The recently announced collaboration between Aqueous Solutions and the Belgian NGO Biochar Fund is featured in an article on the Global Climate Solutions website. This collaboration seeks to improve agricultural soils and crop yields, mitigate the effects of climate change, and provide rural developing communities with a source of safe drinking water - simultaneously.
Read more here.
The Biochar Fund is doing the most important work saving our world.
ReplyDelete(your link is not working however)
Last year there were no biochar studies at the ACS conference, this
year several dozen.
Biochar at ACS;
Most all this work corroborates char dynamics we have seen so far .
The soil GHG emissions work showing increased CO2 , also speculates
that this CO2 has to get through the hungry plants above before
becoming a GHG.
The SOM, MYC & Microbes, N2O (soil structure), CH4 , nutrient holding
, Nitrogen shock, humic compound conditioning, absorbing of herbicides
all pretty much what we expected to hear.
Biochar Studies at ACS Huston meeting;
578-I: http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4231.html
579-II http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4496.html
665 - III.
http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4497.html
666-IV http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Session4498.html
Total CO2 Equivalence:
Even before the total CO2 equivalent credits are validated they should
be on the product label. Once a commercial bagged soil amendment
product, every suburban household can do it,
The label can tell them of their contribution, a 40# bag = 150# CO2 =
160 bags / year to cover my personal CO2 emissions.( 20,000 #/yr ,
1/2 average)
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
Full carbon credit validation should easily follow the path that has
gained carbon credits for no-till practices.
But that is just the Carbon!
I have yet to find a total CO2 equivalent number taking consideration
against some average field N2O & CH4 emissions. The New Zealand work
shows 10X reductions.
If biochar also proves to be effective at reducing nutrient run-off
from agricultural soils, then there will also be a reduction in
downstream N2O emissions .
This ACS study implicates soil structure / N2O connection;
http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2008am/webprogram/Paper41955.html
One aspect of Biochar systems are Cheap, clean biomass stoves that produce biochar and no respiratory disease. At scale, the health benefits are greater than ending Malaria.
ReplyDeleteA great example;
http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/poznanclimatetalks/docs/Natural%20Draft%20Stove.pdf
The biochar Fund is also doing amazing work in the developing world;
http://terrapretapot.org/
Also , I would like Rebut the BioFuelWatch folk's recent criticisms with the petition of 1500 Cameroon Farmers;
The Biochar Fund
http://biocharfund.org/
and to explain their program;
http://biocharfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=46