[Terrapreta] Question

[MFH]

Lou,

 

Tough puzzle. And the tougher reality is no, TP won't save the Amazon. Or
any other forests. It certainly won't save the vast forests in Russia which
are being felled at increasing rates, with results that are likely to have a
bigger impact on world climate than the clearing in the Amazon.

 

Its possible, however, that TP can enhance agricultural productivity in
developed countries, mainly because economics such as spiralling fertiliser
prices will force it. This may reduce pressure on the supply of foods from
the LDC's, but its going to increasingly be China, India and SE Asia driving
the demand side. And as the demand rises so will the pressure on forests.

 

Let's speculate. If all the land already cleared in the Amazon was
reasonably fertile, then the production potential would be adequate to
remove any need for further clearing. Around 200,000 sq.km or 20,000,000 ha
have been cleared in the last 20 years. Let's agree that TP can go a long
way to restoring fertility. I'd like to see a kg per sq.m. of char added but
that's impossible, so let's start with 1/10 kg/sq.m. That's I.0 tonne/ha, or
a total requirement of 20 million tonnes. And that's just the first
application. Nor does it include the addition of other nutrients to make up
for deficiencies.

 

I'm not saying that this is totally impossible. But I am saying that
politically, logistically, administratively or financially, it isn't going
to happen.

 

Apart from cattle, there are lots of other demands for forest clearance - in
countries like Papua New Guinea, where the laws and regulations are
perfectly sound but the infrastructure to enforce is weak, felling for
timber is the main destroyer of forests, and particularly because of the
damaging practices of the loggers. Then there's increasing clear-felling for
oil palm plantations, soy bean, cassava and sugar. And for increasing local
populations.

 

I'd love this not to be the case. But try as I might, I cannot see a
solution. If oil goes to $300/barrel, will that make the shipment of food
all around the world uneconomic? Will TP increase productivity "at home" to
the extent that McDonalds don't have to import? Will there be a world
recession to the level that the explosion in Asian demand will slow? 

 

For the Amazon I'd suggest the best would be the discovery of an Ebola or
Marburg, and that so puts the wind up everyone that the migrants back off
and clearing stops. For the rest of the world, there are too many of us. And
when money is not the major issue, we are too wasteful. Various studies show
that up to 50% of food produced is wasted. That doesn't happen in China and
India. 

 

I can't help speculating on what the result could be if the money spent in
the Iraq mess were diverted to a massive "Agricultural Corps".

 

Don't lose heart. Make some land more productive and some people's lives
less stressful, and believe that this will pass on.

 

Max H

 

 

  _____  

From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of lou gold
Sent: Tuesday, 20 May 2008 4:29 PM
To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
Subject: [Terrapreta] Question

 

Hi All,

I need some help working through a puzzle.

As you know, my highest priority is saving the forest, especially the Amazon
forest. I have been investing a lot of hopes in the possibility that terra
preta might somehow show the way. But I have not been able to figure out the
benefit of soil improvement (etc, etc) for cattle ranching and it is the
expansion of cattle combined with logging that is the front line of
deforestation.

I know that switching from slash-and-burn to slash-and-char will be helpful.
But cattle are going to expand as the world gains more and more people who
want to eat meat. Please, let's not go into the protein efficiencies or
ethics of this trend. I'm trying to deal with the world as it is.  Can
anyone see a way that terra preta might be helpful here?

Thanks.

lou

-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com
http://flickr.com/visionshare/sets
http://youtube.com/my_videos 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /attachments/20080520/0b406cab/attachment.html