[Terrapreta] fertilizer

[joe ferguson]

Interesting article.  But the long term plans include using more natural 
gas to produce the nitrogen fertilizers, which also dumps more CO2 into 
the atmosphere.

Another possibility is to use anaerobic digestion to produce methane, 
which would be used in a co-located plant to produce ammonia, the 
starting point for most nitrogen-based fertilizers.  And the residue 
left undigested by the microbes makes a great soil conditioner.

A multi-pronged strategy using farm and civic waste and fuel crops could 
produce plenty of fertilizer, bio char, and synthetic liquid fuels.  And 
not release additional CO2 into the atmosphere.  In fact, to the extent 
char is included in the mix, it would be sequestered.

    * So we can have a strategy that satisfies several constituencies;
    * soil improvement
    * farm productivity
    * natural gas replacement
    * waste disposal
    * nationalistic politicians
    * etc.

There are probably several more processes that could be added into a 
broad-based strategy.  And of course, additional constituencies could be 
listed.

Joe

lou gold wrote:
> look at what just came in...
>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2029388120080520?sp=true
>
> i really think that the possibility of terra preta resulting in less 
> fertilizer use is one of our strongest arguments.
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