carbon sequestration in "terra preta"

[Norman Albers]

Large areas of soil in Amazonia have high carbon content hundreds of years after people deliberately built it up, and it offers great fertility. Check out the excitement around charcoal:

css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/terra_preta/TerraPretahome.htm , and add the usual first http stuff.

[Norman Albers]

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/terra_preta/TerraPretahome.htm

[Erich]

The main hurtle now is to change the current perspective held by the IPCC that the soil carbon cycle is a wash, to one in which soil can be used as a massive and ubiquitous Carbon sink via Charcoal. Below are the first concrete steps in that direction;

 

Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.

Potential Carbon Emissions Reductions from Biomass by 2030

by Ralph P. Overend, Ph.D. and Anelia Milbrandt

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

http://www.ases.org/climatechange/toc/07_biomass.pdf

 

 

The organization 25x25 (see 25x'25 - Home) released it's (first-ever, 55-page )"Action Plan" ; see http://www.25x25.org/storage/25x25/d...ActionPlan.pdf

On page 31, as one of four foci for recommended RD&D, the plan lists: "The development of biochar, animal agriculture residues and other non-fossil fuel based fertilizers, toward the end of integrating energy production with enhanced soil quality and carbon sequestration."

and on p 32, recommended as part of an expanded database aspect of infrastructure: "Information on the application of carbon as fertilizer and existing carbon credit trading systems."

 

I feel 25x25 is now the premier US advocacy organization for all forms of renewable energy, but way out in front on biomass topics.

 

 

There are 24 billion tons of carbon controlled by man in his agriculture , I forgot the % that is waste, but when you add all the other cellulose waste which is now dumped to rot or digested or combusted and ultimately returned to the atmosphere as GHG, the balanced number is around 24 Billion tons. So we have plenty of bio-mass.

 

Even with all the big corporations coming to the GHG negotiation table, like Exxon, Alcoa, .etc, we still need to keep watch as they try to influence how carbon management is legislated in the USA. Carbon must have a fair price, that fair price and the changes in the view of how the soil carbon cycle now can be used as a massive sink verses it now being viewed as a wash, will be of particular value to farmers and a global cool breath of fresh air for us all.

 

 

 

If you have any other questions please feel free to call me or visit the TP web site I've been drafted to administer. http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node

It has been immensely gratifying to see all the major players join the mail list , Cornell folks, T. Beer of Kings Ford Charcoal (Clorox), Novozyne the M-Roots guys(fungus), chemical engineers, Dr. Danny Day of G. I. T. , Dr. Antal of U. of H., Virginia Tech folks and probably many others who's back round I don't know have joined.

 

This Earth Science Forum thread on these soils contains further links, and has been viewed by 40,000 self-selected folks. ( I post everything I find on Amazon Dark Soils, ADS here):

http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/3451-terra-preta.html

 

Also Here is the Latest BIG Terra Preta Soil news;

ConocoPhillips Establishes $22.5 Million Pyrolysis Program at Iowa State 04/10/07

 

http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007+News+Releases/041007.htm

 

Other Links;

 

University of Beyreuth TP Program, Germany http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=taxonomy/term/118

 

__All the Bio-Char Companies and equipment manufactures I've found:

 

Carbon Diversion

http://www.carbondiversion.com/

Eprida: Sustainable Solutions for Global Concerns

http://www.eprida.com/home/index.php4

BEST Pyrolysis, Inc. | Slow Pyrolysis - Biomass - Clean Energy - Renewable Ene

http://www.bestenergies.com/companies/bestpyrolysis.html

Dynamotive Energy Systems | The Evolution of Energy

http://www.dynamotive.com/

Ensyn - Environmentally Friendly Energy and Chemicals

http://www.ensyn.com/who/ensyn.htm

Agri-Therm, developing bio oils from agricultural waste

http://www.agri-therm.com/

Advanced BioRefinery Inc.

http://www.advbiorefineryinc.ca/

Technology Review: Turning Slash into Cash

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/17298/

 

 

_The reason TP has elicited such interest on the Agricultural/horticultural side of it's benefits is this one static:

 

One gram of charcoal cooked to 650 C Has a surface area of 400 m2 (for soil microbes & fungus to live on), now for conversion fun:

 

One ton of charcoal has a surface area of 400,000 Acres!! which is equal to 625 square miles!! Rockingham Co. VA. , where I live, is only 851 Sq. miles

 

Now at a middle of the road application rate of 2 lbs/sq ft (which equals 1000 sqft/ton) or 43 tons/acre yields 26,000 Sq miles of surface area per Acre. VA is 39,594 Sq miles.

 

What this suggest to me is a potential of sequestering virgin forest amounts of carbon just in the soil alone, without counting the forest on top.

 

To take just one fairly representative example, in the classic Rothampstead experiments in England where arable land was allowed to revert to deciduous temperate woodland, soil organic carbon increased 300-400% from around 20 t/ha to 60-80 t/ha (or about 20-40 tons per acre) in less than a century (Jenkinson & Rayner 1977). The rapidity with which organic carbon can build up in soils is also indicated by examples of buried steppe soils formed during short-lived interstadial phases in Russia and Ukraine. Even though such warm, relatively moist phases usually lasted only a few hundred years, and started out from the skeletal loess desert/semi-desert soils of glacial conditions (with which they are inter-leaved), these buried steppe soils have all the rich organic content of a present-day chernozem soil that has had many thousands of years to build up its carbon (E. Zelikson, Russian Academy of Sciences, pers. comm., May 1994). http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/carbon1.html

 

______________________

Erich J. Knight

[Norman Albers]

Thank you so much, Erich. One of the articles I read mentions phosphorus contents in Amazonia which probably came from fish. So I'm seeing prepared beds of slow burn, and one hell of a fish fry. Here's another piece on pyrolysis: http://enviro.org.au/enews-description.asp?id=742. This article says the terra preta was built up over thousands of years.

[Erich]

I thought these update on developments of biochar soils may interest you,

I'm a biochar advocate, and would like to share my efforts in research, policy and industry.(bellow)

 

The Ag Soil Carbon standard is in the second phase of review by the ARC branch at USDA.

After initial review, approval is expected in the next month. Contact Gary Delong . http://www.novecta.com 515-334-7305 office

Read over the work so far;

http://www.novecta.com/documents/Carbon-Standard.pdf

 

In my efforts to have Biochar included I have recruited several to join the list, briefed the entire committee about char when issues concerning N2O & CH4 soil GHG emissions were raised, fully briefed a couple members when they replied individually to my "Reply all" briefs.

 

Hope to see you at ISU for the 2010 US Biochar Conference

Dr. Robert Brown <rcbrown@iastate.edu>, and the team in Ames Iowa are planing the next national biochar conference. The Conference will be June 27-30 in Ames Iowa Hosted by Iowa State University.

I am chairman of the Markets and Business Opportunities Review Committee

The Call for papers; http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/biochar/home.html

 

The Biochar Fund deserves your attention and support.

Exceptional results from biochar experiment in Cameroon

http://scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=14&idContribution=3011

 

Mark my words;

Given the potential for Laurens Rademaker's programs to grow exponentially, only a short time lies between This man's nomination for a Noble Prize.

He recently received the Manchester prize.

 

Thanks for your efforts.

Erich

 

 

Erich J. Knight

Chairman; Markets and Business Opportunities Review Committee

US BiocharConference, at Iowa State University, June 27-30

http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/biochar/home.html

 

EcoTechnologies Group Technical Adviser

http://www.ecotechnologies.com/index.html

Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)

1047 Dave Barry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

540 289 9750

Co-Administrator, Biochar Data base & Discussion list TP-REPP

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biochar Soils.....Husbandry of whole new orders & Kingdoms of life

 

Biotic Carbon, the carbon transformed by life, should never be combusted, oxidized and destroyed. It deserves more respect, reverence even, and understanding to use it back to the soil where 2/3 of excess atmospheric carbon originally came from.

 

We all know we are carbon-centered life, we seldom think about the complex web of recycled bio-carbon which is the true center of life. A cradle to cradle, mutually co-evolved biosphere reaching into every crack and crevice on Earth.

 

It's hard for most to revere microbes and fungus, but from our toes to our gums (onward), their balanced ecology is our health. The greater earth and soils are just as dependent, at much longer time scales. Our farming for over 10,000 years has been responsible for 2/3rds of our excess greenhouse gases. This soil carbon, converted to carbon dioxide, Methane & Nitrous oxide began a slow stable warming that now accelerates with burning of fossil fuel. Agriculture allowed our cultural accent and Agriculture will now prevent our descent.

 

Wise Land management; Organic farming and afforestation can build back our soil carbon,

 

Biochar allows the soil food web to build much more recalcitrant organic carbon, ( living biomass & Glomalins) in addition to the carbon in the biochar.

 

Biochar, the modern version of an ancient Amazonian agricultural practice called Terra Preta (black earth, TP), is gaining widespread credibility as a way to address world hunger, climate change, rural poverty, deforestation, and energy shortages… SIMULTANEOUSLY!

Modern Pyrolysis of biomass is a process for Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration, 80%-90% Lower Methane & N2O soil emissions, and 2X Fertility Too.

Every 1 ton of Biomass yields 1/3 ton Charcoal for soil Sequestration (= to 1 Ton CO2e) + Bio-Gas & Bio-oil fuels = to 1MWh exported electricity, so is a totally virtuous, carbon negative energy cycle.

 

Biochar viewed as soil Infrastructure; The old saw;

"Feed the Soil Not the Plants" becomes;

"Feed, Cloth and House the Soil, utilities included !".

Free Carbon Condominiums with carboxyl group fats in the pantry and hydroxyl alcohol in the mini bar.

Build it and the Wee-Beasties will come.

Microbes like to sit down when they eat.

By setting this table we expand husbandry to whole new orders & Kingdoms of life.

 

This is what I try to get across to Farmers, as to how I feel about the act of returning carbon to the soil. An act of penitence and thankfulness for the civilization we have created. Farmers are the Soil Sink Bankers, once carbon has a price, they will be laughing all the way to it.

Unlike CCS which only reduces emissions, biochar systems draw down CO2 every energy cycle, closing a circle back to support the soil food web. The photosynthetic "capture" collectors are up and running, the "storage" sink is in operation just under our feet. Pyrolysis conversion plants are the only infrastructure we need to build out.

 

 

Legislation:

Senator Baucus is co-sponsoring a bill along with Senator Tester (D-MT) called WE CHAR. Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration Act! It focuses on promoting biochar technology to address invasive species and forest biomass. It includes grants and loans for biochar market research and development, biochar characterization and environmental analyses. It directs USDI and USDA to provide loan guarantees for biochar technologies and on-the-ground production with an emphasis on biomass from public lands. And the USGS is to do biomas availability assessments.

WashingtonWatch.com - S. 1713, The Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009

 

Individual and groups can show support for WECHAR by signing online at:

http://www.biocharmatters.org/

 

The Clean Energy Partnerships Act of 2009

The bill is designed to ensure that any US domestic cap-and-trade bill provides maximum incentives and opportunities for the US agricultural and forestry sectors to provide high-quality offsets and GHG emissions reductions for credit or financial incentives. Carbon offsets play a critical role in keeping the costs of a cap-and-trade program low for society as well as for capped sectors and entities, while providing valuable emissions reductions and income generation opportunities for the agricultural sector. The bill specifically identifies biochar production and use as eligible for offset credits, and identifies biochar as a high priority for USDA R&D, with funding authorized by the bill.

To read the full text of the bill, go to:

http://www.biochar-international.org/sites/default/files/END09F94.pdf.

 

Biochar systems for Biofuels and soil carbon sequestration are so basically conservative in nature it is a shame that republicans have not seized it as a central environmental policy plank as the conservatives in Australia have; Carbon sequestration without Taxes.

 

 

 

 

 

Major Endorsements:

 

Senator / Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has done the most to nurse this biofuels system in his Biochar provisions in the 07 & 08 farm bill,

http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html

 

NASA's Dr. James Hansen Global warming solutions paper places Biochar / Land management the central technology for carbon negative energy systems.

http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0804/0804.1126.pdf

 

Dr. James Lovelock (Gaia hypothesis) says Biochar is "The only hope for mankind"

 

Charles Mann ("1491") in the Sept. National Geographic has a wonderful soils article which places Terra Preta / Biochar soils center stage.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/soil/mann-text

 

Al Gore got the CO2 absorption thing wrong, ( at NABC Vilsack did same), but his focus on Soil Carbon is right on;

http://www.newsweek.com/id/220552/page/3

 

Tony Blair & Richard Branson in the UK and conservative party opposition leader John Turnbull in Oz.

 

 

 

 

Research:

 

This is the finest explanation I have read on the process of biochar testing. Hugh lays it out like medical triage to extract the data most needed for soil carbon sequestration. A triage for all levels of competence, the Para-Medic Gardener to the Surgeon Chem-Engineer.

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/Characterizing_Biochars

 

The Ozzie's for 5 years now in field studies

The future of biochar - Project Rainbow Bee Eater

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20090211-20142.html

 

The Japanese have been at it dacades:

Japan Biochar Association ;

http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/pioneer.htm

 

UK Biochar Research Centre

http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs/biochar/

 

 

Virginia Tech is in their 4 th year with the Carbon Char Group's "CharGrow" formulated bagged product. An idea whose time has come | Carbon Char Group

He said the 2008 trials at Virginia Tech showed a 46% increase in yield of tomato transplants grown with just 2 - 5 cups (2 - 5%) "CharGrow" per cubic foot of growing medium. http://www.carbonchar.com/plant-performance

 

Dr. Rory Maguire,

In first year with Poultry litter char

 

USDA in their 2 nd year; "Novak, Jeff" <Jeff.Novak@ars.usda.gov>, & "david laird" <david.laird@ars.usda.gov>,

There are dozens soil researchers on the subject now at USDA-ARS.

and many studies at The ASA-CSSA-SSSA joint meeting;

http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2009am/webprogram/Session5675.html

 

Nikolaus has been at it 4 years. Nikolaus Foidl,

His current work with aspirin is Amazing in Maize, 250% yield gains, 15 cobs per plant;

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/content/trials-maize-reactivating-dormant-genes-using-high-doses-salicylic-acid-and-charcoal

 

My 09 field trials with the Rodale Institute & JMU ;

Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/node/1408

 

 

Most recent studies out;

Imperial College test,

This work in temperate soils gives data from which one can calculate savings on fertilizer use, which is expected to be ongoing with no additional soil amending.

 

http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1755-1315/6/37/372052/ees9_6_372052.pdf?request-id=22fb1902-1c23-4db8-8801-2be7e2f3ce1b

 

 

The BlueLeaf Inc./ Dynamotive study are exciting results given how far north the site is,and the low application rates. I suspect, as we saw with the Imperial College test, the yield benefits seem to decrease the cooler the climate.

The study showed infiltration rates for moisture are almost double. The lower leaf temperatures puzzles me however, I thought around 21C was optimum for photosynthesis.

 

BlueLeaf Inc. and Dynamotive Announce Biochar Test Results CQuest Biochar Enriched Plots Yield Crop Increase Ranging From Six to Seventeen Percent vs. Control Plots

http://www.usetdas.com/TDAS/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=13603

 

The full study at Dynomotives site;

http://www.dynamotive.com/wp-content/themes/dynamotive/pdf/BlueLeaf_Biochar_Field_Trial_2008.pdf

 

 

 

 

Reports:

This PNAS report (by a Nobel lariat) should cause the Royal Society to rethink their report that criticized Biochar systems sequestration potential;

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Reducing abrupt climate change risk using

the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory

actions to complement cuts in CO2 emissions

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/10/09/0902568106.full.pdf+html

 

United Nations Environment Programme, Climate Change Science Compendium 2009 http://www.unep.org/compendium2009/PDF/Ch5_compendium2009.pdf

 

Congressional Research Service report (by analyst Kelsi Bracmort) is the best short summary I have seen so far - both technical and policy oriented.

http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40186_20090203.pdf .

 

This is the single most comprehensive report to date, covering more of the Asian and Australian work;

http://www.csiro.au/files/files/poei.pdf

 

Dr. Scherr's report includes biochar. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6124

 

I think we will be seeing much greater media attention for land management & biochar as reports like hers come out linking the roll of agriculture and climate.

 

 

 

Biochar data base;

TP-REPP

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node

 

Disscusion Groups;

The group home page location, General orientation:

Biochar (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/

Biochar POLICY;

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-policy

Biochar Soils;

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-soils/

Biochar Production;

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-production/

 

Earth Science Terra Preta Forum, Great for students;

Terra Preta - Science Forums

 

 

 

Given the current "Crisis" atmosphere concerning energy, soil sustainability, food vs. Biofuels, and Climate Change what other subject addresses them all?

 

This is a Nano technology for the soil, a fractal vision of Life's relation to surface area that represents the most comprehensive, low cost, and productive approach to long term stewardship and sustainability.

 

Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.

Cheers,

Erich