erich Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Dear List Lots-O-News; Erich Woods End Laboratory test Biochars YouTube - WoodsEndLaboratory's Channel Dec 11, 2009 - SynGest Inc. (SynGest: BioAmmonia from Biomass) CEO, Jack Oswald, was requested to create a short video by Environmental Entrepreneurs (Environmental Entrepreneurs: Home). The goal is to highlght for delegates in Copenhagen that the U.S. is taking leadership in Clean Energy and Climate Change through the commercialization of innovative new technologies in Clean Energy businesses. The short video can be viewed here: Jack Oswald E2 Video for CopenhagenJack Oswald, CEOSynGest Inc.SynGest: BioAmmonia from Biomass Bob from the Biochar list Should love This;Pakistanis set tree planting record: 1,800 each a day Pakistanis set tree planting record: 1,800 each a day | Distant-Help The kind of International Competition We Need; The ArborOlympics The Ozzie Liberal Conservative Party Line;A master plan to save the worldTONY Abbott is right: environmental direct action, as he calls it, can take us a long way down the path of reducing carbon emissions to safe levels. "direct action means that every dollar actually goes into reducing emissions". Hunt's "very conservative estimate" is that 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide can be taken out of the atmosphere each year by burying it in soils, plants and oceans. That is about one-quarter of present annual emissions.The question is how much blue sky is in these projections. There is widespread agreement that biosequestration -- improved land management practices and innovations such as biochar that lock carbon in soil and increases agricultural productivity -- is technically feasible. But scaling up to commercial production, let alone nationwide application, involves some big steps. Nevertheless, according to Hunt, "you can easily achieve the 150 million tonnes by 2020". A master plan to save the world | The Australian New BookThe Biochar DebateCharcoal’s Potential to Reverse Climate Change and Build Soil Fertilityby James BrugesThe Biochar Debate is the first book to introduce both the promise and concerns surrounding biochar (fine-grained charcoal used as a soil supplement) to nonspecialists. Charcoal making is an ancient technology. Recent discoveries suggest it may have a surprising role to play in combating global warming. This is because creating and burying biochar removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Furthermore, adding biochar to soil can increase the yield of food crops and the ability of soil to retain moisture, reducing need for synthetic fertilizers and demands on scarce fresh-water supplies.The Biochar Debate by James Bruges - Chelsea Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Any word or figures on worldwide potential? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikeru Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Amazon explorers uncover signs of a real El Dorado | World news | The Guardian A "Lost World" revealed in the Amazon: "geoglyph" societies. Antiquity Vol 83:322, 2009 pp 1084-1095 - Martti Pärssinen et al. - Pre-Columbian geometric earthworks in the upper Purús: a complex society in western Amazonia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 I sure would like to see a soil analysis of these areas, I can't imagine "Black Gold" not being there , but they say nothing of char soils, , with these population numbers, what other Ag system could work. All they say is; "The discoveries have demolished ideas that soils in the upper Amazon were too poor to support extensive agriculture, says Denise Schaan, a co-author of the study and anthropologist at the Federal University of Pará, in Belém, Brazil. She told National Geographic: "We found this picture is wrong. And there is a lot more to discover in these places, it's never-ending. Every week we find new structures." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 PRE-NEWS Flash USA TODAY Article on CoalTec Gasifiers , On Thursday 1/14/10 , These guys did Josh Frye's litter gasifier ( see IBI site) his bulk char is selling briskly at $350 / ton. I'm sure CoalTec will be talking of New projects. Cheers Erich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essay Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 CSU projects receive research grants | Northern Colorado Business Report April 26, 2010 --FORT COLLINS - The Clean Energy Supercluster will distribute almost $200,000 in seed grant funds to 13 projects at Colorado State University.....The projects receiving awards in this round span three main topics - biofuels and emerging technology; solar, wind and efficiency; and cross-cutting topics. The largest awards, at $20,000 each, went to:.... "BIOCHAR: An Assessment of Potential Energy, Environmental and Economic Benefits" led by Francesca Cotrufo and Catherine Keske in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences; and Morgan DeFoort in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.Morgan is co-director (w/Bryan Willson) of the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory at CSU--where Envirofit came from: Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory=== Yes! Let's hear it for integrative science and "cross-cutting topics." I spoke with both Morgan and Francesca, among others last year, about supporting an interdisciplinary research program on biochar at CSU. Deans of all the colleges and the Vice Provost for Research were made aware of this support from the soil and energy researchers and lab directors. As I recall, these researchers had proposals and a preliminary biochar program ready to go (pending funding, of course) so, Way to Go Francesca!! ...and thank you Morgan!! ...and Dr. Farland & CSU, the Green University! ~ :lightning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Hi All,In the new Popular Science , under Headlines; Old MacDonald Had a Pyrolysis Doohickey ( no link) , Dr. Roger Ruan of University of Minnesota has a mobile microwave unit."Ruan commissioned a china company to build a camper sized prototype, and this fall he'll hitch it to a pick-up and hit the road of rural Minnesota to conduct a field study." This work was new to me , and I sent an email to Dr. Ruan , to update him, and find out more. The only other article of interest in the issue is A box that quenches thirsty plants without irrigationInvention Awards: A Box That Keeps Plants Hydrated in the Desert | Popular Science I've read of larger scale systems for condensation collection using piles of stones over a catchment basin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 The Australian ABC's Science show recently interviewed a scientist working on a cheap carbon nano-filter that could desalinate water at half the price of today's membranes, but here's the kicker. While it does it at half the price, it does it a thousand times faster! (Which I take it to mean it actually desalinates water 2000 times cheaper!) It's 5 years away, but if the proof of concept works, we could even look at desal for agriculture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Dear Lists,Now this sounds really Exciting! Terra Preta Hyperspectral Census, UNH scientist to estimate pre-Columbian Amazonian population using satellite imageryMichael Palace, a research assistant professor at the Complex Systems Research Center (CSRC) within the Institute for the Study or Earth, Oceans, and Space, is an expert in using satellite-borne imagery to study various aspects of tropical forests. In this project he will use hyperspectral imagery taken by NASA's Hyperion sensor onboard the Terra satellite.The Hyperion camera "sees" in 242 spectral bands of light, allowing scientists to identify the chemical makeup of tree leaves, which in turn is related to nutrients in the underlying soil. The more nutrient-rich leaves or specific groups of tree species seen by Hyperion will be the signature for what Palace is looking for – Amazonian black earths – sites containing soil rich in organic matter, charcoal, and nutrients and frequently associated with large accumulations of potsherds and other artifacts of human origin. UNH scientist to estimate pre-Columbian Amazonian population using satellite imagery CRS Biochar ReportBiochar: Examination of an Emerging Concept to Mitigate Climate ChangeKelsi BracmortAnalyst in Agricultural Conservation and Natural Resources Policy Environmental Legislation: Biochar: Examination of an Emerging Concept to Mitigate Climate Change Blair with Khosla Ventures,Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has spoken twice about Biochar systems that I recall, I hope he recalls this to Mr. Khosla This time, Blair is strategist for Khosla Ventures Login Cheers,Erich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Hi Erich,a few posts back you mentioned water technology. What do you make of the seawater greenhouse? The only energy required is pumping the water (which is a minuscule fraction of the energy) and it works most effectively in deserts near oceans (like the Sahara). It desalinates 5 times the water it needs to grow food inside the cooler greenhouse, and so could lend itself to "Greening the desert" permaculture strategies involving growing non-productive but cooling top-canopy trees that can survive 50degrees C in a desert (like Aussie gums) which then enable lower story fruit and nut and date trees etc. So basically this Seawater Greenhouse | Welcome plus thisYouTube - Greening the Desert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohI6vnWZmk plus biochar could green the Sahara! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 It is hard to get one's mind to fathom geologic time, a little less so for palioclimate time scales and biotic and climatic inferences from paleosols, or paleogeomorphology. Anthrosols of the TP culture, on millennial scales, should be easier and Jim's line, from a biocharlist post summes that up; "two pounds is two pounds times a thousand years" & got me thinking. Dr. Dull's work infers that the kayopo TP people, with their aristocracy and slash&char Ag were nearly as exploitive and carbon positive as the balance of world agriculture of the time. So the pleasing conception I once held of an Ag system that was C-neutral or negative, is false.However, not as exploitive as our plows & deforestation, there were no "Carbon Nobel Savages" here. The Columbian Encounter and the Little Ice Age: Abrupt Land Use Change, Fire, and Greenhouse Forcing The implications are really important. Dull, et al, argue that the re-growth of Neotropical forests following the Columbian encounter led to terrestrial biospheric carbon sequestration on the order of 2 to 5 GtC, thereby contributing to the well-documented decrease in atmospheric C recorded in Antarctic ice cores from about 1500 through 1750. While the paper does not extend to the medieval maximum, from charcoal in lake bed studies it documents increased biomass burning and deforestation during agricultural and population expansion in the Neotropics from 2500 to 500 years BP, which would correspond with atmospheric carbon loading and global warming 1100 to 650 years BP.http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/00045608.2010.502432 The charcoal & pollen evidence is hard to ignore. A 500-day soil column incubation study,soil aeration pointed to for reduced N2O, ......does that mean better soil particle aggregation?and remember, that the 18% increased CO2 emissions are right where the undersides of plant leaves can suck them back up. Title: Impact of biochar on manure carbon stabilization and greenhouse gas emissionsSubmitted to: Soil Science Society of America Journal "For the studied system, we conclude that biochar additions sequestered large amounts of highly stable C, reduced N2O emissions, increased CO2 emissions from the soils, and reduced rates of CO2 emissions following a manure addition."http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=254118 Research into biochar as bulking agent in composting.University of Georgia, Nitrogen availability from Char & NH3 loss with composting & char.http://www.ibi2010.org/wp-content/uploads/BiocharPoultrySteiner.pdf I particularly like the NH3 loss graph, spiking at each turning of the compost.I think this 50%+ conservation of nitrogen will allow commercial composting operations to become a main stream NPK Fertilizer product, beyond the humic substances & wee-beasties of the compost with this NPK-C analysis is a blended soilfeed ration for the livestock under your feet. An author of the above study, Casey Ritz at U of GA is in his second year of study replicating this Japanese work with char feed rations in poultry. The Japanese are now showing that a 5% addition to ruminant and poultry feed rations have profound benefits to the overall carbon foot print and disease resistance for livestock. They battery raise organic poultry with no antibiotics, selling odorless eggs at twice the market price. In ruminants they report 50% reductions of CH4 belching and higher feed conversion rates.Contact the Japan Biochar Association ;http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/pioneer.htm Soils Saves SeasThis plea for Poseidon, from Cancun, frames Biochar's importance among the other carbon "wedges" ; Climate The Risk of Ocean Death from CO2 Cancun, Dec 10, 2010 – The new trump card in climate change will be ocean acidity, or what might be better called ocean death. This newly recognized threat makes drastically cutting CO2 astronomically more urgent, even as negotiators are just now barely beginning to agree to the emissions reductions required to avert dangerous climate change."I most agree with his point on Tipping Points ; "This will be like round two of the climate change debate, but with new science that now shows a simple direct linear relationship between the CO2 level and a new catastrophic global threat." I take issue with & rebut his "but" below; "but all land use changes combined will not be able to provide more than a fraction of the total carbon removal needed. There is simply not enough capacity to remove the bulk of the net surplus fossil carbon from the atmosphere." 1/3 is a pretty big fraction, as cited by FAO;Conservation Agricultural............ (+ Biochar = 100% CO2e Emissions )"In general, soil carbon sequestration during the first decade of adoption of best conservation agricultural practices is 1.8 tons CO2 per hectare per year. On 5 billion hectares of agricultural land, this could represent one-third of the current annual global emission of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels (i.e., 27 Pg CO2 per year)."http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/doc/CA_SSC_Overview.pdf Add just 1 Ton more of char/Ha (800lb/Ac) and you cover 100% Current Annual Fossil CO2 Emissions.Then with subsoil plowing if more C needs to go. Imagine bring the our mid-west soils back to 10% C.A long row to hoe...but hoeable. http://www.planetwork.net/climate/ Cheers.Erich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 The two major developments below from BlueSky Biochar and CoolPlanet Biofuels will show that industrial scaling up is happening more than you can shake a sticks at. The Dupont & ORNL work on Biochar Hg remediation is expanding, along with Forest service work on mine scarred lands. Big Wig consortiums like Catchlight Energy LLC, a joint venture of Chevron Corp and Weyerhaeuser , with Kior , and Honeywell joining SynGest & AlipaJet for fossil free NH3 fertilizer and tank ready jet fuel from biomass, go to show that main stream corporations are showing much more than just interest in Biochar systems. Cool Planet Carbon Negative GasolineCalifornia dreaming?....No, it's a lucid Reality!....Gasoline so clean,... Is it fossil fuel ?...or is it biofuel? ... only your radiocarbon isotope tester knows for sure.The farm scale reactors are producing (after treatment, no details) a high surface area char, 600 sq meters / gram, field trials in poor desert sandy soils have produced 4X increases in lettuce growth.Given the due diligence rigors that companies like GE, ConocoPhillips, NRG Energy & venture funds like BP, Google, Energy Technology Ventures, must have put Cool Planet through, I will assume that their "Magic Catalysis" for bio-oil to tank ready fuels must really have some proprietary magic in it. Blending with California standard E-10 gasoline to meet California's 2020 goal of a 10% reduction in carbon is a great plan to stretch early limited production carbon benefits across the whole market. I wish I knew the percentage of blending so I could calculate from the claim their total pure bio-gasoline future production;"Cool Planet has the capability to produce over one million gallons of 2020 low carbon gasoline this year, and projects ramping to a billion gallons by 2015 and significantly higher volumes by 2018. Cool Planet plans to create the capacity to supply sufficient negative carbon blendstock to meet California's 2020 goals as early as 2016. " Cool Planet BioFuels Announces Road Testing of Negative Carbon Gasoline Begins in Californiahttp://www.marketwatch.com/story/cool-planet-biofuels-announces-road-testing-of-negative-carbon-gasoline-begins-in-california-2012-01-11 Blue Sky Biochar, www.blueskybiochar.com , a division of International Tech Corporation, are running their TRU reactor to replace coal fired power with baseload Carbon negative power & Char at FaceBook's new server Farm. Producing a pelletalized char inoculated with mycorhizal fungi from Dr."Mike" Amaranthus, http://www.mycorrhizae.com/Backed by ITC with decades of experience in pyrolysis for waste feedstock & steel drum reconditioning, now has a purpose built reactor for char productionInternational Tech Corp. (ITC)http://internationaltechcorp.net/about/profile/ If you want to put your jaw on the floor look at the "Super Stone Clean Biochar" results of char as a feed ration. the indeterminate growth species of shrimp, clams & eels are just amazing. For animal health, char as a 3% feed ration for livestock & aquaculture has shown phenomenal results. Ruminant livestock CH4 belching reduced and in indeterminate growth species has doubled their size and reduced mortality buy 20% . The Iwamoto Mineral Biochar company is conducting tests regarding the effectiveness of their reactor technology to treat cesium contaminated debris from the tsunami & Fukushima release, So far it looks promising.I am very impressed with SuperStoneClean because of the scale and variety of feedstock solutions they offer from restaurants' food waste to electronic waste to now the daughters of uranium waste!http://superstoneclean.com/video-presentations/ These ecological services not only trump the energy value of complete litter combustion but put way more money in the Farmer's pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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