[Terrapreta] Biochar attacked in Gristmill: please leave your comments

[Biopact]

Dear colleagues, 
the very popular blog Gristmill has taken up the press release about the research by Dr Wardle. This is what it says:

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Monday bummer blogging
Posted by JMG (Guest Contributor) at 3:16 PM on 05 May 2008
Read more about: greenhouse-gas emissions | extinction | climate | climate change impacts
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Damn, one of the more promising ideas, biochar, seems to be a little less promising than hoped:

  ... a new study ... suggests that these supposed benefits of biochar may be somewhat overstated. 

  ... They found that when charcoal was mixed into humus ... charcoal caused greatly increased losses of native soil organic matter, and soil carbon ... Much of this lost soil carbon would be released as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Therefore, while it is true that charcoal represents a long term sink of carbon because of its persistence, this effect is at least partially offset by the capacity of charcoal to greatly promote the loss of that carbon already present in the soil.

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  Feel free to replicate the discussion we've had here over at Gristmill.

  http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/2/211036/2352#1

  The press release describing Dr Wardle's research is really damaging the Terra Preta idea. 

  It's unfortunate that Wardle didn't ask the person who wrote the press release to frame things in a more narrow context, as his findings definitely have no bearing on biochar as such (remember: nobody ever suggested using biochar in SOM-rich soils, on the contrary.)

  I hope prof Lehmann or Dr Steiner visit Gristmill too, to leave a note.

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