Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

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.

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.o rg/

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-internat ional.org/sites/default/fil es/END09F94.pdf.

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.

Another significant aspect of bichar and aerosols are the low cost ($3) Biomass cook stoves that produce char but no respiratory disease.  http://terrapretapot.org/  and village level systems   http://biocharfund.org/  with the Congo Basin Forest
Fund (CBFF). The Biochar Fund recently won $300K for these systems citing these priorities;
(1) Hunger amongst the world's poorest people, the subsistence farmers of Sub-Saharan Africa,
(2) Deforestation resulting from a reliance on slash-and-burn farming,
(3) Energy poverty and a lack of access to clean, renewable energy, and
(4) Climate change.
The broad smiles of 1500 subsistence farmers say it all ( that , and the root ball size of the Biochar corn )
http://biocharfund.org/inde x.php?option=com_content&am p;task=view&id=55&I temid=75

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-internat ional.org/newinformationeve nts/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.nationalgeograph ic.com/2008/09/soil/mann-te xt

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:
The future of biochar - Project Rainbow Bee Eater
http://www.sciencealert.com .au/features/20090211-20142 .html

Japan Biochar Association ;
http://www.geocities.jp/yas izato/pioneer.htm

UK Biochar Research Centre
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sc cs/biochar/

There are dozens soil researchers on the subject now at USDA-ARS.
and many studies at The up coming  ASA-CSSA-SSSA joint meeting;
 http://a-c-s.confex.com/cro ps/2009am/webprogram/Sessio n5675.htm

Building Soil Carbon is the bond that unities all political persuasions,

Soil Carbon Sequestration Standards Committee.  Hosted by Monsanto, this group of diverse interests has been hammering out issues of definition, validation and protocol. These past months, this group have been pressing soil sequestration's roll for climate legislation to congress.
http://www.novecta.com/docu ments/Carbon-Standard.pdf

Along these lines internationally,  the work of the IBI fostering the application by 20 countries for UN recognition of soil carbon as a sink with biochar as a clean development mechanism  will open the door for programs across the globe.
http://www.biochar-internat ional.org/biocharpolicy.htm l.

Reports:

This PNAS report (by a Nobel lariat) should cause the Royal Society to rethink their report that criticised 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/2009/10/09/090256810 6.full.pdf+html

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

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

United Nations Environment Programme, Climate Change Science Compendium 2009 http://www.unep.org/compend ium2009/PDF/Ch5_compendium2 009.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/r pts/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/f iles/poei.pdf

Biochar data base;
 TP-REPP
http://terrapreta.bioenergy lists.org?q=node

Disscusion Groups;
The group home page location, General orientation:
Biochar (http://tech.groups.yahoo.co m/group/biochar/
Biochar POLICY;
http://groups.yahoo.com/gro up/biochar-policy
Biochar Soils;
http://tech.groups.yahoo.co m/group/biochar-soils/
Biochar Production;
 http://tech.groups.yahoo.co m/group/biochar-production/

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 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

Erich J. Knight
Eco Technologies Group Technical Adviser
Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)
1047 Dave Barry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
540 289 9750
Co-Administrator, Biochar Data base & Discussion list  TP-REPP

  http://www.ecotechnologies. com/index.html ,has fully funded my field trials with the Rodale Institute & JMU)

There is real magic coming out of the Asian Biochar conference.
15 ear per stalk corn with 250% yield increase,
Sacred Trees and chickens raised from near death
Multiple confirmations of 80% - 90% reduction of soil GHG emissions

The abstracts of the conference are at
http://www.anzbiochar.org/A P%20BioChar%20Conference-ma y09.pdf

Biochar Studies at the 08 ACS Huston meeting;

Most all this work corroborates char soil 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.

578-I: http://a-c-s.confex.com/cro ps/2008am/webprogram/Sessio n4231.html

579-II http://a-c-s.confex.com/cro ps/2008am/webprogram/Sessio n4496.html

665 - III. http://a-c-s.confex.com/cro ps/2008am/webprogram/Sessio n4497.html

666-IV http://a-c-s.confex.com/cro ps/2008am/webprogram/Sessio n4498.html

Company News & EU Certification

Below is an important hurtle that 3R AGROCARBON has overcome in certification in the EU. Given that their standards are set much higher than even organic certification in the US, this work should smooth any bureaucratic hurtles we may face.

EU Permit Authority - 4 years tests
Subject: Fwd: [biochar] Re: GOOD NEWS: EU Permit Authority - 4 years tests successfully completed

Doses: 400 kg / ha - 1000 kg / ha at different horticultural cultivars

Plant height Increase 141 % versus control
Picking yield Increase 630 % versus control
Picking fruit Increase 650 % versus control
Total yield Increase 202 % versus control
Total piece of fruit Increase 171 % versus control
Fruit weight Increase 118 % versus control

HOMEPAGE 3R AGROCARBON: http://www.3ragrocarbon.com

Also:

I spoke with Jon Nilsson of the CarbonChar Group, in their forth year of field trials ;
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/p lant-performance

 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/artic le/1755-1315/6/37/372052/ee s9_6_372052.pdf?request-id= 22fb1902-1c23-4db8-8801-2be 7e2f3ce1b

The BlueLeaf Inc. and 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(TM) Biochar Enriched Plots Yield Crop Increase Ranging From Six to Seventeen Percent vs. Control Plots  
http://www.usetdas.com/TDAS /NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=13 603

The full study at Dynomotives site;
http://www.dynamotive.com/w p-content/themes/dynamotive /pdf/BlueLeaf_Biochar_Field _Trial_2008.pdf

Low Tech Clean Biochar;
http://holon.se/folke/carbo n/simplechar/simplechar.sht ml