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Here is a non-Pdf link to the Nature article

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v442/n7103/full/442624a.html


Erich J. Knight
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It's still pay-per-view. How about a free link for us pofolks?


If you don't care for reality, just wait a while; another will be along shortly. --A Rose

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OK !!!!! I finaly got one that will last

Here is a non-subscription link to the Nature story, I can't tell you how frustrating this link has been. At first Nature would allow you past it's paywall then blocked it . Then for awhile they allowed the pdf, but then blocked that. Now at least on the bestenergy site we won't have to re-do it.


http://bestenergies.com/downloads/naturemag_200604.pdf


Erich


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Time to Master the Carbon Cycle


Man has been controlling the carbon cycle , and there for the weather, since the invention of agriculture, all be it was as unintentional, as our current airliner contrails are in affecting global dimming. This unintentional warm stability in climate has over 10,000 years, allowed us to develop to the point that now we know what we did,............ and that now......... we are over doing it.

The prehistoric and historic records gives a logical thrust for soil carbon sequestration.
I wonder what the soil biome carbon concentration was REALLY like before the cutting and burning of the world's virgin forest, my guess is that now we see a severely diminished community, and that only very recent Ag practices like no-till and reforestation have started to help rebuild it. It makes implementing Terra Preta soil technology like an act of penitence, a returning of the misplaced carbon.

Energy, the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas management
http://www.computare.org/Support%20documents/Fora%20Input/CCC2006/Energy%20Paper%2006_05.htm


On the Scale of CO2 remediation:

It is my understanding that atmospheric CO2 stands at 379 PPM, to stabilize the climate we need to reduce it to 350 PPM by the removal of 230 Billion tons.

The best estimates I've found are that the total loss of forest and soil carbon (combined
pre-industrial and industrial) has been about 200-240 billion tons. Of
that, the soils are estimated to account for about 1/3, and the vegetation
the other 2/3.

Since man controls 24 billion tons in his agriculture then it seems we have plenty to work with in sequestering our fossil fuel co2 emissions as charcoal:
A preliminary analysis of CO2 emissions
http://www.eprida.com/hydro/powerplant.htm

As Dr. Lehmann at Cornell points out, "Closed-Loop Pyrolysis systems such as Dr. Danny Day's are the only way to make a fuel that is actually carbon negative". and that " a strategy combining biochar with biofuels could ultimately offset 9.5 billion tons of carbon per year-an amount equal to the total current fossil fuel emissions! "
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/l...ochar_home.htm


Terra Preta Soils Technology: Carbon Negative Bio fuels and 3X Fertility Too


Last edited by erich knight; 01/21/07 04:08 AM.

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Erich,
your last link got me a 404 not found error. Do you have another?

"Amaranth"


If you don't care for reality, just wait a while; another will be along shortly. --A Rose

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Biochar home

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/Biochar_home.htm

And Fossil fuel CO2 sequestering Amonia scrubbing tochnology:
http://www.eprida.com/hydro/powerplant.htm


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Hi Erich,
I found another item for you.

"AMAZON SOIL TECHNIQUE REDUCES GREENHOUSE GASES"

Australian scientists are adapting a soil fertility technique used in the Amazon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For thousands of years, Amazonian Indians burned their waste organic matter in low-intensity fires and added the charred material to their land.
The method improved fertility on intensively-managed soils, but is now being considered as a way of trapping excess carbon.

Researcher Lucas Van Zweiten says carbon can be stored for thousands of years.
"In composting, the majority of carbon in the composting process is lost naturally to microbial degradation to carbon dioxide," he said.

"In pyrolisys up to 50 per cent of carbon is maintained as char which can last for several thousand years in the soil."

From - http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/ - on Feb:9th '07

--------------------
"You will never find a real Human being - even in a mirror." .....Mike Kremer.
.


.

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"You will never find a real Human being - Even in a mirror." ....Mike Kremer.


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Mike,
Your link led me to a page that said index, but nothing was listed there. Do you have another link?


If you don't care for reality, just wait a while; another will be along shortly. --A Rose

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Sorry all,
Here is the full Link,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1844114.htm

Thanks Amaranth.


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"You will never find a real Human being - Even in a mirror." ....Mike Kremer.


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It has been immensely gratifying to see all the major players join the http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node
mail list , Cornell folks, T. Beer of Kings Ford, M-Roots guys, DOE chemical engineers, Dr. Danny Day & G.I.T. folks, BestEnergy and Dr. Antel of U.of H.


Here's a post that brings us up to date on TP research:

[Terrapreta] Terra Preta & Soil Quality
Janice Thies jet25 at cornell.edu
Sat Feb 24 19:41:01 CST 2007

Previous message: [Terrapreta] Terra Preta & Pigs
Next message: [Terrapreta] Terra Preta & Soil Quality
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear All,

I am extremely heartened by the very positive response to the idea of using
of biochar in agriculture and horticulture and appreciate your desires to
put it to immediate beneficial use in these systems.

My name is Janice Thies. I am a soil microbial ecologist. I have been
working with Johannes Lehmann at Cornell University for the past 6 years on
various aspects of terra preta (microbial ecology in its natural state) and
agrichar (how microbial populations respond to adding biochar to soil). It
took us three years to convince the National Science Foundation that we
were on to something here and to obtain funding for some of the basic
research that is necessary for us to provide the data needed to answer your
questions with confidence. Hence, we are several years behind where we
could have been if funding had been available earlier. Even now, we
continue to seek support for doing the types of tests many of you are most
interested in. The results of our NSF funded research are just now being
published or written up, but we are still a long way from being able to
answer everything.

Currently, there are 10 research laboratories around the world that are
testing char made from bamboo that was prepared at 5 different temperatures
in the range we believe is likely to provide char that will be most
beneficial for both plant production and C sequestration purposes. Rob
Flannigan prepared the char in China and has engaged us all to do a wide
range of testing on it. So, we should have some news about what
temperature range might be best reasonably soon, but it is still early days.

One of the reasons that Dr. Lehmann recommends caution in the use of
biochar can be seen in the paper recently published by Christoph Steiner et
al., mentioned in previous messages. He did get excellent plant growth
responses to adding biochar - as long as mineral fertilizer was also used.
When you look at plant growth in the biochar only treatment, growth was
worse than doing nothing at all (check plots). In the nutrient-poor and
highly leached soils of the tropics, the added biochar likely bound
whatever nutrients were present in the soil solution and these became
unavailable for plant uptake. These results should make you cautious as
well. How fertile a soil needs to be for biochar not to reduce plant growth
or exactly how much fertilizer and/or compost should be added to be sure
there is good, sustained release of nutrients, will likely vary soil to
soil and we simply do not have these data available at present to make
proper recommendations. So, keep this in mind as you do your own trials
with your own soils or mixes. Try to follow good design practices for your
trials, with replicates, so that you can judge for yourself what amount and
type of biochar works best in combination with what amounts and types of
fertilizers or composts you use (depending on the philosophy behind your
cultural practices).

As to the 'wee beasties' or 'critters' as I like to call them, we have made
progress on this front over the last several years. Brendan O'Neill and
Julie Grossman in my laboratory, Sui Mai Tsai, our Brazilian collaborator
at CENA and the University of Sao Paulo, and Biqing Liang, and many others
in Johannes Lehmann's laboratory have been characterizing microbial
populations in three different terra preta soils and comparing these to the
adjacent, unmodified soils near by to them. Brendan found that populations
of culturable bacteria and fungi are higher in the terra preta soils, as
compared to the unmodified soils, in all cases. Yet, Biqing found that the
respiratory activity of these populations is lower (see Liang et al.,
2006), even when fresh organic matter is added. This alone means that the
turnover of organic matter is slower in the terra preta soils - suggesting
that the presence of black C in the terra pretas is helping to stabilize
labile organic matter and is itself not turning over in the short
term. All good news for C sequestration. However, since the respiratory
activity is lower (slower decomposition), this may lead to slower release
of other mineral nutrient associated with the fresh organic inputs. In some
circumstances this is a good thing (maintaining nutrient release over the
growing season), in other circumstances (more immobilization), perhaps
not. We need more work on this to understand the implications of these
results more fully.

Julie Grossman, Brendan O'Neill, Lauren McPhillips and Dr. Tsai have all
been working on the molecular ecology of these soils along with me. So
far, what we know is that both bacterial and fungal communities differ
strongly between the terra pretas and the unmodified soils, but that the
populations are similar between the terra preta soils. These results are
both interesting and encouraging. First, that the terra preta soils
(sampled from sites many kilometers apart) are more similar to each other
than to their closest unmodified soil (sampled within 500 m) tells us that
the conditions in the terra pretas encourage the colonization of these
soils by similar groups of organisms that are adapted them. Our group has
been working on cloning and sequencing both isolates from the terra preta
soils and DNA extracted directly from them. A number of bacteria that were
isolated only from the terra preta soils are related to the actinomycetes,
but have not yet been described yet and are not very closely related to
other sequences of known organisms in the public genetic databases. This is
also very interesting. Some of you will know that actinomycetes have many
unusual metabolic capabilities and can degrade a very wide range of
substrates. Also, many are thermophilic and play important roles in the
composting process. We have yet to fully characterize these organisms, but
are optimistic that in time we can make some recommendations about what
organisms or combinations of organisms might make a good inoculant for
container-based biochar use. Two papers describing these results are in
their final editing stages and will be submitted for publication in the
journal 'Microbial Ecology' within the next few weeks. So, keep an eye out
for them in several months time.

I want to add a word of caution about getting too excited about glomalin.
Another of my students, Daniel Clune, has been working on this topic and
his work suggests that the glycoprotein referred to as 'glomalin' in the
literature - operationally defined as the protein extractable in a citrate
buffer with repeated autoclaving - is not what it has been purported to be.
First, the proteins extractable by this method are from a wide range of
sources, not just arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Second, it has a shorter
turnover time than has been suggested. Third, in a test with hundreds of
samples taken from field trials varying in age from 7 to 12 to 34 years,
its relationship with aggregate stability is suggestive at best. Dan's work
is also being written up right now and should also be submitted for
publication soon.

Some field trials with bamboo char have been conducted in China, with very
positive results. Look for upcoming papers from Dr. Zheng of the Bamboo
Institute in Hangzhou. Another student in my laboratory, Hongyan Jin, is
working with the soils from this experiment to characterize the abundance,
activity and diversity of the soil bacteria and archaea. Her first results
will be presented at the upcoming conference on Agrichar to be held in
Terrigal, NSW, Australia, at the end of April/beginning of May this year.
Please be sure to see her poster should you attend this conference.

Lastly, from my personal gardening experiences, I use spent charcoal from
the filters of the 14 aquaria I maintain for my viewing pleasure. I combine
it as about 5% of my mix with 65% peat moss, 10% vermicompost (from my worm
bin in my basement where I compost all my household kitchen waste - aged
and stabilized, not fresh!), 5-10% leaf mulch (composted on my leafy
property in NY), 5-7% perlite to increase drainage, decrease bulk density
and improve water retention and percolation, and some bone meal and blood
meal (to taste :-) ). This makes an excellent potting mix for my indoor
'forest'. I am very much still playing around with this.

I hope this very long posting helps those of you feeling frustrated and
wanting answers. Many labs are working on many fronts, but it is early
days and we are trying to answer some fundamental questions first and then
use the information to guide our field tests and recommendations.

I hope to meet some of you at the Agrichar Conference (see details at the
conference website) http://www.iaiconference.org/images/IAI_brochure_5.pdf
The Cornell work and that of many of our colleagues in Brazil, China, the
US, Australia and elsewhere will be presented, along with that of many
others actively working on agrichar production and use around the world.

Good luck with your own testing and kind regards,

Janice Thies -


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In Focus
May 15, 2007
Special Report: Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan to Convert Trash into Environmental Treasure
New bill in U.S. Senate will advocate adoption of "agrichar" method that could lessen our dependence on fossil fuel and help avert global warming
By Anne Casselman

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40


My Latest opening to my TP Postings;


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.

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


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Erich,
Your third link gave me a "404 NOT FOUND" error. Do you have another link?

Amaranth


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I recall seeing these posts last fall. At the time I thought it sounded like a good idea, but I didn't know enough about global warming to see how it fit in.

Guess I'll have to check out these links. It seems to be based on the same concepts that I've been pushing on the Climate Change Forum.

"Sustainable productivity is more important than focusing on cutting GHG emissions." -

Below is from a post on the Climate Change Forum, "Peat Bogs to solve Warming?"
It was written a bit tounge in cheek, as obviously one item (bogs) can't solve warming; but the general idea was to manage the vast reservoirs of Carbon on Earth in such a way as to soak up a little extra. That little extra would be more than equivalent to anthropogenically produced amounts.

"Bogs are a good example of earth in general, they both absorb and emit lots of CO2 (and come close to balancing in the long term).

I think it's something like 130 GtC/yr that exchanges on a yearly basis (terrestrial only). Humans emit about 7 GtC/yr. If we could shift that balance (130 Gt exchange) just a couple of percent, we could sequester as much as we produce. Of course that would mean watering our 'lawns' much more than we do now (worldwide). And overall, the earth is drying out. So...I'm not a "Doom & Gloom" kind of guy either, but it's hard not to be....

Maybe grow a backyard bog (or any wetland)....

Which also leads me to ask about the oceans as an HNL (whole 'nother level).
Oceans are maybe larger than 130 GtC/yr. exchange (which also are not healthy, growing absorbers anymore) IMHO.

I still think that both oceans and lands have shifted to be net producers of CO2 overall (due to human activities)."
-S. (post#21500)

Thanks,

~Samwik

"...if we are to secure a sustainable world for our grandchildren". -Sir Harry Kroto
Thanks rede, right on!


Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20070504224521data_trunc_sys.shtml

Quote:
sheesh, I spent 10 minutes looking for this Topic on the Climate Change Forum


If we do nothing but cut emissions, it'll take hundreds of years to recover; but if we actively reduce levels on a yearly basis, recovery could be a lot quicker.

Thus, consistent with the idea of enhancing planetary scale carbon sinks, here's an example:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/nswd-son053107.php

Quote:



The huge potential of agricultural soils to reduce greenhouse gases and increase production at the same time has been reinforced by new research findings at NSW Department of Primary Industries' (DPI) Wollongbar Agricultural Institute.

[The technique used in Australia takes organic matter or biomass, including green or feedlot wastes, and converts them to char during pyrolysis, a thermo-chemical process conducted in the absence of oxygen. The bulk of the feed material is converted during pyrolysis into a high-carbon char material which is far more stable than the original biomass, effectively sequestering the carbon and removing it from the greenhouse cycle.]

"For the environment, it means soil carbon emissions can be reduced because rapidly decomposing carbon forms are being replaced by stable ones in the form of agrichar."
"Labile carbon like crop residue, mulch and compost is likely to last two or three years, while stable carbon like agrichar will last up to hundreds of years."

[Scientist Lukas Van Zwieten, from the New South Wales Department of Primary Industry, said soils naturally turn over about 10 times more greenhouse gas on a global scale than the burning of fossil fuels. "So it is not surprising there is so much interest in a technology to create clean energy that also locks up carbon in the soil for the long term and lifts agricultural production," he said.]

"Soil biology improved, the need for added fertiliser reduced and water holding capacity was raised," he said. The trials also measured gases given off from the soils and found significantly lower emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas more than 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide).





I think there are many examples of this sort of synergistic solution out there ...and there are possibilities to help the oceans while sequestering CO2 also.

...and these solutions would address 10's of gigatonnes (as opposed to the fractions of a gigatonne that emission control and conservation measures will cut).

Again, I do also think emissions need to be cut; but that's all I ever see anyone talk about, and that's such a tiny fraction of what we could sequester, with technology and "best management practices."

If we really think high CO2 levels are the problem, we should focus on reducing those levels; not just trying to slow the accelerating increase.

As a species, we'll adapt (~a million? of us will); but as for civilization, rapid climate change is the real threat to its survival (other than nuclear war, epidemics, famines) ...which of course are made more likely by rapid climate change.

Later, I hope!
~SA


Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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thought the current news and links on Terra Preta soils and closed-loop pyrolysis would interest you.
SCIAM Article May 15 07;

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40

After many years of reviewing solutions to anthropogenic global warming (AGW) I believe this technology can manage Carbon for the greatest collective benefit at the lowest economic price, on vast scales. It just needs to be seen by ethical globally minded companies.

Could you please consider looking for a champion for this orphaned Terra Preta Carbon Soil Technology.

The Honolulu Advertiser: “The nation's leading manufacturer of charcoal has licensed a University of Hawai'i process for turning green waste into barbecue briquets.”

About a year ago I got Clorox interested in TP soils and Dr. Antal's Plasma Carbonazation process.

See: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707280348

Mechabolic , a pyrolysis machine built in the form of a giant worm to eat solid waste and product char & fuel at the "Burning Man" festival ; http://whatiamupto.com/mechabolic/index.html

Karl Schroeder , a Sci-Fi writer has seen the TP vision , although it's The Kayopo (Spelling?) who should be getting the credit verses the Mayan. Months ago I nominated them to Richard Branson for a posthumous Carbon Prize.



http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/950/

: You mention 'agrichar' in your Billion Dollars wishlist. That's not something I was very familiar with (though I think I got the gist of it after a little quick Google search). Can you tell us a little more about it (and why it's important or useful), or suggest a good website or link for more information for readers who would like to learn more about this?

Karl Schroeder: Agrichar is a modern version of "Terra Preta" which was used centuries ago in the Amazon basin to allow the nutrient-poor soils there to produce lavish crops. It's basically a burn-and-bury process that sequesters carbon, replaces commercial fertilizers, revives dying soils, and all in all is a perfect technique for long-term sustainable soil health. Simple enough that the Mayans could perfect it, with the potential to be used all over the world. It's a pretty new process so there's not too many sources of information out there about it, unfortunately. But it's precisely the sort of transformative technology we need.


Here's an image of a wood sculpture sent to me by Jerard Pearson, a crop/compost artist who is planning a large scale charcoal / Chalk piece of field art at the state fair grounds near Omaha. He has been trying to buy Char from T. Beer at Kingsford, but getting no response. He plans to use a hydro-seeder with a mixture of Char and cellulose mulch as a wet "air brush" to paint the field. I hope it will draw some media attention for TP soils.

This wood sculpture, in my mind, conjures up inoculant spores carried aboard the "char delivery vehicle" beginning the process of sending out hyphae. Gorgeous.

Check out the other wood sculptures by this Frenchman dude. Pretty cool.

http://www.mailland.fr/html/the_village.html


Getting Char into the soil;

The Rotocult Horizontal Cultivator is being hailed in all sectors of the agricultural industry as a revolution that has now provided farmers with an 'alternative' to using the "traditional" methods of cultivation. It's a Horizontal orbital action which slices the earth, incorporates trash without cultivating the inner space resulting in less soil disturbance, greater moisture retention, significant fuel and time savings and less maintenance. Now with one double row cultivator it is possible for one man and a single machine to cultivate up to 1 hectare per hour with a single pass and follow up with a planter almost immediately.


http://www.rotocult.com/



Here is a reply I just received from the inventor;



"Thank you for your email Erich. It was very interesting reading.

Rotocult can cultivate to a depth of 18” while incorporating organic matter in one pass.

Should you require detailed information or a movie CD please contact us.

Regards,

John Wilkinson

C.E.O.

Natascha Wilkinson

WILKINSON’S BLACKSMITH’S

1 Gill Street

Atherton Qld 4883

Ph: 07 4091 1833

Fax: 07 4091 1653

Email: tash@wilkinsons.com.au

Web: www.rotocult.com





Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
(540) 289-9750
shengar@aol.com





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From Michael on the Holography Forum;
[url=lhttp://forums.hypography.com/terra-preta/10561-opinion-what-challenges-terra-preta-5.html]lhttp://forums.hypography.com/terra-preta/10561-opinion-what-challenges-terra-preta-5.html[/url]


A Good simple, well written, clear, article worth reading and sending on to any agriculture organization;


Show us the money
Carbon-Friendly Farming

The Carbon Farmers - Features - The Lab - Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Gateway to Science


And Michael's Pottery speculations on Permaculture;

"I used to live near a crazy potter. He built his own kiln but loved to open fire pottery occasionally. He made a gigantic bonfire with the pottery inside. All sorts of "arty" and interesting effects were produced by open firing.
Also a lot of breakages.
It this how Amazonian discovered char?
Is this why there is lots of Pottery in Terra preta?"

http://forums.permaculture.org.au/viewtopic.php?p=35061#35061






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Very interesting. I hope this goes main stream soon.

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Amazonian Dark Earths: Explorations in Space and Time
Dr. Bruno Glaser & Prof. William I. Woods (Eds.)
Springer, 2004

Now on Kindle!
I'm sure happy (w/ lots to read).

Erich, This is the book!
Section 8 is by the author you mention....

Sequential P Fractionation on Relict Anthropogenic Dark Earth of Amazonia:
Johannes Lehmann, et al.
smile


Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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....hmmmm. I ran across this (part of a) bibliography while reading some paper on "historical ecology."

Lehmann, J., Campos, C.V., Macedo, J.L.V., & German, L. (2003a). Sequential P fractionation and sources of P in Amazonian Dark Earths. In B. Glaser, & W.I. Woods (Eds.), Explorations in Amazonian Dark Earths (in press). Berlin: Springer.

Lehmann, J., Kern, D.C., German, L., McCann, J., Martins, G.C., & Moreira, A. (2003b). Soil fertility and production potential. In J. Lehmann, D.C. Kern, B. Glaser, W.I. Woods (Eds.), Amazonian Dark Earths: Origin, Properties, Management (pp. 105-124). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.


Now, the first entry refers to Sect.8 of the book I have on my Kindle.
But I think the book that I've seen referenced before (re: TP soils, ADE's) is described by the second entry.
Does this sound right?

Looks as if the "in press" version had its title updated a bit ("Explorations in Space and Time" does sound more snappy than Explorations in Amazonian Dark Earths).

p.s.
Section 15 is:
...by Christoph Steiner et al. (including, J. Lehmann),
Microbial Response to Charcoal Amendments of Highly Weathered Soils and Amazonian Dark Earths in Central Amazonia
mmmmmmm, yummmm. wink


Pyrolysis creates reduced carbon! ...Time for the next step in our evolutionary symbiosis with fire.
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I hope you will come to share my passion in getting the word out on the wonderful solutions provided by TP soils.
I'm sort of the TP list cub reporter, most all my list postings, under shengar@aol.com, are news items, collaborative work, lobbying efforts with government, writers and journals.

Bellow are my collected stories and links that I promiscuously post to anyone who has an iron in this fire.

Thanks for your interest

Cheers,
Erich


the current news and links on Terra Preta (TP) soils and closed-loop pyrolysis of Biomass, this integrated virtuous cycle could sequester 100s of Billions of tons of carbon to the soils.

This technology represents the most comprehensive, low cost, and productive approach to long term stewardship and sustainability.Terra Preta Soils a process for Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration, 10X Lower CH4 & N2O soil emissions, and 3X Fertility Too.
Indeed, Dr. James Hansen, NASA's top Atmospheric authorty, is now placing it in the center stage of pro-active solutions for the climate crisis.

UN Climate Change Conference: Biochar present at the Bali Conference

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/steinerbalinov2107



SCIAM Article May 15 07;

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40



After many years of reviewing solutions to anthropogenic global warming (AGW) I believe this technology can manage Carbon for the greatest collective benefit at the lowest economic price, on vast scales. It just needs to be seen by ethical globally minded companies.

Could you please consider looking for a champion for this orphaned Terra Preta Carbon Soil Technology.

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;

S.1884 – The Salazar Harvesting Energy Act of 2007

A Summary of Biochar Provisions in S.1884:

Carbon-Negative Biomass Energy and Soil Quality Initiative

for the 2007 Farm Bill

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

Bolstering Biomass and Biochar development: In the 2007 Farm Bill, Senator Salazar was able to include $500 million for biomass research and development and for competitive grants to develop the technologies and processes necessary for the commercial production of biofuels and bio-based products. Biomass is an organic material, usually referring to plant matter or animal waste. Using biomass for energy can reduce waste and air pollution. Biochar is a byproduct of producing energy from biomass. As a soil treatment, it enhances the ability of soil to capture and retain carbon dioxide.

( Update; In conference the $500 M was cut to $3M....:( frown frown )


Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.
Potential Carbon Emissions Reductions from Biomass by 2030by Ralph P. Overend, Ph.D. and Anelia Milbrandt
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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

The organization 25x25 released it's (first-ever, 55-page )"Action Plan" ; see; http://www.25x25.org/storage/25x25/documents/IP%20Documents/ActionPlanFinalWEB_04-19-07.pdf
On page 29 , 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 and waste stream, all that farm & cellulose waste which is now dumped to rot or digested or combusted and ultimately returned to the atmosphere as GHG should be returned to the Soil.

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 co-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 EPRIDA , Dr. Antal of U. of H., Virginia Tech folks and probably many others who's back round I don't know have joined.



Also Here is the Latest BIG Terra Preta Soil news;

The Honolulu Advertiser: "The nation's leading manufacturer of charcoal has licensed a University of Hawai'i process for turning green waste into barbecue briquets."

See: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/antalkingsford

ConocoPhillips Establishes $22.5 Million Pyrolysis Program at Iowa State
http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/news_releases/2007news/04-10-2007.htm

Glomalin, the recently discovered soil protien, may be the secret to to TP soils productivity;

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2003/030205.htm

Mycorrhizae Inoculent;

http://www.mycorrhizae.com/


The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) conference held at Terrigal, NSW, Australia in 2007. The papers from this conference are posted at their home page; http://www.biochar-international.org/home.html


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