as  
decentralized small scale pyrolysis as a business then use of charcoal  
in soil would spread as a practice.

It seems then to me that rather than a direct subsidy, tropical  
farmers  would benefit by a transfer of the credits generated in the  
temperate zone with such aid rather than cash. The need for education  
and demonstration needs also to be extended to the level of the  
environmental advocates who are working to preserve natural forest  
habitat because the cultural benefits of charcoal in soil reduce the  
need to have extended recovery of farm land in these oxisls.

Rich
On Mar 4, 2008, at 2:00 AM, Folke Günther wrote:

> In my blog, you can find some calculations on the necessary and  
> physically feasible amounts of char
> The amounts needed are s large that I don’t think they are feasible  
> without a good payment of putting char into soils
> This is possible if a tax cold be set on carbon dioxide emissions  
> (Already done in several countries, among other my own: Sweden)
> And this tax is paid to people who sequester on a “carbon for  
> carbon” basis. That would imply that a carbon sequesterer would get  
> 3.67 times the carbon dioxide tax
> To manage this potentially enormous bureaucracy, you need a national  
> or international fund (Global Sequestration Fund, GSF J)   that no  
> only manage the money, but also supervises the conduct of the  
> sequesterers. (No ravaging and the like).
> This is mentioned in my article, earlier made downloadable to this  
> forum
>
> FG
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Folke Günther
> Kollegievägen 19
> 224 73 Lund, Sweden
> home/office: +46 46 14 14 29
> cell:               0709 710306  skype:  folkegun
> Homepage:     http://www.holon.se/folke
> blog: http://folkegunther.blogspot.com/
>
> Från: Duane Pendergast [mailto:still.thinking at computare.org]
> Skickat: den 3 mars 2008 23:25
> Till: 'Sean K. Barry'; terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> Ämne: Re: [Terrapreta] Selling Biochar in Climate Change Markets
>
>           You might be able to go nuclear-electric pyrolysis to  
> increase the hydrogen and char yields Sean.
>
> Duane
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org [mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Sean K. Barry
> Sent: March 3, 2008 8:41 AM
> To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org; Laurens Rademakers
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Selling Biochar in Climate Change Markets
>
> Hi Lorenzo,
>
> It is great to hear from someone who is optimistic about what can be  
> achieved economically when the formation of Terra Preta soils  
> (charcoal-in-soil) + fertilizers is viewed over the long run (25-30  
> years).  Did you know that nitrogen fertilizers can be made from off  
> gases of the pytrolysis process, too?
>
> One needs to be careful about estimates that get charcoal energy,  
> and or fertilizer all from the biomass feedstock, though.  The more  
> energy actually harvested or the more H2 gas used for fertilizer  
> manufacture, then there will be a lower charcoal yield.  When cheap  
> fossil fuel runs out (later this year?!), than making nitrogen  
> fertilizers with hydrogen got from pyrolysis of biomass may be the  
> only and/or cheapest way to make fertilizers, though.
>
> Regards,
>
> SKB
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Laurens Rademakers
> To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 9:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Selling Biochar in Climate Change Markets
>
> Tom, you are absolutely right. But you can in fact go MUCH further.  
> We have done the same calculation, and biochar can be even more  
> profitable when the system is implemented in the tropics at the  
> forest frontier. Because there it would actually slow or even halt  
> deforestation.
>
> We look at it as follows: 1 hectare of "slash and burn" converted  
> into "slash and char" would, over a period of 30 years, save the  
> carbon contained in at least 6 hectares of forest. Because shifting  
> cultivation forces farmers to move on to new land after 2 to maximum  
> 5 years (so after 30 years, they would have slashed and burned 6 ha  
> if they use each hectare 5 years, which is a long time; in reality,  
> most soils are depleted much faster, after 2 or 3 years).
>
> -An average rainforest in SEAsia/Central Africa contains around 700  
> tons CO2eq/ha.
> -So by converting 1 hectare into biochar soils, you would get 700  
> tons times 6 = 4200 tons (over 30 years); 4200 tons of CO2 at Euro  
> 21/ton = Euro 88,200.
> -Euro 88,200 divided by 30 (years) is 2940 per hectare of land  
> converted to biochar; not bad
>
> Of course, currently these slash-and-burn farmers don't use  
> fertilizers. Biochar only works if supplemented with fertilizers. So  
> you would have to take emissions from fertilizers into the equation,  
> and substract them from the gains.
>
> -Another stream of carbon revenue would be: reduced emissions from  
> primitive biomass use for energy. When biochar is made in efficient  
> pyrolysis plants that deliver electricity at the same time (from the  
> syngas), then you would provide clean energy to these communities.  
> They would no longer rely on wood burned inefficiently in open fires  
> (current practise), which releases large amounts of emissions.
>
> Mmm, I think we should put much more effort in studying the  
> potential carbon market opportunities for biochar, as they relate to  
> different biochar concepts.
>
> Best,
> Lorenzo
>
>
>
>
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