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On terra preta and biochar

This is the promise of biochar—the carbon-rich remains of “burning” organic matter via an oxygen-free process. According to the International Biochar Initiative (IBI), biochar “has four value streams: waste reduction, energy production, soil fertilization, and carbon sequestration.” This has implications for both developing and developed economies—- and, most importantly, the interrelated problems of global warming and food security.

Biochar: Good for your garden AND your carbon footprint! By Darius Van d Rhys (darius) October 8, 2008 Biochar? What is it, and what is it good for? Biochar is basically charcoal, the natural kind made from charring wood or other biomass by driving off the moisture and volatile gases, leaving mostly carbon. This carbon does 2 main things: it greatly aids soils for plant nutrition, and it holds (sequesters) carbon, creating a negative carbon footprint.

Biochar, or amending soil with biomass-derived carbon, shows great potential to improve the productivity of soils, as well as to increase the utilization of fertilizers by plants, while sequestering carbon to reduce the drivers of climate change. On August 10, I went to the 2009 North American Biochar Conference to look at the potential for investors.

Many municipalities have a landfill-capacity problem. Carbon Diversion provides a solution that is environmentally acceptable and which carries a low financial risk. The goal is to extend the life of existing landfills by eliminating some of the materials that would otherwise be dumped into the landfill. Instead, Carbon Diversion, Inc. provides a small-scale solution that converts a variety of waste products into useful, and often very valuable, carbon products.

On his farm in the hills of west virginia, Josh Frye isn't raising chickens just for meat. He is also raising them for their manure. Through a process that some scientists tout as a solution to climate change, food shortages and the energy crisis, Frye is transforming the waste into a charcoal-like substance called biochar that in the long run could be far better for the world than chicken nuggets. "It might look like this is just a poultry farm," says Frye. "But it's a char farm too."

ANNE KRUGER, PRESENTER: The rules of engagement for the new carbon economy are still being formulated but already there's lively political debate over the role for biochar. It's a charcoal made from biological waste and is raising plenty of interest as a way of capturing carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while boosting soil fertility. But as Bronwyn Herbert reports, in Canberra's corridors of power, there are still as many sceptics as supporters.

Practical use of charcoal for turning soil into Terra Preta

German engineers have come up with a remarkable machine that turns sewage into charcoal. If that was not enough of a feat, they say it helps the fight against climate change by locking up carbon from the sewage that would otherwise have gone into the air.

When gardeners add biochar to garden soil, we are, in effect attempting to follow in the footsteps of the originators of Terra Preta. Because we don't know exactly how that process worked, nor how we can best adapt it outside its area of origin, we are left to discover much of this by experimenting with our own gardens and comparing observations within our own communities.

Dr Bruno Glaser from Bayreuth University in Germany is doing experiments with biochar and explains how it could be used to make plants grow faster.

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.

Laurens Rademakers explains how turning crop wastes and other biomass into charcoal and spreading it on tropical soils can sequester carbon and boost crop productivity

Details the safety of using EternaGreen BioChar and how to handle, store, and clean up the product.

EcoGeneration — July/August 2008 A new report, Biomass Technology Review: Processing for Energy and Materials, prepared by Crucible Carbon for Sustainability Victoria aims to increase awareness about biomass processing options as a business opportunity. Matthew Warnken discusses the reports key findings and the challenges facing the bioenergy industry.

Intensive farming not only degrades our soils, but it also contributes to climate change. David Biello reports