We Can’t Get There From Here

“Political will and a price on CO2 won’t be enough to bring about low-carbon energy sources”

An article in Newsweek, by Sharon Begley, on the desperate need for more investment into research, to find additional and better ways of reducing energy use and cutting emissions of greenhouse gasses

99.9% of all species have become extinct

Web reference to the 99% claim:

• http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=556
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_event

Do human beings think they can do any better?

Biochar = carbon sequestration + renewable energy + soil improvement

The (Australian) ABC’s “Catalyst” program last year had a feature on “Agrichar – A solution to global warming ?” (shown below) in the lead up to an international biochar conference in Terrigal, NSW, which included Tim Flannery talking about the potential for sequestering gigatonnes of carbon in the soil.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is bio-char, how is different from charcoal?
  • Bio-char is bio-mass (wood, plants, plant waste) that has been converted to charcoal, but …
  • • Not for the purpose of burning it as a fuel, instead it is retained and used in other ways (see below)
    • Volatile fluids and gasses are captured and used, whereas with traditional charcoal production these “go up in smoke”
      
  • Bio-char is produced by pyrolysis: heating in the absence of oxygen, which prevents burning of the biomass (which is what happens in open fires)
• What use is it?
  • Bio-char, and its byproducts, has multiple uses
  • • When added to the soil it can significantly improve soil fertility (especially if some volatiles are left or re-cycled back in)
    • The volatile fluids and gasses produce usable bio-fuels, that can be produced on a sustainable basis
    • The carbon, when recycled into the soil, provides a stable long term removal of carbon (dioxide) from the atmosphere. Removing carbon from the atmosphere is called sequestration
• Isn’t planting trees good enough? (as a means of carbon sequestration)
  • Growing trees takes a long time
  • There is a finite limit to how much carbon an acre of forest can store
  • When trees die they decay and release carbon into the atmosphere via CO2 and methane
    • It is estimated that as little as 10% of the carbon captured by trees remains in the soil over the long term
  • But if trees are coppiced, the harvested biomass can be used to produce a continual source of bio-char. Or if they are harvested for other purposes and the incidental waste is used as a feedstock for bio-char production (e.g. in forestry or sugar can production).

Websites, Newsletters and Email Lists

• Wikipedia entry on biochar Biochar is a charcoal produced from biomass that can store carbon. It is of increasing interest because of concerns about global warming caused by emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. In some cases, the term is used specifically to mean biomass charcoal produced via pyrolysis. Biochar may be an immediate solution to reducing the global impact of farming (and in reducing the impact from all agricultural waste). The burning and decomposition of trees and agricultural matter contributes a large amount of CO₂ to the atmosphere. Biochar can store this CO₂ in the ground and the presence of the biochar in the earth increases soil productivity, which will allow farmers to stop encroaching on rainforests as a source of more fertile farmland.
• International Biochar Initiative (IBI) IBI is a registered non-profit organization supporting researchers, commercial entities, policy makers, development agents, farmers and gardeners, and others committed to supporting sustainable biochar production and utilization systems that remove carbon from the atmosphere and enhance the earth’s soils. It advocates biochar as a strategy to:
  • improve the Earth’s soils;
  • help mitigate the anthropogenic greenhouse effect by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering atmospheric carbon in a stable soil carbon pool; and
  • improve water quality by retaining agrochemicals.
• The IBI Newsletter. IBI sends newsletters out to its members on a monthly basis.  Archived newsletters can be accessed as well
• Australian and New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network. “The Australian and New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network is a collaborative group of scientists interested in advancing the understanding and application of biochar materials. Collectively our aim is to collaborate on research programs, promote and advocate the adoption of biochar investigation and use, and communicate the opportunities presented by biochar to policy makers, land managers, the public, industry and fellow scientists.”
• Biochar email list: The intent of this discussion list is to promote the production and use of Biochar. See also BioEnergy Lists: Biochar (Terra Preta) Information on the intentional use of Biochar (charcoal) to improve soils.