Conferences, Symposiums, Field Trips, and Commercial Demonstrations

[erich]

Kelpie Wilson

to biochar

 

 

Dear list members:

Please use our handy project reporting template to submit your

projects to the IBI database. You will find it here:

 

http://www.biochar-international.org/projectsandprograms/memberprojects.html

 

Thank you everyone for helping out with this.

 

-Kelpie

[erich]

After years of waiting, Virginia Tech's Mobile chicken litter pyrolysis deminstration;

 

Educational Tour of Nutrient Reduction Technologies for Shenandoah Valley Farmers and the Bay

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction

2839 Lumber Mill Road, Dayton, Virginia

Program Agenda

8:30 a.m.

Sign in at the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction

9:00 a.m.

Welcome and Introductions

Suzy Friedman and Hobey Bauhan, co-chairs, the Waste Solutions Forum (WSF)

Dr. Katharine Knowlton and Eric Bendfeldt on behalf of Virginia Tech's National Fish and

Wildlife Foundation Project Team

9:20 a.m.

Overview and Update from the Market Maker

Becky Barlow, Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)

9:30 a.m.

Depart in vans for Oren Heatwole's River Bank Farm and Shop

9:45 a.m.

Pyrolysis of Poultry Litter for Nutrient Reduction and Value-added Utilization

Dr. Foster Agblevor, Virginia Tech

Cooperating Farmer's Perspective, Experience and Expectations

Oren Heatwole, Owner, River Bank Farm, and Co-owner, Poultry Specialties

11:00a.m.

Manure Separation and Removal of Phosphorus from Dairy Manure by Struvite

Precipitation & Site Tour

Dr. Jactone Arogo Ogejo, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech

Cooperating Farmer's Perspective, Experience and Expectations

Dale Heatwole, Owner, D & D Dairy Farm

12:15 p.m.

Catered lunch at the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction

1:00 p.m.

Question and Answer Session and Panel Discussion: Next Steps?

Panel participants: Dr. Foster Agblevor, Virginia Tech

Oren Heatwole, River Bank Farm and Poultry Specialties

Hobey Bauhan, Virginia Poultry Federation

Dr. Jactone Arogo Ogejo, Virginia Tech

Dale Heatwole, D & D Dairy Farm

Dale Gardner, Virginia State Dairymen's Association

2:00 p.m.

Survey and Evaluation

2:30 p.m.

Adjourn - Have a Safe Trip Home!

Page 2

Sponsored by Virginia Tech and the Waste Solutions Forum, in cooperation with:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Environmental Defense Center for Conservation Incentives

Farm Pilot Project Coordination

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council

Virginia Cooperative Extension

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Virginia Poultry Federation

Virginia State Dairymen's Association

[erich]

HURRAY!!!!

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) a Reality. I knew that we were always the MOST Adaptable

of folks.

 

Cheers to Johannes, Thayer, Debbie & Kelpie !!! and all of you listers

 

Your Chartarian,

Erich

 

 

 

 

 

IBI Announces Success in Having Biochar Considered as a Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Tool

 

IBI Logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2008

 

POZNAN, Poland, December 10, 2008 - The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) announces that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has submitted a proposal to include biochar as a mitigation and adaptation technology to be considered in the post-2012-Copenhagen agenda of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A copy of the proposal is posted on the IBI website at

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI).

 

Biochar is a fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain nutrients and water. The carbon in biochar resists degradation and can sequester carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years.

 

IBI Executive Director Debbie Reed said, "The UNCCD submission is a great success, and is paralleled by a lot of very positive discussions and interest in biochar amongst country delegates as well as observers of the process."

 

The UNCCD, a sister convention to the UNFCCC, has identified biochar as a unique opportunity to address soils as a carbon sink. According to the submission document: "The world's soils hold more organic carbon than that held by the atmosphere as CO2 and vegetation, yet the role of the soil in capturing and storing carbon dioxide is often one missing information layer in taking into consideration the importance of the land in mitigating climate change."

 

UNCCD proposes that biochar must be considered as a vital tool for rehabilitation of dryland soils: "The fact that many of the drylands soils have been degraded means that they are currently far from saturated with carbon and their potential to sequester carbon may be very high ... making the consideration of Biochar, as a strategy for enhancing soils carbon sequestration, imperative."

 

UNCCD also cites the ability of biochar to address multiple climate and development concerns while avoiding the disadvantages of other bioenergy technologies that deplete soil organic matter (SOM). IBI Executive Director Debbie Reed said, "Pyrolysis systems that produce biochar can provide many advantages. Biochar restores soil organic carbon and soil fertility, reduces emissions from agriculture, and can provide clean, renewable energy. Conventional biomass energy competes with soil building needs for crop residue feedstocks, but biochar accommodates both uses."

 

Reduced deforestation is another biochar advantage cited by the UNCCD in their submitted proposal for including biochar in carbon trading mechanisms: "The carbon trade could provide an incentive to cease further deforestation; instead reforestation and recuperation of degraded land for fuel and food crops would gain magnitude."

 

Craig Sams, founder of Green & Black's Organic Chocolate, is in Poznan to help educate delegates about biochar. Sams believes that the climate and ancillary benefits of biochar are so great that biochar systems should be eligible for double credits. Sams said, "Adding the rewards for abandoning carbon emitting practices such as slash and burn cultivation, deforestation and wood fire cooking, to the rewards for adopting biochar practices in agriculture, forestry and cooking, ought to qualify for double credits."

 

UNCCD proposes to include biochar in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and to revise the rules to account for biochar as a permanent means of carbon capture. UNCCD also proposes adjusting the carbon offset rules to allow greater financial flows to help developing countries increase soil organic matter with biochar.

 

Biochar has one important additional advantage over other land use carbon sequestration projects - carbon sequestration through biochar is easy to quantify. It is also relatively permanent. The UNCCD says: "Potential drawbacks such as difficulty in estimating greenhouse gas removals and emissions resulting from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), or destruction of sinks through forest fire or disease do not apply to biochar soil amendments."

 

Overall, the potential magnitude of biochar as a climate mitigation tool is great. IBI Board Chair Dr. Johannes Lehmann said, "We are pleased that the UNCCD has recognized the potential of biochar. Results from IBI's preliminary model to estimate the potential of biochar carbon sequestration show that biochar production from agriculture and forestry residues can potentially sequester one gigaton of carbon in the world's soils annually by 2040. Using the biochar energy co-product to displace fossil fuel energy can approximately double the carbon impact of biochar alone."

 

IBI's objective for the remainder of the UN meeting at Poznan is to interest more countries in proposing biochar for consideration as a mitigation and adaptation technology in the post-2012 Copenhagen process of the UNFCCC.

 

About IBI

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is a registered non-profit organization that serves as an international platform for the exchange of information and activities in support of biochar research, development, demonstration and commercialization. IBI participants comprise a consortium of 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.

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Debbie Reed, Executive Director and Policy Director, International Biochar Initiative

Phone: 202-701-4298 email: [email protected]

 

Johannes Lehmann, Chairman of the Board, International Biochar Initiative

Phone: 607-254-1236 email: [email protected]

 

Thayer Tomlinson, Communications Director, International Biochar Initiative

Phone: 914-693-0496 email: [email protected]

 

To contact the UNCCD:

 

UNCCD Communications Officer

Awareness Raising, Communications and Education Unit

Marcos Montoiro-Allue

[email protected]

[erich]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2008

 

IBI Announces Biochar Sessions at American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting, Following Success in Promoting Biochar at the UN Climate Meeting in Poznan, Poland

 

San Francisco, California, Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - IBI Board Chairman Johannes Lehmann, IBI Science Advisory Committee member James Amonette, and other researchers will present important scientific information on biochar at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting taking place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, December 15 -19.

[erich]

Hi List,

 

I'm not complaining mind you, but those precocious Ausse's are ahead of us all ( probably Michael's doing :) ).

They have an endowed Biochar chair at the academic level , years of field testing, at least some americans bought BestEnergy, but

it seems by now, BestEnergy would be showing off field work in north america.

 

 

It's great to see CSIRO involved & An Asia-Pacific Biochar Conference too!

 

Cheers,

Erich

 

 

 

"A recent meeting at the University of New South Wales, jointly organised by NSW DPI and CSIRO Land and Water, brought together Australian and New Zealand biochar researchers. The Network of Australian and New Zealand Biochar Researchers was formed as a result and it will ensure better dissemination of information about biochar and its benefits. Members of the network will coordinate the first Asia-Pacific Biochar Conference, to take place on the Gold Coast from 17–19 May 2009.

 

The network's researchers are focusing on the use of biochar for carbon sequestration and soil amelioration. While most studies focus on biochar application in agriculture, future work will examine other beneficial uses including its capacity to adsorb organic and inorganic contaminants, and its role in the rehabilitation of degraded soil and waterways.

 

Dr Neil McKenzie, Chief of CSIRO Land and Water, said CSIRO had an outstanding record of research into the dynamics of soil carbon. 'Our work on the age, chemistry and abundance of char in soil has provided the foundation for our new studies into the potential of biochar. This research is essential for developing one of our most promising mitigation strategies against climate change."

 

Amazonians? black magic has multiple benefits(ScienceAlert)

[belovelife]

IAF home page

 

The 60th International Astronautical Congress will take place between 12 and 16 October 2009 in Daejeon, South Korea.

 

IAC 2009 is being organised by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and Daejeon Metropolitan CIty. Daejeon is the third-largest city in South Korea, home to many of Korea's hi-tech industries.

 

IAC 2009 will provide an international focus for the global space industry, academic researchers and students worldwide through the presentation of the latest ideas, current activities and future ambitions across a diverse range of pace-related topics. The theme for the 2008 IAC congress will be: "Space For Sustainable Peace and Progress."

 

Space Generation Congress 2009 - Daejeon Korea

 

The SGC09 will take place in Daejeon, South Korea on 8-10 October 2009.

Each year, delegates made up of students and young professionals from around the world, participate in selected project groups at SGC chosen by SGAC. This year, the projects will be centered around the 5 themes of the IAC: agency, industry, climate, exploration, and peace. We have restructured the entire process of SGC to create a more effective and productive atmosphere before, during, and after the congress. SGC is seeking the best and brightest from around the world to be the future leaders in space.

 

More information on the projects will be provided soon.

 

A series of industry leaders will be joining SGC to discuss topics such as the history of the Space Generation, how space benefits all people, and how individuals can be more involved in space even if they are not scientists and engineers. The industry leaders will be available to the delegates for small discussions and will also mingle with the project group to offer their expert advice from years of experience.

[Michaelangelica]

The first Asia-Pacific Biochar Conference, to take place on the Gold Coast from 17–19 May 2009.

 

Watermark Hotel, Gold Coast Australia.

 

This could be a good conference as the Japanese are coming. They have been playing with charcoal for 2-300 years in agriculture (Ever looked at a Bonsai potting Mix?). I am sure they are way ahead of the field. you just need to be able to read Japanese language research papers usually to get any information!

 

The gold Coast is Oz's answer to Miani (very small scale). But if you go inland or to the south around Byron Bay you will find some beautiful county. You won't want to leave.

Also away from the tourist areas some great beaches. Some 100 miles long- "public white-sand beaches" as you Yanks/Californians would say, with no one on them but you. Good fishing too.(Learn about Australian Beaches first- they can be sometimes dangerous )

 

Byron Bay is now where all the rich actors like Russell Crowe and Crocodile Dundee have their country properties. It is along time since I have been there and I hear moans about it being over developed. Probably a bit like an alternative Carmel (Californian Coast). Smart hippies dropped out to there in the 70's

 

Key Dates

Submission of Abstracts Feb 6, 2009

Notification of acceptance Feb 27, 2009

Conference agenda available March 13, 2009

Early bird registration closes April 3, 2009

 

Conference dates:

Pre-conference activities and

Welcome reception May, 17 2009

Conference May 18-19,

Gala dinner May 18,

Field trip May 20,

 

Registration – Registration includes conference pack, morning and afternoon teas, lunches, entry to gala dinner and welcome reception, plus post conference canapés. Prices are in Australian Dollars. To register, contact Lee Munro at email removed

DPI Sydney

Early bird registration (before April 3) $390

Student registration (before April 3) $320

Regular registration $490

http://www.biochar-international.org/upcomingibiconferences/2009asiapacificregion.html

 

Excellent article on pyrolysis etc here

Amazonians? black magic has multiple benefits(ScienceAlert)

 

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

[erich]

North American Biochar Conference 2009

Sunday, August 09, 2009 - Wednesday, August 12, 2009

University of Colorado at Boulder

North American Biochar Conference 2009 - 1 - powered by RegOnline

 

 

Hi All,

Dr. Novak sounds excited , amazed even, by his work in Norfolk loamy sand soils.

 

I'll be sending my entire mailing list of contacts I've gathered advocating for biochar to Ms. Aikens for invitation mailings.

 

I will be attending the meeting in Boulder thanks to the folks at EcoTechnologies Group EcoTechnologies Group

 

My first conference, hope to put faces with the many names floating in my head from three years of my Biochar avocation. See you there.

 

 

OOH,........I have two titles now;

 

Erich J. Knight

Eco Technologies Group Technical Adviser

University of California Riverside advisory board

Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)

1047 Dave Barry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

540 289 9750

 

 

On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Novak, Jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

- Hide quoted text -

 

Hello Erich:

 

Please find enclosed an email from a conference organizer concerning advertising the 2009 North American Biochar Conference. Please see attachments for meeting details.

 

Ms. Aiken asked me for assistance with advertising this meeting to others. Because of your world-wide contacts, is there a way that you can mention this in a news briefing or as a flash point on your web?

 

Please note that I was invited to speak at this conference. I will be presenting results to show that biochar quality is affected by feedstock source and pyrolysis temperature. We are into our third week of a 12 week study examining the effects of 9 different biochars on soil fertility, physical, and microbiological properties. To date, the differences in how the biochars altered the Norfolk loamy sand soil characteristics were amazing. Our results show that all biochars are not created equal and that biochars designed to target select soil quality issues can be a reality.

 

I provided you with this short byte of information to update your blog on designer biochars.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Dr. Jeff Novak

Research Soil Scientist

USDA-ARS-CPRC

Florence, SC

[email protected]

 

 

 

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Elise Aiken

Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:37 PM

To: Novak, Jeff

Subject: North American Biochar 2009

 

 

Dear Dr. Novak,

I am working with Jonah Levine at the Center for Energy and Environmental Security to host the North American Biochar 2009 Conference. My current project is getting together a list of people that we should contact about this conference. Jonah suggested that I contact you to ask for any suggestions of people from the USDA (or anyone else you think is important) to send our information to. Currently we have a folder of information that includes and introduction to biochar and a layout of the conference. I have attached that document to this email. Please let me know of anyone you think would be a good addition to my list to get the word out about this conference.

 

Thank you for your time! I appreciate the help, and hope to see you in August. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to email me back or call me at 303 386 2205.

 

Best,

Elise

 

 

Elise Aiken

J.D. Candidate 2011

University of Colorado Law School

[email protected]

[erich]

ASA - CSSA - SSSA , Biochar at 09 Anuual Meeting

 

Footprint on the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant & Soil Sciences

Biochar Use for Improving Environmental Quality

Format: Topical Session

Keywords: Biochar, Environmental, Quality, nutrients

 

Session Description: Adding biochar to soils has been shown to increase crop yields for tropical soils. It is anticipated to do the same for temperate regions. Amending soils with biochar may improve soil quality because biochar can act as a liming agent, reduce bulk density, and improve soil nutrient status. Soil properties and processes influenced by biochar addition will be explored.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009: 12:55 PM-3:50 PM

Organizers:

James A. Ippolito , Jeff M. Novak and David Laird

 

 

Session: Biochar Use For Improving Environmental Quality

[scalbers]

Interesting - I live in Boulder so perhaps I can sit in on a few sessions of the NA Biochar Conference?

[erich]

Thanks to Geoff for this quick synopsis, I was expecting great news, but this multi-confirmation on GHG soil emissions is overwhelming.

 

WOW!..............I was impressed with the 6 cobs of Nikolaus Foidl previous work, 4 on the stalk & 2 on side shoots, but 15 ..unreal! Let me guess......9 on the stalk & 6 on the side shoots?

Give your char an Aspirin and call me from the County Fair with the Blue ribbon.

 

Holly Cow!....Sacred Trees .... Char raises the Dead ....Maybe we should form this into a religion:):confused:

 

"grumbled about throwing eggs" .......make sure they are stinky eggs.

 

This is not just more research "ammo", it's an arsenal.

 

Erich

 

 

 

 

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:19 AM, teraniageoff <[email protected]> wrote:

 

Hi all

Sorry I have been so slow to post about the conference but I've been busy with cleanup after our big wet event.

Lotsa biomass around... just floats past...

 

Anyone thinking they can grok biochar without being a generalist, cross-disciplinarian, and a gardener for your own food needs, gentle reality check re-aligning.

 

The abstracts of the conference are at

http://www.anzbiochar.org/AP%20BioChar%20Conference-may09.pdf

now I believe.

 

I will try to do a more detailed referenced account, but below are those of 64 presentations which i would have to say, except for one*, just unequivocally supported each other under an umbrella of collaborative rigorous scientific investigation, proceeding at a fearsome pace.

 

Below this I paste my arrangment of the items in the pdf in areas of interest to Biochar.

 

Taster 1

1. A characterisation technique has emerged using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and SEM microprobes, that has lead to a characteristic positive ID of TP qualities, from say HYDROCHAR (Max Planck Inst), which appears to be good C sequestration and useless biochar. The C-rings in graphene sheets resonate as ring currents that can be 'easily' detected.

 

2. The same techniques have been applied to "Terra Preta Australis", found in cooking pit/mounds in Victoria, which matched the Amazonian twin peak aromatic peak profile. These TPA soils were radiocarbon dated, at 600 - 1300 y. C still present in large percentages.

 

3. Nikoluas Foidl in Brazil has got 15 cobs to a plant, 250% growth in yield, 180% sorghum, and 32 cm sunflower heads, with windrow TP including torrefied wood which was colonised by small applications of salycylic acid (natural plant hormone in willow bark) in the biochar to stimulate hyphae growth.

 

4. Japanese organic farmer of 5 years found his chickens dead and threw his biochar on them in grief and frustration and they revived ( an hilarious presentation, won the best award:"no don't laugh not funny... really happened.." ) At 28 days he now deliberately induces the disease and then fasts them and goes 100 % char day one, 75%, 50%, and then 1% thereafter. His eggs are odourless and now command premium prices at 250% x current price. Feeding a charcoal ration to cows, and pigs and hoomans also works. nono not funny true.

5. Japanese professor presenting conclusive results in tree doctoring some sacred pines with DIEBACK, by a ring of BC at the dripline inoculated with azobacter, which then stay sequestered, as well as the C.

 

6. Evelyn Krull showed extraordinary results of ratios of char in estuary sands at Fitzroy as high as 50%. ( leading to a huge discussion about whether the regime of top burning without incorporating into the soil has steadily sequestered our biomass hard C on the continental shelf)

 

7. DPI Wollongbar showing results (peer reviewed) of 90 - 97% N2O sequestration (280 x CO2 equiv.) in the field trials.

*Different oral, but same results from Lincoln University NZ.

*Same again from DPI Pennant Hills with incubation trials

[ I asked Josh Rust why this utterly ground-breaking ag news didn't have a press gaggle after it. He's a bit puzzled too. It's huge news. I will find out.

 

8. Dept Ag WA found decreased need for fert in wheat crops with biochar.

 

9. NNSW cane farmer Robert Quirk found the same for his cane and is doing a nil fert crop

next year.

 

NON-SCHIZOPHRENIC LIST OF BIOCHAR'S APPLICATION AREAS

 

Preamble.

Please be assured that all the presentations listed were showing a positive outcome for biochar, some extraordinary, [for eg Foidl's findings of 250% increase in maize yields].

2 presentations by Steel makers, a presentation showing Hydrochar (58 bar) inferior to slow pyrolysis low pressure biochar, and presentations relating to organisations supporting kiln design and biochar application processes have been omitted.

 

# denotes the page number in the pdf and the programme, which also became defacto poster location number.

* denotes that I consider these very significant presentations and am in process of writing a detailed summary sheet of the key findings and important outcomes presented orally (in my notes) and omitted from the written abstracts, for example Hirokawa's gave us his exact formula, and his chicken life-saving episode has HUGE implications for livestock health and auto BC dispersal, Ogawa's sacred tree-saving techniques has HUGE implications for dieback and forestry, and Foidl's 15 cob to the plant corn, is gob-smacking.

 

1. NOx reductions, Methane and GHG - C sequestration

*#66 Annette Cowie NSW DPI Pennant Hills, Greenhouse gas mitigation benefits of biochar as a soil amendment

#68 Yoshiyuki Shinogi Nat Inst for rural engineering, Japan, Estimation of of net carbon sequestration potential with farmland application of bagasse char with life-cycle analysis through a pilot pyrolysis plant.

*#69 Leo Condron, Lincoln U NZ, Biochar effects on Nitrous Oxide emissions from a pasture soil

*#71 Bhuperinderpal Singh NSW DPI W Pennant hills, Influence of biochars on Nitrous oxide emission and nutrient leaching from 2 contrasting soils.

*#74 Steve Kimber NSW DPI Wollongbar, Biochar holds potential for reducing soil emissions of GHGs

# 87Lukas van Swieten, Nitrogen use efficiency improves using greenwaste biochar.

 

2 Characterisation progress

*#33 Ron Smernik, A simple method of determining biochar condensation. U Adel.;

*#35 C Chia, Development of a synthetic TP characterisation

#36 William Aitkenhead Massey Uni NZ, Detailed characterisation of BCs from NZ feedstocks.

#38 Balwant Singh, U Syd., lab procedures for evaluation of biochars

#40 Michael Bird, James Cook U, Cairns, Black carbon characterisation to determine behaviour of BCs in depositional environments

#44 Marta Camps-Arbestain, Massey U, Characterisation of chars from different carbonisation processes.

#98 Marta Camps-Arbestain, Massey U NZ, Walking firmly on the ground; establishing characterisation and C accounting.

 

3 millenial soil residence time

# 27 Evelyn Krull, How stable and how accurately do we need to know? CSIRO , Glen Osmond SA.

#29 Bhupinderpal Singh, Turnover of BCs in soils. NSW DPI W Pennant Hills

#42 F X Yao Massey U NZ, Simulating the weathering of BC with a SOXHLET reactor

#57 Joe Herbertson Cucible Carbon, Carbon abatement potential and sustainability credibilty of rainbow bee-eater project.

 

4 Agricultural benefits+

Fertiliser reduction

#45 Lynn M MacDonald , CSIRO, A fundamental Understanding of Biochar: Implications and opportunities for the grains industry.

*#58 Lukas van Sweiten, NSW DPI Wollongbar, Agro-economic valuation of biochar using field-derived data

# 79 Katrina Sinclair, NSW DPI Wollongbar, Productivity and nutrient availability in a ferrosol; biochar and lime and fertiliser

*#80 Paul Blackwell, DAF WA Geraldton, Evidence for biochar saving fertiliser for dryland wheat production in WA

#83 Helen Free, Massey U NZ. Effects of biochar on maize germination.

#85 Paul Blackwell, Concepts of dryland farming systems incorporating biochar and and carbon-rich biological fertilisers

#86 David Waters NSW DPI Wagga Wagga, Soil nutrient retention under biochar-amended broadacre cropping soils in S NSW.

#89 Zakaria Solaiman U WA, Effects of biochar on mycorrhizal colonisation in subterranean clover and wheat toxicity reduction,

#41 Ajit Sarmah, Landcare Research NZ, Retention capacity for 3 types of BC for estrogenic hormones in dairy farm soils

*#48 Chris Williams SARDI, Assessment of yield , salt tolerance and and energy conversion for Arundo Donax for biochar feedstock

*#81 Tsuyosi Hirokawa, Int Charcoal cooperative association , Japan. Charcoal application for poultry farming.

#84 Yoshiyuki Shinogi, Nat Inst for rural eng japan, Effect of bagasse charcoal and digested slurry on sugarcane growth and physical properties of Shimariji-maji soil

Farm forestry

*#61 prof Makoto Ogawa, Osaka Inst Technology Japan Charcoal use in agriculture in Japan (dying sacred trees were saved by biochar trench application with Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation/colonisation, at the dripline: has implications for Australian dieback reduction, Forestry)

#82 Chairil Siregar, Forestry Reseach and Devt Agency, Ministry of forestry Indonesia. Effect of biochar on on soil amelioration and growth of Ac, mangium, Michelia montana

 

Flood resistance

*#77 Robert Quirk canefarmer Duranbah, NNSW, The role of biochar in the agricultural landscape: a farmers perspective.

 

6 TP Australis and historic evidence

*# 32 Nikolaus Foidl, 20 yo Bolivian TP analysis, Venearth group USA [this presentation is agricultural also as it included use of Salycilic acid in biochar, as a hyphae stimulator to produce 32cm dia sunflowers and 15 cobs per corn plant.]

*#64 Adriana Downie BEST Energies Australia, discovering Terrapreta Australis: Rethinking the capacity of Australian soils to sequester C.

 

more as conditions allow

geoff

PS I have been contemplating that atmosphere of collaborative,

co-operative critiquing I was immersed in. THAT is what I wish this list and TP researchers generally would "get"

How to convey that picture?

 

Heinberg's boat analogy with some folks punching holes while others mend them and still others cut themselves adrift on rafts rather than go to the bottom with the idiots over there...

 

I like to think all parties will overcome the "ha ha your end of the boat is sinking" thing, and get on with Folke Gunther's dream of 90% powerdown and 2 Gt/year sequestered over 20 years. We can do it.

g

*Bluescope wanting char for steel carburising, many people went for

coffee and grumbled about throwing eggs.

[erich]

Dear List Members.

 

I would like to enlist your help.

 

I will be Moderating the Regional Group Session at the North American Biochar conference in Boulder CO. August 9 -12

 

So far the representatives and groups are;

 

• S. Hale: Northeast Biochar Activities

• S. Joseph: Asia pacific update

• J. Levine: Rocky Mountain Biochar Initutive

• J. Miedema: Pacific Northwest

• L. Halferty: Ontario

 

If any of you know of other groups please have them contact me or Jonah

 

Erich J. Knight

540 289 9750

[email protected]

 

 

Jonah G Levine

University of Colorado- Boulder

Center for Energy and Environmental Security

303.492.4178 office

[email protected]

 

Thanks for being the group mind where I have harvested all I know. I owe you, for the honor I feel, in doing the most important work in my life.

 

I can't thank you enough,

Erich

[belovelife]

Space Generation Congress Staff ?(Space Generation Congress)?

[erich]

Dear Chartarians,

 

For your perusal & comment;

 

My draft of a talk at the Miscellaneous Session of the first North American Biochar Conference at Boulder next week;

 

 

Tinker, Tailor, Newsman, Priest...

My Avocation as a BioChar Advocate

 

Three years ago, the threads of vocation and interests fell together for me. Doing Nanotech material research for energy conservation, I found a science forum on BioChair. My interest in alternative energy married with a career of building ornamental gardens.

 

I spoke with most of the principle researchers and innovators, and then down the logical tracks of contacting professionals and companies who should have an iron in this non-combustion fire: the charcoal producers, carbon traders, big and small agriculture, farm-equipment makers, waste companies, soil scientists, the USDA, the congressional committees, NRCS, environmentalist, NGOs, mycologists, palioclimatologists, media and journals of all types.

 

Harvesting from the group mind which developed by the network of science forums and discussion lists has been most gratifying. Two years ago, Tom Miles and Ron Larson called to draft me to co-administer the BioChar list at REPP-CREST. This collaboration of folks reaches across the world, sharing all and shouldering the implementation of all aspects of BioChar technologies. I owe them all I know. I owe them for the honor I feel in doing the most important work in my life.

 

The BioChar community has spread the word near and far, responsible for such hallmarks as the farm bill BioChar language, the '08 National Geographic article, engagements with Kingsford Charcoal, Clorox,and Wal-Mart, to name a few, and the endorsements of James Hansen, James Lovelock, Richard Branson, and Flanery in Australia, heavy-weights in their own fields. We need other fields to weigh in now. In politics, Turnbull has started the ball rolling focusing the Australian governmen's carbon planning to account for the soil carbon solutions and recently Tony Blair has added his voice.

 

 

 

Lobbying for BioChar:

 

My standard newsletter, which I promiscuously post to all willing to listen, includes links on important aspects of implementation, and regular updates as new work flows from field trials and bio-fuel systems development.

 

It is important to frame your "elevator speech" to the main interest of one's audience. Engaging evangelicals wanting to do "Creation Care", I speak first of the conservative nature of good stewardship of gods gifts.(works with Republicans too)

To waste managers it's all bottom line tipping fees and co-gen electricity.

To politicians and governmental departments, it's the "win, win, win" virtuous energy analogies of hitting three constituent birds with one stone: climate, food, and fuels.

To farmers; soil-sink banking and C02 equivalent payments, the carbon sequestration standard committee, and the soil carbon work they can do with this tool.

To journalists and writers; Shower them with facts, studies, and lists of luminaries' endorsements. Tell them that short of National Geographic, it hasn't made the front-page yet. Wee-Beasties, Carbon Condominiums, what a beautiful "connect the dots" story terra preta is, touching all disciplines and professions, the ultimate cradle to grave to cradle recycling story.

 

 

A dillar, A dollar, A Googling Scholar!

Online: other than the group mind of forums, Google Alerts, both news and blogs, have provided great leads. After the Nat. Geographic article they lit up like Christmas trees.

Then; onto Google Scholar if the lead is academic work

Google the company if

public,

If an article, comment with what they left out or got wrong.

If a foreign articles, onto Google Translator and comment the same.

Then, onto reporting to the groups and individuals and academics I know will have an interest

 

Of current interest:

 

The soil carbon bond can lead to an integration of organic and commercial agriculture practices. Biochar is a tool for both, for organic to increase its already-sustainable credentials, for chemical agriculture to at least halt soil carbon and seriously reduce carbon mining and nutrient runoff. The carbon sequestration bond can lead to a marriage of the best practices from both systems of agriculture to build soil into a biologically vital synergistic organism.

 

I hope to demonstrate this in my field trials with Roundup-ready corn, with the consultation of the Rodale Institute. Soil test for the full spectrum of food web organisms should ferret out the affinity of BioChar with these organisms in the context of standard chemical agricultural practices, and at Rodale with organic practice.

 

The royal road for BioChar's development lies with the recognition of soil carbon as a sink and not just a cycle. You're all aware of the IBI's efforts with the UN. My efforts have been focused on recruiting greater imput to the Soil Carbon Sequestration Committee. Comprised of 100 interested farming groups, agriculture companies, academics, USDA and carbon traders that have been hammering out definitions, protocols, and validation issues. Participation has allowed me to interject BioChar's utility when issues like soil GHG emissions and nutrient run-off have surfaced. I

 

 

Biofuel Watch:

 

just feel that if Dr. Lovelock can't get them to re-evaluate their warnings, the Congo Rainforest fund, 1500 Cameroon farms, and the respiratory health benefits won't either. It's like they are attacking smallpox vaccines because an unethical pharmacy may create an unattenuated batch. they worry about massive tree plantation development, ignoring that any large projects will by nature attract greater scrutiny of their sustainability.

 

To Further Research;

 

Moira Wilson of the University of Manchester has developed a ceramic dating technique which sounds perfect to draw an exact time line of TP development year over year.

At an accuracy of years we could see the speed at which the system built on itself once initiated.

Archaeological dating by re-firing ancient pots - physicsworld.com

 

This recent research on aerosols by Lina Mercado of the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, presents a double-bind, in that , as aerosols are reduced, less diffusion of light reduces photosynthesis,(drawing down 20% less CO2 into biomass). Again, only a carbon negative system like biochar can address this added CO2 burden caused by this double-bind of clean air.

Particulate pollution cuts carbon dioxide, model shows - physicsworld.com

 

What the CFC/Ozone success story was for raising the importance atmospheric chemistry, I feel biochar will be for carbon soil chemistry, Mycology and Microbiology. The historical climate work of William Ruddiman showing the agricultural origin of most excess CO2 begs this anthropogenic solution of soil carbon sequestration.

 

Carbon-Based Religion

 

Carl Sagan's human connection to stardust leaves out a critical stage. We are stardust, bu only stardust transformed by life. Every time I look at an SEMs of Char, it strikes me, the perfect preservation of the base structures of life, a fractal vision, how life creates the greatest surface area with the least amount of material. The preservation of this structure, for return to the lowest order of life, seems almost a religious act. A perfect cradle to cradle recycling, biotic carbon should never be combusted and destroyed, be revered, as life is revered, be returned to the cradle of terrestrial life the Soil

 

Reading the Japanese work on adding char in animal feed, I thought of posting the Vatican, to lobby for a re-formulation of communion wafers. Communion is what I feel when I sequester carbon in soils. This feeling lead me to compose this paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer: [Our Carbon Who Art in Heaven]

 

To this Carbon based religion Burning is not the consequence OF Sin , Burning is the Sin.

 

Religious parallels:

 

1) About a central figure responsible for life, carbon.

 

2) Stewardship; living today in a way that protects the system for posterity.

 

3) About something in the heavens that need to manifest on Earth

 

4) The Golden Rule: Account external costs so they are not done unto others.

 

The Terra Preta Prayer

 

Our Carbon who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name

By kingdom come, thy will be done, IN the Earth to make it Heaven.

It will give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our atmospheric trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against the Kyoto protocols

And lead us not into fossil fuel temptation, but deliver us from it's evil

low as we walk through the valley of the shadow of Global Warming,

I will feel no evil, your Bio-fuels and fertile microbes will comfort me,

For thine is the fungal kingdom,

and the microbe power,

and the Sequestration Glory,

For ever and ever (well at least 2000 years)

AMEN

 

 

 

Thanks for comments,

Erich

[freeztar]

Awesome as always, Erich! :)

 

Might I humbly add that Professor Folke Günther has proposed an initiative!

 

Charcoal against Global Warming | Facebook

 

Dig down a kilo of char on October 24/25. It's a great way to make a difference. I'm already in, but I don't think this commitment will break the bank. ;)

[Essay]

North American Biochar Conference 2009

Sunday, August 09, 2009 - Wednesday, August 12, 2009

University of Colorado at Boulder

North American Biochar Conference 2009 - 1 - powered by RegOnline

 

 

Hi All,

Dr. Novak sounds excited , amazed even, by his work in Norfolk loamy sand soils.

 

I'll be sending my entire mailing list of contacts I've gathered advocating for biochar to Ms. Aikens for invitation mailings.

 

I will be attending the meeting in Boulder thanks to the folks at EcoTechnologies Group EcoTechnologies Group

 

My first conference, hope to put faces with the many names floating in my head from three years of my Biochar avocation. See you there.

 

 

OOH,........I have two titles now;

 

Erich J. Knight

Eco Technologies Group Technical Adviser

University of California Riverside advisory board

Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)

1047 Dave Barry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

540 289 9750

 

 

On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 1:12 PM, Novak, Jeff <[email protected]> wrote:

- Hide quoted text -

 

Hello Erich:

 

Please find enclosed an email from a conference organizer concerning advertising the 2009 North American Biochar Conference. Please see attachments for meeting details.

 

Ms. Aiken asked me for assistance with advertising this meeting to others. Because of your world-wide contacts, is there a way that you can mention this in a news briefing or as a flash point on your web?

 

Please note that I was invited to speak at this conference. I will be presenting results to show that biochar quality is affected by feedstock source and pyrolysis temperature.

....

 

Thanks again Erich!

 

Here's part of a letter that I just sent my sister--about the conference.

===

 

 

 

...

Biochar is a charcoal-based product, produced from biomass, which can sequester carbon while enhancing soils and generate useable energy during the production process.

 

Biomass derived biochar can begin as crop wastes, forestry thinnings, and can include animal wastes or anything biological that usually just decays like peanut shells or lawn clippings; but it definitely includes all the beetle-kill trees up in our mountains. Removing that "hazardous fuel" from our backyards should be a top priority--and they are beginning to work of that. There's even an ARRA project, here in Colorado, employing Veterans to help with this!!! Biochar technologies can make these projects more profitable.

===

 

Sherrie, I just got back from a four-day conference hosted by the CU Law School's Center for Energy & Environmental Security (CEES) in Boulder.

 

This was the first North American Biochar Conference.

 

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak was the keynote speaker on Monday evening. [He got one critical point wrong about the science behind this ancient trick of nature, but we all overlooked the repeated misstatement about biochar absorbing CO2.] We knew he meant that biochar already is absorbed CO2 (previous biomass, now rendered solid) and that biochar can also enhance the soil's ability to "absorb" CO2. His main message was still accurate and very inspiring--along the lines of:

 

[...in my words] Supporting any modern lifestyle generates a lot of extra waste biomass. Any or all of that waste biomass could be turned into biochar (so first: preventing the wastes from returning to the atmosphere as methane, CO2 & nitrogen oxides), plus producing the char also generates bio-oils which can be refined for fuel or other products (so second: reducing dependence on fossil fuels), and if the biochar is used properly it can enhance agricultural productivity and reduce water usage and pollution (so third: also reducing fossil fuel usage and helping restore water quality), and the additional enhancement of the soil microbiome--that biochar can encourage--is a way to shorten the "half-life" of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (so fourth: helping reduce the already too high levels of CO2, if not just offsetting current and future emissions).

 

It's like a four-for (the price of one).

 

So lots of environmental benefits...

 

...and think of all the jobs this new industry--along with changes in waste management practices--would create!

...and the education involved wouldn't be a bad thing either--lots of physical and life sciences required--kind of like the space race of the 1960's!

...and the health benefits stemming from all that education, the agricultural diversification, a bit more physical/outdoor focus and purpose--and a more stable physical and political climate--should be counted in with the side benefits too!

So it's more like a 4-by-4 for (the price of one)!

 

Sec. Vilsak also mentioned biochar and this refocusing of Ag./Forest & Land policy as specifically connected with the obesity and diabetes problems that are becoming epidemic in westernized cultures, and how this even relates to gender, poverty, health, and national security issues on a global level. In my opinion it can and should be a key nexus for all of the UN's "Millennium Development Goals." Have you heard of Michael Pollan?

 

...and health care: How will private, for-profit, free-enterprise react on the temporal or spatial scale required to protect us from all sorts of regional or global consequences of overpopulation, climate and socio-political change?

 

I'm all in favor of limited government--in the same way the military is limited--proscribed to limits set by our laws and the Constitution. But I certainly appreciate our extensive, strong, and effective military in the same way I know I will appreciate a globally effective, strong and resilient local government--limited to protecting our freedom to decide and work for our future--and the future of our children's grandchildren.

===

 

Well I'm getting carried away, but it was a very inspiring conference. I learned a lot of little details about the science underlying biochar during the poster-sessions and talks given by the researchers.

 

There were also lots of demonstrations of biochar production techniques from backyard do-it-yourself methods to commercial operations--including a tour of a plant in Golden. I even learned some very general information about biochar; filling in the background which I thought I already had down-pat, as well as some details about the difficulties of the business (and political) sides of the biochar venture.

 

There were lots of USDA-ARS and USFS folks there too; over 300 participants total--with all the science, business and government folks--and then more during the final wrap-up, counting the teleconference with two bigwigs in Bonn who were working on the Copenhagen Climate Consensus.

 

...and the lawmakers back in Washington barely have this biochar thing up on their radar!!!

===

 

I think--and can deliver a lot of coherent information, facts, evidence, etc.-- that this biochar technology and industry is critical to finding one of the very few sustainable paths forward into civilization's future. Even biblical wisdom is screaming this at us, if we only had ears to hear and eyes to see.

 

Fortunately the scientist are starting to see how biochar can help, and even the policymakers are starting to listen.

I'm trying to do my part. I got my State Representative, Randy Fischer, to learn about biochar back in Feb., and he was at the conference too (for the morning keynote speech given by the lead scientist from NOAA, Susan Solomon).

 

I think this must also be an important part of our economic and financial recovery in this country (and globally) if we are to have any hope of success; and the quicker the better.

 

Biochar will help pave a sustainable path into civilization's future.

===

 

...I'll be in touch....

 

Well, I'll try to get some real updates from the conference posted, but I thought a general overview might be nice. I sure learned a lot, and got some neat new ideas and inspiration!

 

Thanks again Erich, mucho !!!

[erich]

PRESS RELEASE

 

The North Carolina Farm Center for Innovation & Sustainability and its partner EcoTechnologies Group is celebrating its first anniversary by introducing the first mobile biochar unit in the United States to farm land in North Carolina. The unit, called The Biochar 1000 is

 

from Biochar Systems, LLC, a joint venture with Biochar Engineering and EcoTechnologies Group.

 

Nicknamed “Miss Terra Preta” from the ancient Amazonian practice of making biochar, the mid-sized pyrolysis machine was featured in the August edition of Popular Science Magazine as one of the eight answers to world hunger.

 

The Future of Farming: Eight Solutions For a Hungry World | Popular Science

 

Funded from a USDA Innovation-Conservation Grant the Center will test biochar production from forestry debris. Field Study Research suggests that biochar applied as a soil additive will:

 

1. Increase plant productivity and yield

2. Enhance moisture & nutrient retention and transport

3. Nurture beneficial soil organisms

4. Reduce the amount of commercial fertilizer needed while enhancing its efficiency

5. Is a one-time amendment – highly resistant to decomposition

6. Sequester carbon in the soil for hundreds of years

 

 

 

The NC Farm Center was organized in August 2008 for the purpose of combining the legacy of conservation with the potential of innovation. The biochar project will take place on Privateer Farm which serves as the demonstration site for the Center.

 

The NC Farm Center and ETG will host a reception at Privateer Farm in Fayetteville, NC on October 23, 2009 from 12:00PM to 1:30PM, and the demonstration will begin thereafter.

 

Contact Information:

 

* Richard Perritt – NC Farm Center

 

[email protected]

 

910-630-6232

 

* Matt Harris – EcoTechnolgies Group

 

[email protected]

817-312-3269