Michaelangelica Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 That was one of the most inspiring videos I have ever seen.Yes, agreed, I pinched a quote from it-but had lost the link"All the world's problems can be solved in a garden. . .Not many people know that"SEEPermaculture discussion forum • View topic - Greening the DesertsAlso my worries/comments about the approach being applied to all deserts at the end of the thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggy Posted December 20, 2008 Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 "All the world's problems can be solved in a garden. . .Not many people know that"[/size] I also plan on using this line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeztar Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 The latest issue of Mother Earth News has an article about TP. Check it out here:http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/Make-Biochar-To-Improve-Your-Soil.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted January 29, 2009 Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 Also, Australia's Federal Opposition leader was demanding that Biochar be put on our carbon trading scheme. Turnbull turns up ETS heat | The Australian MALCOLM Turnbull will today attempt to trump Kevin Rudd on climate change by unveiling a multi-pronged carbon emissions reduction policy promising extra spending on alternative energy sources, mass forestry plantings and research into storing carbon in soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 13 February 2009: The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has submitted to the fifth Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 5) a proposal stressing the need to include in the UNFCCC negotiation agenda practical approaches, such as biochar-related (charcoal) mitigation, focusing on increased land productivity. The submission notes that actions related to sustainable land management influence directly, through the soil component, the increased capture and sequestration of carbon and other greenhouse gases that mitigate global climate change. It emphasizes that the recognition of soil carbon as a greenhouse gas abatement technology can be optimally achieved with the utilization of biochar, including through inclusion of biochar in the Clean Development Mechanism along with afforestation and reforestation that are currently already included. “The secretariat of the UNCCD is ready to facilitate discussions on possible approaches on the importance of carbon in soils, particularly Biochar.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Today's newsCarbon hopes push case for charcoalCarbon hopes push case for charcoal | The Australian Scientists are optimistic about the potential of biochar, writes Jill Rowbotham | March 11, 2009Article from: The Australian MALCOLM Turnbull's name will be blessed forever by many scientists and bio-businesspeople after he thrust into the spotlight the technology that produces charcoal-based fertiliser. As the Government battles to find acceptance for its emissions trading scheme, the Opposition Leader argues the Government's climate change effort came to a dead halt when it signed the Kyoto Protocol. Prominent among his initiatives to cut Australia's annual 570 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions is revisiting the merits of carbon sequestration's poor relative, charcoal, also called biochar. Turnbull's most prominent pronouncements, which began in late January, have been greeted with jubilation by English geologist and naturalised Australian Chris Turney, who holds the chair of physical geography at the University of Exeter. "We are seeing quite significant climate change already and the longer we wait (to act) the worse it will be," Turney says. "We need to get something out there that will suck carbon out of the atmosphere. Now is the time." Biochar is plant material or waste that has been smouldered; that is, reduced to ash by cooking at low heat, a process called slow pyrolysis. The method minimises carbon emissions (those produced can be used to fuel the plant), and maximises the all-important carbon capture; that is, retention of carbon within the material being treated. Applied to soil, biochar takes a staggeringly long time to degrade and release the carbon -- conservative estimates are hundreds of years and run to thousands -- and it enhances the ability of the soil to hang on to fertilisers applied with it. In a world where biochar manufacture was widespread, for example andCarbon hopes push case for charcoalThe Australian - 20 hours agoMALCOLM Turnbull's name will be blessed forever by many scientists and bio-businesspeople after he thrust into the spotlight the technology that produces charcoal-based fertiliser. As the Government battles to find acceptance for its emissions trading ...WAFF backs soil carbon researchABC Online - Mar 8, 2009The Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) has welcomed the Federal Government's plans to spend millions of dollars on soil carbon research. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, announced $20 million will go towards a ...New Book Presents Key Concepts Into Understanding Soil Carbon ...AZoCleantech - Mar 9, 2009As the severity of climate change increases with each passing year, researchers continue to study the ways that greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. Developing methods of sequestration for carbon emissions is essential to reducing this ...Poor soil management could speed climate change, report warnsEnvironmental Data Interactive - 11 hours agoGlobally, soils contain around twice the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and three times the amount found in vegetation, so soil is both "a source and a sink of greenhouse gases", the report published last Thursday says. ...Farming part of the carbon solutionThe Canberra Times - Mar 10, 2009Scientists worldwide recognise the very real opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere through storing carbon in biological systems. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, Professor Ross Garnaut (in his report on ...Biochar – a win win for jobs, agriculture and the environmentWebdiary - Mar 9, 2009by John Pratt The technology we’ve just been looking at is innovative, it’s exciting, it’s Australian, it’s great for the environment, it will create thousands of jobs, but it has been completely neglected by the Rudd Government’s CPRS, ...Climate change: The EU Commission dishes the dirt on the ...The Guatemala Times - Mar 9, 2009The European Commission (EC) has released a report that underlines the role that soils can play in mitigating climate change. The report "Review of existing information on the interrelations between soil and climate change," is a synthesis of the best ... Well we can all go off and do something else now.For those perspicacious people on the original thread thank you, we can all say "When I was a boy I was there at the beginning. . ."Global Warming; solved, tick.Now to solve the next problem -fresh water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 IT IS ABOUT TIME!! All hope for these Headline in the US media. Turnbull's throwing down the " Green Carbon" gauntlet in two face's at once, Kyoto & government, is a grand opportunity to move both institutions. It could cause a legislative horse race to see who will be first to legitimize soils as a carbon sink. Those Ozzies & Keewees, why are they so preciously creative?( I've read that percapita they hold the most patents)I'm sure Michael will explain it :hihi: Your Chartarian,Erich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 Monbiot is not happy with Biochar! Anyone got the time / expertise to write a substantive reply? I'm :doh::eek_big::naughty: with learning web design at the moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemit Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I can't give you a substantive reply, but I can tell you that from the standpoint of a writer and an editor it is constantly counterintuitive. And I can tell you as an old farmer that, to quote Abraham Lincoln and to kind of repeat myself, "It don't scour." --lemit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I have sent it on to the biochar list group.I am a bit snowed under tooDid you see this?One last chance to save mankind - environment - 23 January 2009 - New Scientist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jankdc Posted March 27, 2009 Report Share Posted March 27, 2009 Here is the original briefing that the Monbiot article is based on. I can't post links yet so it is at www (dot) biofuelwatch (dot) org (dot) uk/docs/biocharbriefing (dot) pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 Thanks jankdcis this it?http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/DD2006_48_carbon_trading/carbon_trading_web.pdftaking forever to download for meI tried to load some links from here too, but couldn't -on dial upForests.org: Destruction/Agriculture/Tree Plantations Linksme or the site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted March 28, 2009 Report Share Posted March 28, 2009 All three of these latest articles have links to other articles including the row starting about the whole idea. I suppose it is better than being ignored. But years of putting up with GW denialists now we have to deal with drop-kick 'biochar denialists' who are not up to speed on Charcoal. Been there done that just get on and do it. 'Biochar' goes industrial with giant microwaves to lock carbon in charcoalA ripe whiff of sludge drifts across the sewage works in Bingen, Germany, as a conveyor belt feeds a stream of semi-dried effluent into a steel container. Behind the container, the treated effluent emerges in the form of glittering black granules. In a flash of eco-alchemy, they are turning sewage into charcoal. The charcoal is then buried to lock the carbon into the ground and prevent it entering the atmosphere. Proponents of the technology say it is so effective at storing carbon that it should be included in the next global climate agreement.Video at siteMicrowave that locks carbon in charcoal may be our best weapon in the fight against global warming, say scientists | Environment | guardian.co.ukhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45534000Biochar: Is the hype justified? BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Biochar: Is the hype justified?This gift of nature is the best way to save us from climate catastropheThis gift of nature is the best way to save us from climate catastrophe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essay Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks for that New Scientist link Michael; it was helpful.I have sent it on to the biochar list group.I am a bit snowed under tooDid you see this?One last chance to save mankind - environment - 23 January 2009 - New Scientist "The Charm of Char" is the title to a little article in the May/June, 2009 issue of Sierra: the magazine of the Sierra Club. Link to the article at:Grapple - Sierra MagazineScroll down to find: The subtitle to the article is "Can baked poop save our bacon?" The article lists many of char's benefits such as: "take carbon out of the atmosphere, increase crop yields, cut fossil-fuel use, and reduce the fertilizer runoff that creates offshore dead zones;" as well as helping "soil retain nutrients, store water, and sustain beneficial microorganisms." It also quotes James Lovelock, the "visionary British scientist," from his interview in the February New Scientist article: One last chance to save mankind - environment - 23 January 2009 - New Scientistwhere Lovelock advocates for char as "the solution to climate catastrophe."[Last month I personally gave photocopies of that New Scientist article to my State Representatives; after I explained the science behind it, and the local jobs potential for biochar industries] The Sierra article is a little shakey on the history of biochar, but they nicely describe the West Virginia poultryman's gasifier that heats his henhouse and gives him tons of char--which he sells to farmers "for $480 a ton." Wow!=== Most importantly, the Sierra article says that "Micronesia has placed biochar on the agenda for this December's Copenhagen climate talks as a 'fast-start' strategy...." Yea! Maybe there's hope yet.... ~ :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted May 18, 2009 Report Share Posted May 18, 2009 Throwing Down The Soil Carbon GauntletHow I wish the US media would pick-up these stories of Turnbull's challenging the current governments CO2 plans by pointing out how they ignore SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION.Erich Turnbull puts biochar at centre of emissions talks | The Australian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erich Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi All,Nothing on their web site about this new product, I do wonder who supplies their char Erich "Today Converted Organics announced that they are supplying to Whole Food Stores their all-natural fertilizers. They have previously announced supply to Home Depot and with these high level associations have created a market for a new line of fertilizer products that are not dependent on oil and chemicals. I believe this is a giant step in the right direction. In the next few installments, I will outline what I perceive as the ultimate answer to the use of fertilizers and our food." Mobile Musings: Using Waste to Make Fertilzer … Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipse Now Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 Anyone got any "back-of-the-envelope" calculations about how much biomass agriwaste is produced around the world? Apparently 10 tons of biomass = 3 tons of synfuel and 1 ton of char. (Eprida).1 ton of char is a fair bit of Co2 locked away.... so... any "rough" calculations about how much Co2 the world's agriculture could lock away each year? (Remembering that we produce about 9-10 billion tons Co2 from fossil fuels and 30 billion when all industries and deforestation are calculated.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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