tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61968701975782021172024-03-13T21:34:04.219-07:00The Biochar EconomySam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-9534820720011650182016-08-08T03:45:00.001-07:002018-04-10T05:14:43.114-07:00BiocharIn an <a href="http://geo-engineering.blogspot.com/2011/05/biomass.html">earlier post</a>, I compared a number of methods, including using biochar and olivine as soil supplements, biomass burial in sea or on land, BECCS (BioEnergy with Carbon Capture and Storage/Sequestration), etc.<br />
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Pyrolyzing biomass and then adding the resulting biochar to soil can remove CO2 from the atmosphere and can avoid many emissions that would otherwise occur.<br />
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By contrast, both composting or burying biomass will each result in more emissions, since the biomass will decompose and that will add CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. When biomass is buried, it may take a bit longer before it will decompose, but decomposition will eventually occur, and such emissions will be more and it will typically occur earlier than in the case of biochar, which can remain in the soil for hundreds if not thousands of years.<br />
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As temperatures keep rising, there's increased risk of flooding (causing more CH4 emissions) and of wildfires (which besides emissions of CO2 and CH4 also come with soot and CO emissions). This growing risk makes biochar an increasingly attractive method.<br />
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Turning biowaste into biochar through pyrolysis and then adding the biochar to soil can prevent wildfires in two ways: firstly, because the biomass is removed from the land, this biowaste can no longer fuel wildfires; and secondly because the biochar increases the soil's capability to retain moisture and helps soil become more fertile, thue result is more and healthier vegetation growth (and thus CO2 capture) while the extra moisture in the soil gives additional protection against wildfires.<br />
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Biochar is also beneficial in regard to flooding. Firstly, the biochar makes that the soil can absorb more water. Secondly, the healthier vegetation that results from biochar will be deeper rooted and can better withstand flooding in general and this will in turn also prevent erosion.<br />
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Soil becomes more fertile when adding biochar to soil, which makes that application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers can be reduced and avoided. Nitrogen fertilizers are responsible for dead zones in lakes, seas and oceans, and for N2O emissions. Adding a combination of biochar and olivine sand to soil can make the soil become more fertile (without adding chemical fertilizers), enabling both the olivine and the healthier vegetation to take more CO2 out of the atmosphere. It can be economic to add both biochar and olivine sand to soil simultaneously, which can reduce the overall cost of adding soil supplements and keeping vegetation healthy in general.<br />
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Heating up biomass through pyrolysis can turn half the carbon that's contained into biomass into biochar, while turning the other half into bio-oil and syngas. As said, this will avoid emissions of greenhouse gases that would oterwise occur when the biomass was left to decompose or get burned in wildfires. The energy needed to heat up the biowaste can come from the biomass itself, but it can also come from clean power sources such as wind turbines.<br />
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The other half of the carbon that goes into bio-oil and syngas can be burned for energy, but it can also be turned into hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, etc. The hydrogen can then be used as clean energy, while the carbon can be used in construction or to produce carbon fiber, graphite, etc.<br />
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In conclusion, adding biochar to soil can remove CO2 from the atmosphere and can avoid many emissions that would otherwise occur, all with little or no emissions, at least for a very long time. This makes biochar an excellent method to reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and to avoid greenhouse gas emissions.<br />
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Biochar is discussed in more detail at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/biochar">Biochar group</a>.<br />
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[ Earlier posted at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/geoengineering/permalink/1139618239428181/?comment_id=1140565496000122&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D">Geoengineering</a> group and added at the <a href="https://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/biomass.html">Biomass page</a> ]Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-70411462072732411612015-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:002015-06-22T16:55:52.086-07:00Extinction Within Decades?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Sg7oW-MfWw/VX7dy7CjErI/AAAAAAAAQnQ/_7uuXC8ZMPg/s1600/Extinction.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Sg7oW-MfWw/VX7dy7CjErI/AAAAAAAAQnQ/_7uuXC8ZMPg/s1600/Extinction.png" /></a></div>
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<i>How the situation in the Arctic threatens most, if not all, life on Earth with extinction within decades. </i></div>
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<b>Vast amounts of methane</b><br />
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In the Arctic, vast amounts of carbon are stored in soils that are now still largely frozen. As temperatures continue to rise and soils thaw, much of this carbon will be converted by microbes into carbon dioxide or methane, adding further greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. <br />
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In addition, vast amounts of methane are stored in sediments under the Arctic Ocean seafloor, in the form of methane hydrates and free gas. As temperatures rise, these sediments can get destabilized, resulting in eruptions of huge amounts of methane from the seafloor. Due to the abrupt character of such releases and the fact that many seas in the Arctic Ocean are shallow, much of the methane will then enter the atmosphere without getting broken down in the water. <br />
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What makes the situation so dangerous is that huge eruptions from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean can happen at any time. We can just count ourselves lucky that it hasn't happened as yet. As temperatures continue to rise, the risk that this will happen keeps growing.<br />
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<b>What caused this dangerous situation?</b><br />
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This dangerous situation has developed because emissions by people have made the temperature of the water in the Arctic Ocean rise, and these waters keep warming much more rapidly than the rest of the world due to a number of feedbacks. One such feedback is the retreat of the sea ice, which in turn makes the Arctic Ocean heat up even more, as much sunlight that was previously reflected back into space by the sea ice, instead gets absorbed by the water when the sea ice is gone. <br />
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Without sea ice, storms can also develop more easily. Storms can mix warm surface waters all the way down to the bottom of shallow seas, reaching cracks in sediments filled with ice. This ice has until now acted as a glue, holding the sediment together. As the ice melts, sediments can become destabilized by even small differences in temperature and pressure that can be triggered by earthquakes, undersea landslides or changes in ocean currents. <br />
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As a result, huge amounts of methane can erupt from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean and once this occurs, it will further raise temperatures, especially over the Arctic, thus acting as another self-reinforcing feedback loop that again makes the situation even worse in the Arctic, with higher temperatures causing even further methane releases, in a vicious cycle leading to runaway global warming.<br />
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<b>Global impact</b><br />
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Such a temperature rise in the Arctic will not stay within the borders of the Arctic. It will trigger huge firestorms in forests and peatlands in North America and Russia, adding further emissions including soot that can settle on mountains, speeding up the melting of glaciers and threatening to stop the flow of rivers that people depend on for their livelihood. <br />
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These developments can take place at such a speed that adaptation will be futile. More extreme weather events can hit the same area with a succession of droughts, cold snaps, floods, heat waves and wildfires that follow each other up rapidly. Within decades, the combined impact of extreme weather, lower soil quality, crop failure and shortages of just about anything can threaten most, if not all life on Earth with extinction. <br />
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<b>Food security</b><br />
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Will higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels stimulate more plant growth? Will a warmer world allow more farming at higher latitudes? Firstly, the devastating impact of extreme weather events that come with a warming planet, will severely curb the prospects of farming anywhere. Successions of droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, storms and wild temperature swings could cause crop failure, while increased pests and diseases will have further debilitating impact.<br />
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Frost can ruin crops. Rice will only <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/growing-season">germinate</a> at temperatures above 20°C (68°F). Cold snaps, hail storms and strong winds, can be expected to strike with increased intensity as the planet warms. More generally, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002167">a recent study</a> finds that, while the global mean number of days above freezing will increase by up to 7% under a RCP 8.5 scenario (“business as usual” until 2100), the number of suitable growing days will decrease globally by up to 11% when temperature, water availability, and solar radiation are taken into consideration.<br />
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Indeed, each type of vegetation has its own optimal levels of water, sunlight, temperature and necessary nutrients in the soil. Changes in any of these levels could affect their growth negatively, with soil quality constituting an additional factor. Soil degradation can occur due to continued intensive single-crop farming or grazing. More extreme weather will make things worse, making it ever harder for farmers to continue to grow the crops they're used to. <br />
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<a href="http://plantsinaction.science.uq.edu.au/edition1/?q=content%2F14-2-1-photosynthesis">This study</a> finds that most temperate grasses and cereals, as well as many woody species, have temperature optima in the range from 15°C to 25°C (59°F to 77°F). Rice has a higher optimal temperature, but requires lots of water. Many legumes have a low net carbon dioxide uptake because of their high rate of pod and seed respiration. A rise in temperature will result in even greater respiratory losses from the pod and thus even less net carbon dioxide uptake. Legumes are important for their ability to fix nitrogen to the soil, an essential nutrient.<br />
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Recent research found that the situation is even worse than thought and that higher carbon dioxide levels will reduce the ability of plants to take up nitrogen. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12938/abstract">A recent study</a> examined various types of ecosystems, including crops, grasslands and forests. "The nitrogen content in the crops is reduced in atmospheres with raised carbon dioxide levels in all three ecosystem types. Furthermore, we can see that this negative effect exists regardless of whether or not the plants' growth increases, and even if fertilizer is added," <a href="http://science.gu.se/english/News/News_detail//increased-carbon-dioxide-levels-in-air-restrict-plants-ability-to-absorb-nutrients.cid1309352">says co-author Johan Uddling</a>, senior lecturer at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.<br />
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<b>What can be done?</b></div>
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What can be done to improve this situation? The Climate Plan advocates support for soil supplements containing biochar and olivine sand, to make it easier for soil to retain nutrients, moisture and microbes that benefit vegetation growth. The Climate Plan avocates that funding for such support be raised through fees on sales of livestock products and nitrogen fertilizers. This will reduce the use of fossil fuel-based fertilizers, while the pyrolysis to produce biochar can also produce hydrogen that can in turn be used to produce nitrogen fertilizers. Furthermore, moving away from farming livestock and associated single-crop farming will give more room for growing legumes alongside other crops. </div>
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Two sets of feebates can work simultaneously and in parallel, i.e. separately, yet complementary, to facilitate the necessary shift to clean energy (yellow lines in top half of the image below) and to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and ocean, while also increasing food security (yellow lines in bottom half of image below).</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CgeUsq-mII4/T5kuY23oOMI/AAAAAAAACkU/Kc_nkZJldww/s1600/Nov-14-2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #63421d; display: inline !important; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CgeUsq-mII4/T5kuY23oOMI/AAAAAAAACkU/Kc_nkZJldww/s1600/Nov-14-2011.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div>
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The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action as discussed in the <a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/plan.html">Climate Plan</a>. </div>
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<b>Related</b></div>
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- Towards a Sustainable Economy<br />
<a href="http://sustainable-economy.blogspot.com/2011/09/towards-sustainable-economy.html">http://sustainable-economy.blogspot.com/2011/09/towards-sustainable-economy.html</a> <br />
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- Feebates<br />
<a href="http://feebates.blogspot.com/p/feebates.html">http://feebates.blogspot.com/p/feebates.html</a> <br />
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- Climate Plan<br />
<a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/plan.html">http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/plan.html</a> <br />
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- Combining Policy and Technology<br />
<a href="http://geo-engineering.blogspot.com/2011/11/combining-policy-and-technology.html">http://geo-engineering.blogspot.com/2011/11/combining-policy-and-technology.html</a> <br />
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- The Mechanism leading to Collapse of Civilization and Runaway Global Warming<br />
<a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/the-mechanism.html">http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/p/the-mechanism.html</a><br />
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Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-9143954608433775312015-05-07T22:15:00.001-07:002015-05-07T22:15:11.774-07:00Biochar most effective in removing radioactive cesium<h1 class="pub-title" id="yui_3_14_1_1_1431056815217_1386" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
Removal of Radioactive Cesium (Cs-134 plus Cs-137) from Low-Level Contaminated Water by Charcoal and Broiler Litter Biochar</h1>
<a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keitarou_Kimura">Kimura</a> et al., Mar 09, 2015<div>
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Various charcoals (used in food processing and water treatment) and broiler litter biochar were examined for <br />ability to adsorb water-soluble low-level radioactive cesium (ca. 200_250 Bq/kg) extracted from contaminated wheat bran. Among the materials tested, steam activated broiler litter biochar was the most effective sorbent and was able to reduce the concentration of radioactive cesium to less than 10 Bq/kg. <div>
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<a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/273259613_Removal_of_Radioactive_Cesium_%28Cs-134_plus_Cs-137%29_from_Low-Level_Contaminated_Water_by_Charcoal_and_Broiler_Litter_Biochar">http://www.researchgate.net/publication/273259613_Removal_of_Radioactive_Cesium_%28Cs-134_plus_Cs-137%29_from_Low-Level_Contaminated_Water_by_Charcoal_and_Broiler_Litter_Biochar</a></div>
Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-50262452775201790932014-09-24T01:09:00.001-07:002014-09-24T01:09:39.534-07:00BadgerChar Mobile: A Farmer-Friendly Mobile Biochar System<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3999996185303px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18.6000003814697px; text-indent: 2px; white-space: nowrap;">BadgerChar Mobile</span><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80297702/badgerchar-mobile-a-farmer-friendly-mobile-biochar/widget/video.html" width="640"> </iframe><br />
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<br /><br /><a href="http://facebook.com/badgerchar">BadgerChar Mobile</a> will build, operate, and de-bug this MOBILE Biochar Production System. The idea is to produce kits and plans for farmers to build their own, using real world economics all the way- with better soil and profits for Farmers - the best reasons you can give them. <br /><br />Support this project at kickstarter:<br /><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80297702/badgerchar-mobile-a-farmer-friendly-mobile-biochar">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/80297702/badgerchar-mobile-a-farmer-friendly-mobile-biochar</a><br /><br />For discussions and more details see: <div>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/badgerchar">https://www.facebook.com/badgerchar</a></div>
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Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-48777746533320172602014-08-25T15:57:00.003-07:002022-04-06T01:00:09.184-07:00Biochar Builds Real AssetsThe paper money economy could collapse in a matter of days. Entire companies, now valued at billions of dollars, could become worthless overnight. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zs-LhXr_Clo/U_u-TiITf5I/AAAAAAAAOX8/5sykVP3FqOE/s1600/biochar.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zs-LhXr_Clo/U_u-TiITf5I/AAAAAAAAOX8/5sykVP3FqOE/s1600/biochar.png" /></a></div>How could we build assets that are more durable, now that the markets must also deal with the rapidly growing uncertainties posed by climate change?<br />
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Anxiety about food security makes many countries make huge investments in farms, but such investments are all to often used in ways that degrade the land, through groundwater and aquifer depletion, through depletion of soil nutrients and by lowering the soil's carbon content, ultimately resulting in erosion and desertification. <br />
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But if a local council adds extra fees to rates for land where soil carbon falls, while using all the revenues for rebates on rates for land where soil carbon rises, then biochar becomes the currency that will help improve the soil's fertility, its ability to retain water and to support more vegetation. That way, real assets are built.<br />
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For more, join the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/biochar/">Biochar group</a> and follow the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BiocharEconomy">Biochar Economy page at facebook</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div id="fb-root"></div><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script><br />
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/BiocharEconomy/photos/a.426938484044948.98067.208597759212356/717084288363698/?type=1" data-width="350"><div class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BiocharEconomy/photos/a.426938484044948.98067.208597759212356/717084288363698/?type=1">Post</a> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BiocharEconomy">The Biochar Economy</a>.</div></div></div>Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-30467545431260141332013-07-02T01:39:00.001-07:002013-07-02T01:39:33.292-07:00Cornell University student team wins award with pyrolytic cookstove designThe Cornell University student team project “<a href="http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/9871/report/0">Pyrolytic Cook Stoves and Biochar Production in Kenya: A Whole Systems Approach to Sustainable Energy, Environmental Health and Human Prosperity</a>” has qualified to receive a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant of up to $90,000 to further develop their pyrolytic cookstove design, <a href="http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/07/two-student-teams-win-coveted-epa-prize">reports the Cornell Chronicle</a> on July 1, 2013.Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-15724136025443916022013-03-18T02:41:00.001-07:002013-03-18T02:41:19.261-07:00Biochar stove recharges cell phone<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A1xuqGwovNI/UUbe8Y6JmkI/AAAAAAAAJhk/uCtEgzW7Poc/s1600/525648274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A1xuqGwovNI/UUbe8Y6JmkI/AAAAAAAAJhk/uCtEgzW7Poc/s320/525648274.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
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Julius Turyamwijuka and Robert Flanagan have developed a stove prototype that can utilize bamboo clippings or other agricultural waste to produce biochar.</div>
<br />The stoves are currently being tested in Uganda. The bamboo/biochar project’s primary focus is to introduce biochar and pyrolysis technologies at the household level with selected villages and districts.<div>
<br />Some stove models will be built with a thermo-electric generator that can convert heat energy into electricity. An adapter can be connected to the stove capable of charging a cell phone (see photo right, by Julius Turyamwijuka, added with permission). <div>
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For more details, see the post at: </div>
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Profile: Using bamboo for stoves in Uganda</div>
<a href="http://www.biochar-international.org/Uganda_Stoves">http://www.biochar-international.org/Uganda_Stoves</a></div>
Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-44323990951072808872013-02-11T06:12:00.002-08:002013-02-15T15:13:39.904-08:00Biochar plus urine results in highest yieldThe results from adding biochar to test plots in Bungoma County, Western Kenya, have been published by <a href="http://www.re-char.com/2013/01/24/the-longterm-impact-of-biochar-in-soil-season-2/">Re-Char</a>.<br />
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<li>Plain soil (without chemical fertilizer or organic amendment) produced around 70 kg of dry sorghum per acre.</li>
<li>A 15% solution of sanitized urine and water added to soil gives a sorghum yield of 205 kg per acre.</li>
<li>Adding 50 kg of chemical fertilizer per acre– the Kenyan Government’s recommended quantity– can increase yield of sorghum to 420 kg per acre.</li>
<li>By applying 6,000 kg per acre of composted cow manure, farmers can produce 810 kg of dry sorghum per acre.</li>
<li>Applying the above urine treatment to soils amended with biochar (at a rate of 6,000 kg per acre) resulted in a sorghum yield of 533 kg per acre in season 1, and 1,025 kg per acre in season 2 without adding any additional biochar.</li>
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The data are presented below in an interactive graph (move mouse over bars to view data).<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/static/modules/gviz/1.0/chart.js" type="text/javascript"> {"dataSourceUrl":"//docs.google.com/spreadsheet/tq?key=0ArjFQnAaMpkXdHZVRXZfLW5WYzdEb2ZBVk8wT3FLd2c&transpose=0&headers=0&range=A1%3AB6&gid=0&pub=1","options":{"vAxes":[{"useFormatFromData":true,"title":"kg of dry sorghum per acre","minValue":0,"viewWindowMode":"explicit","logScale":false,"gridlines":{"count":"12"},"viewWindow":{"min":0,"max":1100},"maxValue":1100},{"useFormatFromData":true,"minValue":null,"logScale":false,"viewWindow":{"min":null,"max":null},"maxValue":null}],"titleTextStyle":{"bold":true,"color":"#000","fontSize":16},"booleanRole":"certainty","title":"Biochar with urine results in highest yield","animation":{"duration":0},"domainAxis":{"direction":1},"legend":"none","annotations":{"domain":{}},"hAxis":{"title":"produced by Sam Carana with data from re-char.com","useFormatFromData":true,"slantedText":false,"minValue":null,"viewWindowMode":null,"textStyle":{"color":"#222","fontSize":"10"},"viewWindow":null,"maxValue":null},"isStacked":false,"width":630,"height":384},"state":{},"view":{},"chartType":"ColumnChart","chartName":"Chart 1"} </script><br />
This highlights biochar's potential to help achieve higher crop yields than chemical fertilizers, while biochar has the additional benefit of helping combat climate change by avoiding emissions, such as of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and soot. Moreover, adding biochar and olivine sand to the soil results in additional vegetation growth that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, while safely storing carbon in soils.<br />
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Chemical fertilizers cause large nitrous oxide emissions and make farmers dependent on their continued supply, which can be hard given variations in farming income and in the price of the fossil fuel that is typically used to produce the chemical fertilizers. Long supply lines and extensive transportation and infrastructure requirements that are vulnerable to extreme weather events can significantly increase the cost of chemical fertilizers. By contrast, biochar and urine can be produced locally from waste products at little or no extra cost to local farmers.<br />
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Feebates are recommended as the best policy instruments to achieve the necessary changes, as part of a comprehensive and effective climate plan. The image below pictures feebates in agriculture, land use and construction. Fees are imposed on sales of Portland cement, with revenues used to fund rebates on clean construction methods that incorporate olivine sand. Similarly, fees are imposed on Portland cement, on nitrogen fertilizers and on livestock products, with revenues used to fund rebates on soil supplements containing olivine sand and biochar. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nj_iIrHhz38/URspMCePq7I/AAAAAAAAJZI/6-VHletwfUQ/s1600/bfeebates440x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nj_iIrHhz38/URspMCePq7I/AAAAAAAAJZI/6-VHletwfUQ/s1600/bfeebates440x400.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">From: <a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2013/01/president-obama-here-s-a-climate-plan.html">President Obama, here's a climate plan!</a></td></tr>
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Combined, biochar and olivine sand can help soils become more fertile. Applying olivine dust on top of biochar can also reduce the albedo impact of biochar, which can be substantial as described in a <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es302302g">2012 study by Meyer et al</a>. Thus, biochar and olivine sand can complement each other in several ways, as discussed earlier in the post <a href="http://sustainable-economy.blogspot.com/2011/09/towards-sustainable-economy.html">Towards a Sustainable Economy</a>.Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-4712881434301510622013-01-02T05:43:00.000-08:002013-01-02T05:43:11.601-08:00Turning forest waste into biocharToo much biomass waste in tundra and boreal forests makes them prone to wildfires, especially when heatwaves strike. Furthermore, leaving biomass waste in the forest can cause a lot of methane emisions from decomposition.<br />
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In order to reduce such methane emissions and the risk of wildfires, it makes sense to reduce excess biomass waste in fields and forests. Until now, this was typically done by controlled burning of biomass, which also causes emissions, but far less than wildfires do. Avoiding wildfires is particularly important for the Arctic, which is vulnerable to soot deposits originating from wildfires in tundra and boreal forest. Such soot deposits cause more sunlight to be absorbed, accelerating the decline of snow and ice in the Arctic.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P_ROrcIxA1E/UOPprwNzQTI/AAAAAAAAIGI/XgpsajFhGm0/s1600/537584937649+inset2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P_ROrcIxA1E/UOPprwNzQTI/AAAAAAAAIGI/XgpsajFhGm0/s1600/537584937649+inset2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A team of scientists at University of Washington, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, has developed a way to remove woody biomass waste from forests without burning it in the traditional way. The team has developed a portable kiln that can be assembled around a heap of waste wood and convert it to biochar on the spot, while the biochar can also be burried in the soil on the spot.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w993A0_BPmA/UOPw-XpuZXI/AAAAAAAAIHo/Rh9L4wZgXeA/s1600/6354745763765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w993A0_BPmA/UOPw-XpuZXI/AAAAAAAAIHo/Rh9L4wZgXeA/s1600/6354745763765.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">Demonstration in Kerby, Oregon, <br />
Nov. 6, 2012, </span><span style="text-align: start;"> by <a href="http://carboncultures.com/">Carbon Cultures</a>. </span><span style="text-align: start;"><br />
Credit: </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkauffman/" style="text-align: start;">Marcus Kauffman at Flickr</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>The team initially started testing the effectiveness of a heat-resistant blanket thrown over woody debris. The team then developed portable panels that are assembled in a kiln around a slash pile.<br />
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Students have set up a company, <a href="http://carboncultures.com/">Carbon Cultures</a>, to promote the technology and to sell biochar. CEO of Carbon Cultures is Jenny Knoth, also a Ph.D. candidate in environmental and forest sciences.<br />
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The kiln restricts the amount of oxygen that can reach the biomass, which is transformed by pyrolysis into biochar. The woody waste is heated up to temperatures of about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (600 Celsius), as the kiln transforms some 800 pounds of wood into 200 pounds of biochar in less than two hours. “We also extinguish with water because it helps keep oxygen out and also activates the charcoal [making it more fertile in soil].”<br />
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Currently, the total costs of disposing of forest slash heaps (the collections of wood waste) approximate a billion dollars a year in the United States, according to Knoth.<br />
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And of course, adding biochar to the soil is a great way to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. “Biochar is proven to fix carbon for hundreds of thousands of years,” Knoth said.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0a0LfCQA7sk/UOPxRUajRqI/AAAAAAAAIHw/VAsj22TofqY/s1600/434356365848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0a0LfCQA7sk/UOPxRUajRqI/AAAAAAAAIHw/VAsj22TofqY/s1600/434356365848.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Demonstration in Kerby, Oregon, November 6, 2012, organized </span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">by <a href="http://carboncultures.com/">Carbon Cultures</a>. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"> Credit: </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkauffman/" style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Marcus Kauffman at Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
As said, when biomass waste is left in the open air, methane emissions are produced during its decomposition. Moreover, such waste will fuel wildfires, which produce huge amounts of emissions. The traditional response therefore is to burn such waste. Pyrolyzing biomass produces even less greenhouse gases and less soot, compared to such controlled burning.<br />
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Biochar is produced in the process, which can be added to the soil on the spot. This will help soil retain moisture, nutrients and soil microbes, making forests more healthy, preventing erosion and thus reduces the risk of wildfires even further, in addition to the reduction already achieved by removal of surplus waste.<br />
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A healthy forest will retain more moist in its soil, in the air under its canopy, and in the air above the forest through expiration, resulting in more clouds that act as sunshades to keep the forest cool and return the moist to the forest through rainfall. Forests reinforce patterns of air pressure and humidity that result in long-distance air currents that bring moist air from the sea inland to be deposited onto the forest in the form of rain. Finally, clouds can reflect more sunlight back into space, thus reducing the chance of heatwaves.<br />
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<b>References</b><br />
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- <a href="http://dailyuw.com/archive/2012/11/25/news/recycling-wood-waste">Recycling wood waste</a> - The Daily of the University of Washington<br />
- <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126349&org=NSF&from=news">Helping Landowners with Waste Wood While Improving Agribusiness and Energy</a> - National Science Foundation<br />
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<b>Related</b><br />
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- <a href="http://global-warming.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977155102">Biochar</a><br />
- <a href="http://biochar.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981550796">CU-Boulder gets into biochar</a><div>- <a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/fires-are-raging-again-across-russia.html">Fires are raging again across Russia</a><br />
- <a href="http://global-warming.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981332273">Abrupt Local Warming</a><br />
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</div>Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-83770213865552306792012-04-30T00:29:00.001-07:002016-09-01T23:07:09.292-07:00Vortex towers could vegetate deserts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01tWchHZnjE/V8kWnDb5rsI/AAAAAAAAVZk/Y2wbSd7oE98GDAmLLGoveOgB5XxOQ1atQCLcB/s1600/Rain-Forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-01tWchHZnjE/V8kWnDb5rsI/AAAAAAAAVZk/Y2wbSd7oE98GDAmLLGoveOgB5XxOQ1atQCLcB/s640/Rain-Forest.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<h2 class="knol-subtitle" id="knol-subtitle" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #54494c; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;" title="Click on the "Edit this knol" button to switch to edit mode and change this field."> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> Plans to bring water and vegetation to deserts through vortex towers and biochar</i></span></h2><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Vortex towers are typically seen as ways to produce electricity. They could also help to vegetate deserts, in a number of ways. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">The vortex towers that I envisage would be a cross between the </span><a href="http://vortexengine.ca/" style="background-color: white; color: #006699; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">VortexEngine.ca</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"> and the Solar Tower by </span><a href="http://enviromission.com.au/" style="background-color: white; color: #006699; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">enviromission.com.au</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">. Making a spiral groove inside the surface of the tower could enhance the vortex updraft effect. This has all been discussed for years, e.g. in the Economist Sept. 29, 2005. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Vortex towers can produce huge amounts of electricity, that can be used for purposes such as:</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Desalination of sea water and transport of the resulting fresh water into the desert</span></li>
</ul></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Capturing CO2 from ambient atmosphere and capturing CO2 produced in the process of making biochar. The CO2 could be used for cloud seeding, carbon building material and char (see below). </span></li>
</ul></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Surplus water could also be sprayed into the sky, using the vortex tower's updraft, to further induce cloud formation to create both albedo change and rain.</span></li>
</ul></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Split the water into hydrogen and oxygen, by means of electrolysis. The hydrogen could then be used as fuel, or to produce ammonia by drawing nitrogen from the air. The ammonia could then be used to produce fertilizer.</span></li>
</ul></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 2em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Carbon that is captured from the atmosphere could be turned into char, similar to biochar, with its benefits as a soil improver and as a safe way to store carbon. This char could be applied to the soil simultaneously with <a href="http://sustainable.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979949059" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">olivine dust</a> and fertilizer as produced in the way described above. Application of such fertilizer together with char could not only reduce the need for fossil fuel-based fertilizers, it can also reduce runoffs that cause N2O emissions and dead zones in the sea, since the char will improve retention of fertilizer in the soil. The carbon could even be combined with ammonia to produce urea, and all this fertilization would benefit vegetation growth. </span></li>
</ul></div><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Apart from producing electricity, a vortex tower could also push dry, hot air high up into the sky. Some of that heat would escape into space, while the updraft could also establish an air circulation pattern in which hot air would move, high up in the sky, towards the ocean. Simultaneously, as part of this air circulation pattern, air from above the ocean would be drawn - closer to the ground - towards the vortex tower. This air circulation could bring cold and moist wind into the desert, which would benefit vegetation growth.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">The benefits of vegetating desert are many; it would take CO2 out of the atmosphere, it could produce food and vast areas could be made suitable for many plants, animals and people. By selling land for settlement, projects to vegetate the deserts could pay for themselves, as part of the </span><a href="http://biochar.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474980405936" style="background-color: white; color: #006699; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Biochar Economy</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Projects that involve afforestation, water desalination, biochar production, olivine grinding and building of vortex towers don't require access to high-tech equipment or scarce resources. This means they can be started at many places around the world, with many global benefits.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Forests have many benefits. Trees take carbon out of the atmosphere to grow. Trees can provide food and building material. Forest waste can be turned into biochar. Forests can have a cooling effect by shading the soil, thus preserving moisture. Furthermore, forests release volatile organic compounds that can have beneficial effects, as follows:</div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> </div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>When you're walking through a forest you can smell a kind of piny odour and that's because of these other compounds, volatile organic compounds. And they're things like isoprene, monoterpenes.<br />
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When they're released into the atmosphere they undergo reactions with a class of compounds called oxidants and that's things like ozone. Following those reactions they're able to form tiny particles in the atmosphere.<br />
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While they're present in the atmosphere they can kind of interact with incoming solar radiation - the energy from the sun essentially and kind of perturb its path so that it doesn't make it to the earth's surface and scatters it.<br />
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Additional to this is the role that these particles play in brightening the clouds that are above the forests. And they do this because when they're in the atmosphere they grow and they get to a certain size where they're able to form cloud droplets. And the more of these droplets that there are in a cloud the whiter and brighter that it becomes. And that means that it will reflect away more of the incoming solar radiation that's falling on that particular part of the earth's surface.<br />
[italics part edited from <a href="http://www.nerc.ac.uk/" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">National Environment Research Council</a>, May 18, 2011, <a href="http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/multimedia/story.aspx?id=979" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">podcast</a> and <a href="http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/accessibility/transcripts.aspx?t=0&id=130" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">transcript</a>] </i></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><b><br />
</b></span></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><b>Read more at:</b></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://knol.google.com/k/sam-carana/biomass/7y50rvz9924j/69" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">Biomass</a></span></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://knol.google.com/k/sam-carana/biochar/7y50rvz9924j/12" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">Biochar</a></span></span></div></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://geoengineering.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977821494" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">Afforestation - bringing life into the deserts</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Earlier posted at knol (meanwhile discontinued by Google) by Sam Carana, October 12, 2011. </span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div>Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-37885325521169035222012-03-27T21:04:00.000-07:002012-06-09T19:45:04.952-07:00The Biochar Economy<div style="text-align: left;">
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #54494c; font-family: georgia, times, serif; font-size: 1em; text-align: left;">The Biochar Economy offers a sustainable alternative to economic systems that fail to sufficiently take into account care for the environment and concerns for global warming.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://global-warming.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977155102" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Biochar</a> is one of the products of pyrolysis, an oxygen-starved method of heating up biomass to (also) produce renewable energy. <br /><br />The Australian Government plans to award carbon credits for the <a href="http://www.climatechange.gov.au/~/media/publications/carbon-farming-initative/draft-regulations-positivenegative.pdf" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">application of biochar to soil</a>, for biochar's ability to abate greenhouse gases. As part of the <a href="http://www.daff.gov.au/climatechange/cfi" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Carbon Farming Initiative</a> $AU2 million will be provided for a Biochar Capacity Building Program. This in addition to $AU1.4 million that is already being invested in the National Biochar Initiative as part of the <a href="http://www.daff.gov.au/climatechange/australias-farming-future/climate-change-and-productivity-research" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Climate Change Research Program</a>.<br /><br />Carbon credits constitute just one way to support biochar. Ultimately, carbon credits are typically paid from profits on fossil fuel, which are scheduled to decrease over time. To develop more lasting support for biochar, alternatively policies should be considered.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GUxjTNM3H6M/ToQc1Ofc56I/AAAAAAAABqg/kETvhwgdxj8/s1600/82363441214376587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #6699cc; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The Biochar Economy" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GUxjTNM3H6M/ToQc1Ofc56I/AAAAAAAABqg/kETvhwgdxj8/s1600/82363441214376587.jpg" style="border-style: none; position: relative;" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /><br />The idea behind the "Biochar Economy" is to try to embed <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/sam-carana/biochar/7y50rvz9924j/12" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">biochar production</a> into as many processes as possible, as pictured on above image, from <a href="http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/The_Biochar_Economy" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">open source ecology</a>.<br /><br />In <a href="http://climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/4/planId/14637" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">carbon-negative 'Biochar Economies'</a>, biochar is proposed to also act as a kind of local 'gold standard' for local currency supply. Biochar-based currency could strengthen local economies and shield them not only from the volatility of global currency fluctuations, but also from <a href="http://global-warming.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474976925383" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;">the danger of global warming causing the entire global financial system to collapse</a>, as discussed back in 2007.<br /><br />Biochar-based local currencies go well together with three types of local feebates: </span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Energy fees, imposed on polluting fuel and the equipment and appliances used to burn the fuel, to fund rebates on <a href="http://geo-engineering.blogspot.com/2011/07/way-back-to-280-ppm.html" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">local clean energy programs</a>.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Fees on polluting cement, <a href="http://biochar.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977123673" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">livestock products and nitrogen fertilizers</a>, made payable in local currency, funding rebates on locally-produced biochar and <a href="http://sustainable.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979949059" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">olivine</a> added to local soils.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Local rates that incorporate feebates, i.e. higher fees the lower the soil's carbon content, with rebates for soils with the highest carbon content.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Since pyrolysis of surplus biomass can produce renewable energy, it can benefit from local energy feebates as pictured below. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">In addition, soil supplements that include biochar can benefit from feebates as pictured below. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTnDdpHxWJg/T5kuIQIfcMI/AAAAAAAACkM/T7t6R6cluCQ/s1600/bfeebates447x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #6699cc; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTnDdpHxWJg/T5kuIQIfcMI/AAAAAAAACkM/T7t6R6cluCQ/s1600/bfeebates447x300.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">These policies will avoid emissions and effectively take greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">These policies will also create local employment and investment opportunities without having to borrow money elsewhere, and will increase local standards of living and health, as well as increase the quality and value of the land.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">All this can be achieved though mechanisms that work in parallel and are often complementary, e.g. pyrolysis of forest waste can stimulate forest growth, avoid termite infections and reduce the risk of wildfires; furthermore, when pyrolysis provides power that replaces the practice of burning firewood and fossil fuel to power lighting and cooking, this will also reduce the risk of lung infections.<br /><br />To increase demand for the local currency, rebates on local clean energy programs and soil supplements could be paid out in local currency. Furthermore, a community can call for local rates and fees on products such as fuel, polluting cement, livestock products and nitrogen fertilizers to be paid in local currency.<br /><br />Much crop is now used to grow feed for livestock ― less livestock could free up land that could be used to produce food & wood, and the associated organic waste. Furthermore, such feebates can avoid soil erosion and deforestation, and instead result in more vegetation, thus further increasing the amount of biomass available for pyrolysis.<br /><br />Below are some further ways pyrolysis can be integrated in the local economy:</span></span></span></div>
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<li style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Pyrolysis of biomass is an excellent way of handling organic waste, while producing useful products such as biochar, biooils and gases such as hydrogen. Biooil and hydrogen can be used to power aviation and shipping. </span> </span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://biochar.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978583302" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bioasphalt<sup style="font-size: 0.7em;">®</sup></a> is a type of asphalt made from bio-oil. According to its manufacturer, it can save energy and money, since it can be mixed and paved at lower temperatures than conventional asphalt. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Apart from burial of biochar to enhance soil fertility, biochar can also be used to manufacture a range of products, including vehicle bodies made of carbon fiber and capacitors. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">A team at <a href="http://www.stevens.edu/news/content/stevens-students-develop-cheaper-greener-alternative-energy-storage" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stevens Institute of Technology</a> has designed, fabricated, and tested a prototype supercapacitor electrode made from biochar. The team demonstrated biochar's feasibility as an alternative to activated carbon for supercapacitor electrodes. Currently, supercapacitors use activated carbon. The team estimates that biochar costs almost half as much as activated carbon, apart from being more sustainable. </span><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Supercapacitors can be used to power electric buses. Ultracapacitor buses <a href="http://www.sinautecus.com/" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">by Sinautecus</a> have been operational in the Greater Shanghai area since August 2006, as mentioned under this <a href="http://ev.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979556907" style="color: #006699; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">post on electric bus systems</a>.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>More reading at:</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://feebates.blogspot.com/p/feebates.html" style="color: #3366cc;">Feebates</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://global-warming.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977155102" style="color: #3366cc;">Biochar</a></div>
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<a href="http://geo-engineering.blogspot.com/2011/05/biomass.html" style="color: #3366cc;">Biomass</a></div>
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<a href="http://biochareconomy.blogspot.com/2012/04/vortex-towers-could-vegetate-deserts.html" style="color: #3366cc;">Vortex towers could vegetate deserts</a></div>
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<a href="http://urbanplanning.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977316789" style="color: #3366cc;">Carbon-negative building</a></div>
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<a href="http://sustainable-economy.blogspot.com/2011/09/towards-sustainable-economy.html" style="color: #3366cc;">Towards a Sustainable Economy</a></div>
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</div>Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-83809112404392332002011-07-28T22:54:00.000-07:002011-07-29T01:06:01.861-07:00How much bio-char can be added to soil?Using published projections of the use of renewable fuels in the year 2100, bio-char sequestration could amount to 5.5–9.5 PgCyr−1 if this demand for energy was met through pyrolysis, which would exceed current emissions from fossil fuels (5.4 PgC yr−1).<br />
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Assuming large bio-char sequestration over long periods of time, a bio-char sequestration of 140MgCha−1 would calculate to 224 PgC storage capacity globally for the 1,600 Mha of cropland worldwide and to 175 PgC storage capacity globally for the 1,250 Mha of temperate grasslands (IPCC 2000), not including forest land.<br />
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From:<br />
Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems – a review, Lehmann et al. (2006)<br />
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Note:<br />
1 PgC (petagram Carbon) = 1 Gt (gigatonne Carbon) and corresponds to ~3.67 Gt CO2.<br />
1 ppmv CO2 in the atmosphere corresponds to 2.12 GtC or ~7.78 Gt CO2.<br />
9.5 PgC per year corresponds to 4.5 ppm per year, or 112 ppm in 25 years.<br />
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<img alt="280ppm" border="0" height="410" src="http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6lNoFvYPGIo/Tiv3p2k6emI/AAAAAAAABX4/I1wfVUvFdzA/2feebates.jpg" width="550" /><br />
Image from: <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/sam-carana/the-way-back-to-280-ppm/7y50rvz9924j/78">The way back to 280 ppm</a> - by Sam CaranaSam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196870197578202117.post-21488832353392855462008-10-27T04:40:00.000-07:002008-10-27T15:21:54.321-07:00AgricharAgrichar can be produced by means of pyrolysis from organic material. In that case, it's often referred to as biochar. Agrichar can also be produced from carbon that is captured from the air, as indicated on the <a href="http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977486271&grpId=3659174697250134&nav=Groupspace">picture</a> below.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977486271&grpId=3659174697250134&nav=Groupspace"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XIf4mSC2TMM/SQY-fs3i14I/AAAAAAAAAhQ/VOPO4TYHf-4/s400/recyclingNEW400.jpg" width="400" height="400" align="left" /></a>Sam Caranahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12376449209858411775noreply@blogger.com0