Dead on comments...! Monte
May 3, 2011
Corps of Engineers used explosives to breach a protective levee near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi River
download large image (5 MB, JPEG)
Late on May 2, 2011, in an effort to spare Cairo, Illinois, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used explosives to breach a protective levee near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. As predicted, the two-mile hole in the levee flooded 130,000 acres of nearby farmland in what is known as the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’sAqua satellite captured these images of the area on May 3, 2011 (top), and April 29, 2011 (bottom). Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase constrast between water and land. Water ranges in color from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is green. Clouds are pale blue-green and cast shadows onto the land surface below.
Tiny squares of green in the April 29 image show that the floodway consists of farmland. The image from April 29 also shows flooded conditions along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. (See an image from 2010 for a comparison.) In the image acquired on May 3, the floodway downstream of Cairo is submerged. The same day that MODIS acquired the image, the Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service of the U.S. National Weather Service reported that the water level for the Ohio River at Cairo had dropped, although it still remained at major flood stage.
References
- National Weather Service. Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Accessed May 3, 2011.
- Suhr, J., Salter, J. (2011, May 3). River level drops in Cairo after levee breach. Chicago Sun-Times. Accessed May 3, 2011.
- Sulzberger, A.G. (2011, May 3). Army Corps blows up Missouri levee. The New York Times. Accessed May 3, 2011.
More images of this event in Natural Hazards
Images courtesy MODIS Today, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Caption by Michon Scott.
- Instrument:
- Aqua - MODIS
May 2, 2011
Illinois Biochar Group Meeting - Jun 9, 2011
Speaker
Dr. Wei Zheng; Dr. B.K. Sharma, Dr. Krishna Reddy, Dr. Paul Anderson, Paul Wever, Dr. Kurt Spokas
DateJun 9, 2011
Time10:00 am - 1:00 pm
LocationIllinois Sustainable Technology Center, One E. Hazelwood Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
CostFree (please reply by June 7 if you will be attending)
SponsorIllinois Sustainable Technology Center
ContactNancy Holm
E-Mailnholm@istc.illinois.edu
Phone217-244-3330
Event typemeeting
Views45
Originating CalendarIllinois Sustainable Technology Center seminars and events
The Illinois Biochar Group will meet on Thurs., June 9th at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The meeting will be from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., with speakers giving brief updates on their work/research/activities with biochar and then time for discussion. Further discussion will be over lunch. Lunch will be available to purchase or you can bring your own. There will be tours of the ISTC facility at 9:30 a.m. and at 1 p.m. for those interested who may not have been to ISTC previously. Dr. Wei Zheng and Dr. B.K. Sharma from ISTC as well as Dr. Krishna Reddy from UI-Chicago will detail their on-going biochar research; Dr. Paul Anderson will talk about his work on biochar stoves; Paul Wever from Chip Energy will give a demonstration of a new stove; and Dr. Kurt Spokas from USDA-ARS in St. Paul will give a presentation on his research on biochar/soil properties. There will be time for others to give brief updates on their work and then discussion on future plans for biochar research/use. Anyone interested is welcome to attend and/or join the Illinois Biochar Group. Please reply to nholm@istc.illinois.edu by June 7 if you plan to attend and also let her know if you wish to purchase the sandwich lunch that day for $4 (choice of Jimmy John's sandwiches, chips, etc.). The Illinois Biochar Group website should be up and running shortly atwww.biochar.illinois.edu. It is still being updated.
May 1, 2011
Biochar - An Organic House for Soil Microbes
Biochar - An Organic House for Soil Microbes
Bryan Hugill
Co-founder and Environmental Manager
Raitong Organics Farm, Sisaket Province, Thailand
Rick Burnette wrote an article for Issue 6 (July 2010) of ECHO Asia Notes, titled "Charcoal Production in 200-Liter Horizontal Drum Kilns." My article takes the charring process a step further by exploring the rapidly re-emerging world of biochar. Biochar is a form of charcoal, produced through the process of pyrolysis from a wide range of feedstocks. Basically any organic matter can be charred, but agriculture and forestry wastes are most commonly used due to the available volume. Biochar differs most significantly from charcoal in its primary use; rather than fuel, it is primarily used for the amendment of soils (enhancing their fertility) and sequestration of carbon (reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere).
Charred rice husk (photo by Bryan Hugill)
Biochar has received a lot of interest internationally over the last few years, especially in light of the rising demand for food and fuel crops, and of raging debates on how to radically slow down runaway climate change. With strong voices on both sides of the debate-that is, both in favor of and against the widespread production and application of biochar-I would like to step back to the beginning of the story, hopefully putting things into perspective again.
Terra preta ("black earth" in Portuguese), first noted by the explorer Charles Orton in 1870, is a type of very dark and fertile soil with a very high charcoal content found in the Amazon Basin. The soils were amended by local people between (roughly) 450 BC and 950 AD. Terra preta soils were re-discovered by Dutch soil scientist, Wim Sombroek, in 1966. This sparked intense research into the addition of charcoal to relatively infertile tropical soils with the express purpose of improving them for agriculture. Such charcoal can be made from a variety of organic matter (e.g. plant residues, animal manure, fish and animal bones). The practice of using charcoal to amend soil is not unique to the Amazon; it can safely be said that anywhere people have made fires to cook food or provide heat, or burned the land before planting (including natural fires), some amount of biochar has been produced. However, the aim of biochar is to produce the maximum amount of carbon and minimum amount of ash. This means that deliberate open burning of fields and forests is not the way to proceed, especially when the intended outcome is for agriculture. Slash-and-burn only leaves about 3% of the carbon from the burnt organic matter in the soil, with the rest literally going up in smoke.
Unlike the very hard charcoal used for cooking and heating, biochar is highly porous at the microscopic level due to its being made at relatively lower temperatures and has the unique ability to readily absorb moisture and certain nutrients. Herein lies one of its key strengths in the amendment of soils, and the basis for this article's title. From a soil perspective, biochar can be thought of as a microbial condominium. After it is initially made, biochar undergoes a maturation period during which it absorbs nitrogen (until saturation point) from the environment, usually from urine, composting, IMO teas, etc. After this period, the biochar becomes a stable environment for bacteria and fungi to take up residence. In poor and leached soils, microbial activity is often very low, especially during the dry season; the addition of biochar to these soils means that the soil microbes now have a stable and moist place to reside and prosper, even during the dry season. As a result, the need for additional fertilizer should decrease over time, as these now-resident microbes are able to break down organic matter in the soil, and even become food themselves for larger soil organisms, such as earthworms. Furthermore, nutrients stored in the pores are slow-released throughout the year as more and more microorganisms take up residence.
Climate change and carbon sequestration are currently big topics internationally. Biochar is one of the leading means for taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and binding it up into soils as a stable form of carbon. Unless fires sweep through the area, biochar will remain in the soil for thousands of years. It has been estimated that some 15 to 35% of the carbon in plant biomass can be permanently captured as biochar during the pyrolysis process, putting it way ahead of many other leading technologies that are aimed solely at carbon capture. The ability to "capture" carbon makes biochar a subject of much debate and speculation in international discussions on carbon credits.
Biochar has many other fascinating properties:
Field trials involving biochar have shown crop yields to increase significantly, especially when used in conjunction with other good agricultural regimes. Increased yields have been obtained with rice, maize, wheat, corn, tea, coffee, legumes, tomatoes, flowers, etc.
The pH of acidic soil can be increased / optimized through the application of biochar.
The micro-porous structure of biochar is highly variable, depending on the way in which it is produced (for example, highly porous activated charcoal is made by injecting steam into the oven after the carbonization stage) and the type of feedstock used.
The micro-porous structure provides a habitat for the proliferation of beneficial soil biota.
The micro-porous structure of biochar benefits water retention in the soil.
The surface area of biochar has been demonstrated to be anywhere from 10 to 300 m2/g (activated charcoal has a surface area of up to 2,000 m2/g!), most of which is found internally and provides ample area for microbial habitat.
The large surface area of biochar can attract and hold all mineral ions - not only cations (+) such as ammonium, calcium, magnesium and potassium, but also anions (-) such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and boron. By attracting and holding both positive and negative nutrient ions in the soil, biochar can reduce both leaching (into groundwater) and out-gassing (into the atmosphere). These loosely-held nutrients are bio-available to microbes and plant roots in the complex root zone.
Biochar can improve soil texture and workability, particularly heavy clay soils, although it has shown great promise in all soil types.
Recent studies have shown that plants grown in biochar as a growth medium (at concentrations as low as 1 to 5% of the total soil mixture) tend to have a higher resistance to pests and diseases (i.e., systemic resistance) (Elad et al., 2010).
Biochar's natural affinity for nitrogen allows it to arrest the flow of the nitrogen cycle. It tends to only release as much nitrogen into the surrounding soil as is needed by microbes and plants to maintain healthy growth (ScienceDaily, 2010).
The policy debate - Should we promote biochar or not?
We must reduce the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere through substantial changes in our "use as much as we can" lifestyles if we hope to have any chance of bringing global temperatures back down to what we consider as "normal." At an international level, several organizations are actively promoting the production and use of biochar in a responsible manner, particularly in terms of its ability to function as a soil amendment and as one of the most valuable tools in the climate change mitigation "toolbox."
Spearheading this charge is the International Biochar Initiative (http://www.biochar-international.org ), with a rapidly growing member organization base and 30 regional biochar groups around the world.
Biochar has even been adopted at the UN level as a tool demanding serious consideration in the global "runaway climate change" debate. While finding a "new" way to process organic "wastes" that results in significant crop yield increases and sequesters carbon at the same time may seem fantastical, therein also lies the curse... On the other side of the political fence are organizations that are calling for extreme caution in the widespread development of a formal biochar sector for fear that it will lead to increased land-grabbing and deforestation.
Often, though, we find that real people living in real conditions do things that run counter to or far ahead of the prevailing policy debate, both as a matter of survival and "because this is the way we have always done it". Thailand is a classic example: glab pao (แกลบเผา) or burned rice husk is a common by-product of village-level charcoal production and is for all intents and purposes, the precursor to biochar. This char is bought in large volumes, left to sit in piles in the corner of the land (i.e., undergoing a "maturation" period, to be explained in more detail below), and eventually used as a growing medium for such plants as coconuts and bananas. In other words, it's the same product as raw biochar (i.e., biochar that has not undergone the maturation period), has the same use, but a different name so it's not on the biochar radar screen. I don't doubt that similar activities are happening all around the world as I write this and I feel should be supported, when used in conjunction with other forms of environmentally-friendly soil amendments.
Making your own biochar
One of the easiest ways to begin making biochar in Thailand, considering the available
Making biochar in a modified PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer (photo by Bryan Hugill)
feedstocks, is using rice husks resulting in glab pao (แกลบเผา). Short of making charcoal and using rice hulls as a filler material in the ovens, the PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer is the simplest option, as outlined in an excellent booklet available online. Other options for such feedstocks as maize cobs and stover, coconut shells, sugar cane bagasse, etc. could include the top-lit updraft (TLUD) kilns and stoves, drum retorts, brick and Magh biochar retorts, earth pit kilns, inverted downdraft gasifiers, and so on [Editor: Links to websites containing diagrams, photos, plans and other information related to these biochar-production technologies are available at the end of this article].
It is also recommended that you make biochar from materials that are locally available for environmental and economic reasons. The "200-Liter Horizontal Drum Kilns" in Rick Burnette's article also function as fantastic ovens for making biochar from tree branches, bamboo, etc., with the simple addition of a grating to allow the even distribution of heat from the external fire through the biomass inside. Such technologies are simple to operate and maintain, effective, cost-effective, and readily adaptable to a variety of local needs.
IMPORTANT: Before you begin using your biochar, remember that you need to "mature" it first. The addition of "fresh" biochar to soils often results in what is termed
Making IMO for maturing the biochar (photo by Khongchi Yiayang, GIZ CliPAD)
"nitrogen shock" whereby the biochar rapidly absorbs all the available nitrogen in the surrounding soils, thereby limiting its availability to plants (the nitrogen is eventually released, but very slowly). To prevent this from happening, biochar is commonly first treated with urine or mixed with compost and/or drenched with compost teas and IMO mixes and combined together with soil from the field to which the biochar will eventually be applied after having been left to sit quietly in the corner of the field or yard for a few months. During this period, the biochar absorbs all of the available nitrogen to saturation point, as well as begins the process of microbial colonization. As a result, the biochar that you add to the soil will be able to begin working immediately.
Application rates for matured biochar typically vary from between 1-3 kg per m2, depending on the condition of the soil. The biochar can be applied in a variety of ways, including: (a) simple broadcasting across a field, which is most useful in moist/wet soils, or where the soil will soon be plowed, although this runs the risk of being blown away by the wind if the biochar is too dry; (b) targeted application such as in a hole when you plant a tree; (c) mulching, both around a tree and along its lateral root system; (d) mulching on raised beds, preferably thereafter covered in straw, etc.; (e) mixed into composting systems; and (f) mixed into animal bedding, which is then applied to the field periodically.
It is best to start small and build up the concentration of biochar until the crop yield increases reach a plateau, and then stop adding biochar. After that point, short of a fire raging through your field and vaporizing everything or a flood washing your field away, the biochar should remain stable in your soil for thousands of years, quietly working its magic.
Final thoughts
Biochar, while appearing on the surface to be a climate change and agricultural panacea,
Nearing the end of the charring process (note the wood vinegar collection) (photo by Bryan Hugill)
is not without very real dangers if the production and sourcing of feedstocks are unregulated, particularly at an industrial scale. To be cost effective, centralized industrial production requires enormous volumes of feedstocks. There are worries that such large-scale biochar production will be sourced primarily through land-grabbing, followed by tree plantations (such as Eucalyptus), resulting in an escalation of social and environmental conflicts. However, such concerns remain hindered for two key reasons. First of all, the biochar industry and market are still very young and at the experimental stage with regard to technology (much of which is extremely expensive at an industrial scale) as well as efficient production processes, biochar characterization and applications and market readiness. Second, many proponents of biochar production and use are acutely aware of the dangers and are actively campaigning to prevent the negative effects from industrial production from happening.
Biochar is also not an easy carbon-in-the-ground substitute for changing our oil-addicted "business as usual" behavior and, as noted above, should never be used as an argument for large-scale land-grabbing and the promotion of plantations for charring. Neither should the making of biochar mean abandoning other good agricultural practices. Rather, biochar should be used as yet another tool that every farmer has at his or her disposal for using agricultural wastes in innovative ways to improve soil fertility and productivity.
Finally, to quote Albert Bates, "... if it [biochar] fulfills its promise of taking us back from the brink of irreversible climate change, it may well be the most important discovery in human history."
Further information
Below are a few websites that provide solid evidence for the value of using biochar in various soil types and climatic conditions. The sites also include discussions on matters such as policy, remediation, production, field trials, and external funding sources:
The Thai Biochar Initiative: http://www.biochar-international.org/regional/thailand
Japan Biochar Association (been studying biochar for almost 30 years): http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/JBA.htm
Bioenergy Terra Preta Discussion List (the most up-to-date discussion list covering a wide range of biochar-related topics, including production and field trials): http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/
Yahoo Group mailing lists:
Biochar (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/ )
Biochar in Soils (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-soils/ )
Biochar Production (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-production/ )
Biochar Policy (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-policy/ )
Biochar Funding (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-funding/ )
Biochar Remediation (http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Biochar-Remediation/)
South East Asian Biochar Interest Group: http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/
GEK Gasification (an open-source resource for engineers and DIY-ers): http://www.gekgasifier.com/
Understanding micro-gasification in stoves and why it works: http://www.hedon.info/Micro-gasificationWhatItIsAndWhyItWorks
PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/philricecarbhull . The main challenge with producing rice husk char is the potential for the high levels of silica in the husk to vitrify due to excess heating. The PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer limits this effect, but may result in excessive amounts of ash if allowed to burn too long.
Top-lit updraft (TLUD) kilns and stoves: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/files/1G%20Toucan%20TLUD%20for%20Biochar%20Jan%202010%20-%20final_0.pdf and http://www.arti-india.org/content/view/80/52/
Magh biochar retorts: http://maghbiocharretort.blogspot.com/
Earth pit kilns: http://www.pacificviews.org/weblog/archives/002103.html
Inverted downdraft gasifiers: http://transectpoints.blogspot.com/2007/02/pyrolysis.html
Here are a few books worth finding and reading:
Bates, Albert (2010) The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change. New Society Publishers. ISBN: 9780865716773.
Bruges, James (2010) The Biochar Debate: Charcoal's Potential to Reverse Climate Change and Build Soil Fertility (The Schumacher Briefings). Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN-10: 160358255X, ISBN-13: 978-1603582551.
Lehmann, Johannes and Stephen Joseph (eds.) (2009) Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology. Earthscan Publications Ltd. ISBN-10: 184407658X, ISBN-13: 978-1844076581.
Steiner, Christoph (2007) Slash and Char: An Alternative to Slash and Burn. Cuvillier Verlag Göttingen. ISBN-10: 3867274444, ISBN-13: 9783867274449
References
Elad, Yigal, Dalia Rav David, Yael Meller Harel, Menahem Borenshtein, Hananel Ben Kalifa, Avner Silber, and Ellen R. Graber (2010) "Induction of Systemic Resistance in Plants by Biochar, a Soil-Applied Carbon Sequestering Agent". Phytopathology 100(9): 913-921. Available at: http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PHYTO-100-9-0913 .
ScienceDaily (2010) "Is Biochar the Answer for Agriculture? Long-Term Study Digs Up New Information on Biochar's Ability to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Soils". 9 August 2010. Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100802073945.htm.
Woolf, Dominic, James E. Amonette, F. Alayne Street-Perrott, Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph (2010) Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change: Supplementary information. Section 2.6.8. Available at: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v1/n5/extref/ncomms1053-s1.pdf
Bryan Hugill
Co-founder and Environmental Manager
Raitong Organics Farm, Sisaket Province, Thailand
Rick Burnette wrote an article for Issue 6 (July 2010) of ECHO Asia Notes, titled "Charcoal Production in 200-Liter Horizontal Drum Kilns." My article takes the charring process a step further by exploring the rapidly re-emerging world of biochar. Biochar is a form of charcoal, produced through the process of pyrolysis from a wide range of feedstocks. Basically any organic matter can be charred, but agriculture and forestry wastes are most commonly used due to the available volume. Biochar differs most significantly from charcoal in its primary use; rather than fuel, it is primarily used for the amendment of soils (enhancing their fertility) and sequestration of carbon (reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere).
Charred rice husk (photo by Bryan Hugill)
Biochar has received a lot of interest internationally over the last few years, especially in light of the rising demand for food and fuel crops, and of raging debates on how to radically slow down runaway climate change. With strong voices on both sides of the debate-that is, both in favor of and against the widespread production and application of biochar-I would like to step back to the beginning of the story, hopefully putting things into perspective again.
Terra preta ("black earth" in Portuguese), first noted by the explorer Charles Orton in 1870, is a type of very dark and fertile soil with a very high charcoal content found in the Amazon Basin. The soils were amended by local people between (roughly) 450 BC and 950 AD. Terra preta soils were re-discovered by Dutch soil scientist, Wim Sombroek, in 1966. This sparked intense research into the addition of charcoal to relatively infertile tropical soils with the express purpose of improving them for agriculture. Such charcoal can be made from a variety of organic matter (e.g. plant residues, animal manure, fish and animal bones). The practice of using charcoal to amend soil is not unique to the Amazon; it can safely be said that anywhere people have made fires to cook food or provide heat, or burned the land before planting (including natural fires), some amount of biochar has been produced. However, the aim of biochar is to produce the maximum amount of carbon and minimum amount of ash. This means that deliberate open burning of fields and forests is not the way to proceed, especially when the intended outcome is for agriculture. Slash-and-burn only leaves about 3% of the carbon from the burnt organic matter in the soil, with the rest literally going up in smoke.
Unlike the very hard charcoal used for cooking and heating, biochar is highly porous at the microscopic level due to its being made at relatively lower temperatures and has the unique ability to readily absorb moisture and certain nutrients. Herein lies one of its key strengths in the amendment of soils, and the basis for this article's title. From a soil perspective, biochar can be thought of as a microbial condominium. After it is initially made, biochar undergoes a maturation period during which it absorbs nitrogen (until saturation point) from the environment, usually from urine, composting, IMO teas, etc. After this period, the biochar becomes a stable environment for bacteria and fungi to take up residence. In poor and leached soils, microbial activity is often very low, especially during the dry season; the addition of biochar to these soils means that the soil microbes now have a stable and moist place to reside and prosper, even during the dry season. As a result, the need for additional fertilizer should decrease over time, as these now-resident microbes are able to break down organic matter in the soil, and even become food themselves for larger soil organisms, such as earthworms. Furthermore, nutrients stored in the pores are slow-released throughout the year as more and more microorganisms take up residence.
Climate change and carbon sequestration are currently big topics internationally. Biochar is one of the leading means for taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and binding it up into soils as a stable form of carbon. Unless fires sweep through the area, biochar will remain in the soil for thousands of years. It has been estimated that some 15 to 35% of the carbon in plant biomass can be permanently captured as biochar during the pyrolysis process, putting it way ahead of many other leading technologies that are aimed solely at carbon capture. The ability to "capture" carbon makes biochar a subject of much debate and speculation in international discussions on carbon credits.
Biochar has many other fascinating properties:
Field trials involving biochar have shown crop yields to increase significantly, especially when used in conjunction with other good agricultural regimes. Increased yields have been obtained with rice, maize, wheat, corn, tea, coffee, legumes, tomatoes, flowers, etc.
The pH of acidic soil can be increased / optimized through the application of biochar.
The micro-porous structure of biochar is highly variable, depending on the way in which it is produced (for example, highly porous activated charcoal is made by injecting steam into the oven after the carbonization stage) and the type of feedstock used.
The micro-porous structure provides a habitat for the proliferation of beneficial soil biota.
The micro-porous structure of biochar benefits water retention in the soil.
The surface area of biochar has been demonstrated to be anywhere from 10 to 300 m2/g (activated charcoal has a surface area of up to 2,000 m2/g!), most of which is found internally and provides ample area for microbial habitat.
The large surface area of biochar can attract and hold all mineral ions - not only cations (+) such as ammonium, calcium, magnesium and potassium, but also anions (-) such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and boron. By attracting and holding both positive and negative nutrient ions in the soil, biochar can reduce both leaching (into groundwater) and out-gassing (into the atmosphere). These loosely-held nutrients are bio-available to microbes and plant roots in the complex root zone.
Biochar can improve soil texture and workability, particularly heavy clay soils, although it has shown great promise in all soil types.
Recent studies have shown that plants grown in biochar as a growth medium (at concentrations as low as 1 to 5% of the total soil mixture) tend to have a higher resistance to pests and diseases (i.e., systemic resistance) (Elad et al., 2010).
Biochar's natural affinity for nitrogen allows it to arrest the flow of the nitrogen cycle. It tends to only release as much nitrogen into the surrounding soil as is needed by microbes and plants to maintain healthy growth (ScienceDaily, 2010).
The policy debate - Should we promote biochar or not?
We must reduce the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere through substantial changes in our "use as much as we can" lifestyles if we hope to have any chance of bringing global temperatures back down to what we consider as "normal." At an international level, several organizations are actively promoting the production and use of biochar in a responsible manner, particularly in terms of its ability to function as a soil amendment and as one of the most valuable tools in the climate change mitigation "toolbox."
Spearheading this charge is the International Biochar Initiative (http://www.biochar-international.org ), with a rapidly growing member organization base and 30 regional biochar groups around the world.
Biochar has even been adopted at the UN level as a tool demanding serious consideration in the global "runaway climate change" debate. While finding a "new" way to process organic "wastes" that results in significant crop yield increases and sequesters carbon at the same time may seem fantastical, therein also lies the curse... On the other side of the political fence are organizations that are calling for extreme caution in the widespread development of a formal biochar sector for fear that it will lead to increased land-grabbing and deforestation.
Often, though, we find that real people living in real conditions do things that run counter to or far ahead of the prevailing policy debate, both as a matter of survival and "because this is the way we have always done it". Thailand is a classic example: glab pao (แกลบเผา) or burned rice husk is a common by-product of village-level charcoal production and is for all intents and purposes, the precursor to biochar. This char is bought in large volumes, left to sit in piles in the corner of the land (i.e., undergoing a "maturation" period, to be explained in more detail below), and eventually used as a growing medium for such plants as coconuts and bananas. In other words, it's the same product as raw biochar (i.e., biochar that has not undergone the maturation period), has the same use, but a different name so it's not on the biochar radar screen. I don't doubt that similar activities are happening all around the world as I write this and I feel should be supported, when used in conjunction with other forms of environmentally-friendly soil amendments.
Making your own biochar
One of the easiest ways to begin making biochar in Thailand, considering the available
Making biochar in a modified PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer (photo by Bryan Hugill)
feedstocks, is using rice husks resulting in glab pao (แกลบเผา). Short of making charcoal and using rice hulls as a filler material in the ovens, the PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer is the simplest option, as outlined in an excellent booklet available online. Other options for such feedstocks as maize cobs and stover, coconut shells, sugar cane bagasse, etc. could include the top-lit updraft (TLUD) kilns and stoves, drum retorts, brick and Magh biochar retorts, earth pit kilns, inverted downdraft gasifiers, and so on [Editor: Links to websites containing diagrams, photos, plans and other information related to these biochar-production technologies are available at the end of this article].
It is also recommended that you make biochar from materials that are locally available for environmental and economic reasons. The "200-Liter Horizontal Drum Kilns" in Rick Burnette's article also function as fantastic ovens for making biochar from tree branches, bamboo, etc., with the simple addition of a grating to allow the even distribution of heat from the external fire through the biomass inside. Such technologies are simple to operate and maintain, effective, cost-effective, and readily adaptable to a variety of local needs.
IMPORTANT: Before you begin using your biochar, remember that you need to "mature" it first. The addition of "fresh" biochar to soils often results in what is termed
Making IMO for maturing the biochar (photo by Khongchi Yiayang, GIZ CliPAD)
"nitrogen shock" whereby the biochar rapidly absorbs all the available nitrogen in the surrounding soils, thereby limiting its availability to plants (the nitrogen is eventually released, but very slowly). To prevent this from happening, biochar is commonly first treated with urine or mixed with compost and/or drenched with compost teas and IMO mixes and combined together with soil from the field to which the biochar will eventually be applied after having been left to sit quietly in the corner of the field or yard for a few months. During this period, the biochar absorbs all of the available nitrogen to saturation point, as well as begins the process of microbial colonization. As a result, the biochar that you add to the soil will be able to begin working immediately.
Application rates for matured biochar typically vary from between 1-3 kg per m2, depending on the condition of the soil. The biochar can be applied in a variety of ways, including: (a) simple broadcasting across a field, which is most useful in moist/wet soils, or where the soil will soon be plowed, although this runs the risk of being blown away by the wind if the biochar is too dry; (b) targeted application such as in a hole when you plant a tree; (c) mulching, both around a tree and along its lateral root system; (d) mulching on raised beds, preferably thereafter covered in straw, etc.; (e) mixed into composting systems; and (f) mixed into animal bedding, which is then applied to the field periodically.
It is best to start small and build up the concentration of biochar until the crop yield increases reach a plateau, and then stop adding biochar. After that point, short of a fire raging through your field and vaporizing everything or a flood washing your field away, the biochar should remain stable in your soil for thousands of years, quietly working its magic.
Final thoughts
Biochar, while appearing on the surface to be a climate change and agricultural panacea,
Nearing the end of the charring process (note the wood vinegar collection) (photo by Bryan Hugill)
is not without very real dangers if the production and sourcing of feedstocks are unregulated, particularly at an industrial scale. To be cost effective, centralized industrial production requires enormous volumes of feedstocks. There are worries that such large-scale biochar production will be sourced primarily through land-grabbing, followed by tree plantations (such as Eucalyptus), resulting in an escalation of social and environmental conflicts. However, such concerns remain hindered for two key reasons. First of all, the biochar industry and market are still very young and at the experimental stage with regard to technology (much of which is extremely expensive at an industrial scale) as well as efficient production processes, biochar characterization and applications and market readiness. Second, many proponents of biochar production and use are acutely aware of the dangers and are actively campaigning to prevent the negative effects from industrial production from happening.
Biochar is also not an easy carbon-in-the-ground substitute for changing our oil-addicted "business as usual" behavior and, as noted above, should never be used as an argument for large-scale land-grabbing and the promotion of plantations for charring. Neither should the making of biochar mean abandoning other good agricultural practices. Rather, biochar should be used as yet another tool that every farmer has at his or her disposal for using agricultural wastes in innovative ways to improve soil fertility and productivity.
Finally, to quote Albert Bates, "... if it [biochar] fulfills its promise of taking us back from the brink of irreversible climate change, it may well be the most important discovery in human history."
Further information
Below are a few websites that provide solid evidence for the value of using biochar in various soil types and climatic conditions. The sites also include discussions on matters such as policy, remediation, production, field trials, and external funding sources:
The Thai Biochar Initiative: http://www.biochar-international.org/regional/thailand
Japan Biochar Association (been studying biochar for almost 30 years): http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/JBA.htm
Bioenergy Terra Preta Discussion List (the most up-to-date discussion list covering a wide range of biochar-related topics, including production and field trials): http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/
Yahoo Group mailing lists:
Biochar (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/ )
Biochar in Soils (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-soils/ )
Biochar Production (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-production/ )
Biochar Policy (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-policy/ )
Biochar Funding (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar-funding/ )
Biochar Remediation (http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/Biochar-Remediation/)
South East Asian Biochar Interest Group: http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/
GEK Gasification (an open-source resource for engineers and DIY-ers): http://www.gekgasifier.com/
Understanding micro-gasification in stoves and why it works: http://www.hedon.info/Micro-gasificationWhatItIsAndWhyItWorks
PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/philricecarbhull . The main challenge with producing rice husk char is the potential for the high levels of silica in the husk to vitrify due to excess heating. The PhilRice Open Type Carbonizer limits this effect, but may result in excessive amounts of ash if allowed to burn too long.
Top-lit updraft (TLUD) kilns and stoves: http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/files/1G%20Toucan%20TLUD%20for%20Biochar%20Jan%202010%20-%20final_0.pdf and http://www.arti-india.org/content/view/80/52/
Magh biochar retorts: http://maghbiocharretort.blogspot.com/
Earth pit kilns: http://www.pacificviews.org/weblog/archives/002103.html
Inverted downdraft gasifiers: http://transectpoints.blogspot.com/2007/02/pyrolysis.html
Here are a few books worth finding and reading:
Bates, Albert (2010) The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change. New Society Publishers. ISBN: 9780865716773.
Bruges, James (2010) The Biochar Debate: Charcoal's Potential to Reverse Climate Change and Build Soil Fertility (The Schumacher Briefings). Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN-10: 160358255X, ISBN-13: 978-1603582551.
Lehmann, Johannes and Stephen Joseph (eds.) (2009) Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology. Earthscan Publications Ltd. ISBN-10: 184407658X, ISBN-13: 978-1844076581.
Steiner, Christoph (2007) Slash and Char: An Alternative to Slash and Burn. Cuvillier Verlag Göttingen. ISBN-10: 3867274444, ISBN-13: 9783867274449
References
Elad, Yigal, Dalia Rav David, Yael Meller Harel, Menahem Borenshtein, Hananel Ben Kalifa, Avner Silber, and Ellen R. Graber (2010) "Induction of Systemic Resistance in Plants by Biochar, a Soil-Applied Carbon Sequestering Agent". Phytopathology 100(9): 913-921. Available at: http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PHYTO-100-9-0913 .
ScienceDaily (2010) "Is Biochar the Answer for Agriculture? Long-Term Study Digs Up New Information on Biochar's Ability to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Soils". 9 August 2010. Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100802073945.htm.
Woolf, Dominic, James E. Amonette, F. Alayne Street-Perrott, Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph (2010) Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change: Supplementary information. Section 2.6.8. Available at: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v1/n5/extref/ncomms1053-s1.pdf
Vandana Shiva: Understanding the Corporate Takeover
"The American people should see that corporations have abandoned them long ago," says scientist, environmentalist, and food justice activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, named one of the seven most influential women in the world by Forbes magazine. "The people will have to rebuild democracy as a living democracy."
Dr. Shiva has been fighting corporate takeover in every area in her native India, combating a nuclear plant one week and patented, genetically modified seeds another. She joins Laura in studio to advise American activists how they can fight the merging of corporations and government here at home and around the world.
Dr. Shiva, One smart lady...! physicist, ..., common sense... guts, courage, and smarts to take on Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, large corporations, when they are wrong... Monte
Dr. Shiva has been fighting corporate takeover in every area in her native India, combating a nuclear plant one week and patented, genetically modified seeds another. She joins Laura in studio to advise American activists how they can fight the merging of corporations and government here at home and around the world.
Dr. Shiva, One smart lady...! physicist, ..., common sense... guts, courage, and smarts to take on Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, large corporations, when they are wrong... Monte
Apr 28, 2011
Lopa Brunjes - Biochar: An Ancient Solution to a Modern Problem
Lopa Brunjes is a biochar pioneer, passionate sustainability advocate, and visionary businesswoman. Lopa currently serves as Executive VP of Biochar Engineering Corp, a small Colorado company defining the leading edge of the burgeoning biochar industry.
Why Is Damning New Evidence About Monsanto's Most Widely Used Herbicide Being Silenced?
It turns out that Monsanto's Roundup herbicide might not be nearly as safe as people have thought, but the media is staying mum on the revelation.
April 27, 2011
Huber was unavailable to respond to media inquiries in the weeks following the leak, and thus unable to defend himself when several colleagues from Purdue publicly claiming to refute his accusations about Monsanto's widely used herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) and Roundup Ready crops. When his letter was finally acknowledged by the mainstream media, it was with titles like "Scientists Question Claims in Biotech Letter," noting that the letter's popularity on the internet "has raised concern among scientists that the public will believe his unsupported claim is true."Dr. Don Huber did not seek fame when he quietly penned a confidential letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in January of this year, warning Vilsack of preliminary evidence of a microscopic organism that appears in high concentrations in genetically modified Roundup Ready corn and soybeans and "appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals and probably human beings." Huber, a retired Purdue University professor of plant pathology and U.S. Army colonel, requested the USDA's help in researching the matter and suggested Vilsack wait until the research was concluded before deregulating Roundup Ready alfalfa. But about a month after it was sent, the letter was leaked, soon becoming an internet phenomenon.
Now, Huber has finally spoken out, both in a second letter, sent to "a wide number of individuals worldwide" to explain and back up his claims from his first letter, and in interviews. While his first letter described research that was not yet complete or published, his second letter cited much more evidence about glyphosate and genetically engineered crops based on studies that have already been published in peer-reviewed journals.
The basis of both letters and much of the research is the herbicide glyphosate. First commercialized in 1974, glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world and has been for some time. Glyphosate has long been considered a relatively benign product, because it was thought to break down quickly in the environment and harm little other than the weeds it was supposed to kill.
According to the National Pesticide Information Center, glyphosate prevents plants from making a certain enzyme. Without the enzyme, they are unable to make three essential amino acids, and thus, unable to survive. Once applied, glyphosate either binds to soil particles (and is thus immobilized so it can no longer harm plants) or microorganisms break it down into ammonium and carbon dioxide. Very little glyphosate runs off into waterways. For these reasons, glyphosate has been thought of as more or less harmless: you spray the weeds, they die, the glyphosate goes away, and nothing else in the environment is harmed.
But Huber says this is not true. First of all, he points out, evidence began to emerge in the 1980s that "what glyphosate does is, essentially, give a plant AIDS." Just like AIDS, which cripples a human's immune system, glyphosate makes plants unable to mount a defense against pathogens in the soil. Without its defense mechanisms functioning, the plants succumb to pathogens in the soil and die. Furthermore, glyphosate has an impact on microorganisms in the soil, helping some and hurting others. This is potentially problematic for farmers, as the last thing one would want is a buildup of pathogens in the soil where they grow crops.
The fate of glyphosate in the environment is also not as benign as once thought. It's true that glyphosate either binds to soil or is broken down quickly by microbes. Glyphosate binds to any positively charged ion in the soil, with the consequence of making many nutrients (such as iron and manganese) less available to plants. Also, glyphosate stays in the soil bound to particles for a long time and can be released later by normal agricultural practices like phosphorus fertilization. "It's not uncommon to find one to three pounds of glyphosate per acre in agricultural soils in the Midwest," says Huber, noting that this represents one to three times the typical amount of glyphosate applied to a field in a year.
Huber says these facts about glyphosate are very well known scientifically but rarely cited. When asked why, he replied that it would be harder for a company to get glyphosate approved for widespread use if it were known that the product could increase the severity of diseases on normal crop plants as well as the weeds it was intended to kill. Here in the U.S., many academic journals are not even interested in publishing studies that suggest this about glyphosate; a large number of the studies Huber cites were published in the European Journal of Agronomy.
If Huber's claims are true, then it follows that there must be problems with disease in crops where glyphosate is used. Huber's second letter verifies this, saying, "we are experiencing a large number of problems in production agriculture in the U.S. that appear to be intensified and sometimes directly related to genetically engineered (GMO) crops, and/or the products they were engineered to tolerate -- especially those related to glyphosate (the active chemical in Roundup® herbicide and generic versions of this herbicide)."
He continues, saying, "We have witnessed a deterioration in the plant health of corn, soybean, wheat and other crops recently with unexplained epidemics of sudden death syndrome of soybean (SDS), Goss' wilt of corn, and take-all of small grain crops the last two years. At the same time, there has been an increasing frequency of previously unexplained animal (cattle, pig, horse, poultry) infertility and [miscarriages]. These situations are threatening the economic viability of both crop and animal producers."
Some of the crops Huber named, corn and soy, are genetically engineered to survive being sprayed with glyphosate. Others, like wheat and barley, are not. In those cases, a farmer would apply glyphosate to kill weeds about a week before planting his or her crop, but would not spray the crop itself. In the case of corn, as Huber points out, most corn varieties in the U.S. are bred using conventional breeding techniques to resist the disease Goss' wilt. However, recent preliminary research showed that when GE corn is sprayed with glyphosate, the corn becomes susceptible to Goss' wilt. Huber says in his letter that "This disease was commonly observed in many Midwestern U.S. fields planted to [Roundup Ready] corn in 2009 and 2010, while adjacent non-GMO corn had very light to no infections." In 2010, Goss' wilt was a "major contributor" to an estimated one billion bushels of corn lost in the U.S. "in spite of generally good harvest conditions," says Huber.
The subject of Huber's initial letter is a newly identified organism that appears to be the cause of infertility and miscarriages in animals. Scientists have a process to verify whether an organism is the cause of a disease: they isolate the organism, culture it, and reintroduce it to the animal to verify that it reproduces the symptoms of the disease, and then re-isolate the organism from the animal's tissue. This has already been completed for the organism in question. The organism appears in high concentrations in Roundup Ready crops. However, more research is needed to understand what this organism is and what its relationship is to glyphosate and/or Roundup Ready crops.
In order to secure the additional research needed, Huber wrote to Secretary Vilsack. Huber says he wrote his initial letter to Secretary Vilsack with the expectation that it would be forwarded to the appropriate agency within the USDA for follow-up, which it was. When the USDA contacted Huber for more information, he provided it, but he does not know how they have followed up on that information. The letter was "a private letter appealing for [the USDA's] personnel and funding," says Huber. Given recent problems with plant disease and livestock infertility and miscarriages, he says that "many producers can't wait an additional three to 10 years for someone to find the funds and neutral environment" to complete the research on this organism.
If the link between the newly discovered organism and livestock infertility and miscarriages proves true, it will be a major story. But there is already a major story here: the lack of independent research on GMOs, the reluctance of U.S. journals to publish studies critical of glyphosate and GMOs, and the near total silence from the media on Huber's leaked letter.
Jill Richardson is the founder of the blog La Vida Locavore and a member of the Organic Consumers Association policy advisory board. She is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It..
Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization | Video on TED.com
Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that's only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).
About Marcin Jakubowski
Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing a set of blueprints for 50 farming tools that can be built cheaply from scratch. Call it a "civilization starter kit." Full bio and more links
What Is Biochar?
This video explains what biochar is, and its effects when using it as a soil amendment.
Simple/Good explanation of biochar! Monte
Apr 27, 2011
Queen of The Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? - Official Trailer [HD]
QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature. Official Film Website: http://www.queenofthesun.com
Apr 25, 2011
Bartlett Tree Experts: News Release - Bartlett to Conduct Research to Determine the Effectiveness of Biochar in Protecting Urban Trees
Ancient Amazonia Meets Chicago Street Trees
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Researchers to see if biochar, a charcoal first used centuries ago, can help protect the urban forest – saving cities money
What: Application of biochar, a type of charcoal first produced and used in the Amazon basin centuries ago to make agricultural land more fertile, to the soil of Chicago street trees. The first time it is being studied in urban soils for the potential benefit of trees, though there has been extensive research worldwide into its benefits for agriculture
Why: A large portion of street trees planted do not survive; of those that do, the average lifespan is 10 years - considerably less than a tree growing in its natural conditions. Street trees growing in soil pits surrounded by pavement suffer from limited root space, soil compaction, limited water and drainage, poor soil structure and nutrients, and pavement de-icing salts.
If biochar were to improve the growing conditions of urban trees, enabling them to live longer, its use could save municipalities and property owners in tree-replacement costs and help preserve valuable urban tree canopy.
Where: About 60 trees on Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park/Bucktown community.
This research is part of a larger urban-soils study that includes applications of biochar in greenhouse and field plot settings at The Morton Arboretum. The Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories have also been testing adding biochar to the soil mix when planting trees.
Who: Scientists from Bartlett Tree Experts and The Morton Arboretum, with earlier assistance from the Chicago Bureau of Forestry and Department of Environment, and funding support from The TREE Fund.
When: The Chicago street-tree applications begin in April 2011. The study will continue for two to three years.
Background: Biochar, a result of heating of plant waste at high temperatures, has been used for centuries to restore infertile soils. It also has tremendous potential for urban tree care. Urban soils often lack carbon, available nutrients and important microorganisms. Biochar is rich in carbon, which when added to the soil, can increase the number of microorganisms, increase nutrients and rebuild soil structure. It’s been called a “coral reef” for soil.
Biochar may also help address urgent environmental issues, such as water pollution, food insecurity, soil degradation and climate change. It puts carbon back into the earth, puts it to positive use in the soil and increases the amount of time it stays there, rather than allowing the carbon to be released into the atmosphere. Research suggests it is an ideal candidate for reducing climate change by indefinitely storing carbon and carbon dioxide.
For more information, contact:
Christine Esposito cesposito@terracompr.com 773.637.3939
DIY Worm Tower Creates Self-Spreading Compost (Video) : TreeHugger
Image credit: Permaculture ScienceFrom building your own worm bin to how to build a compost tumbler, we've covered plenty of simple, DIY solutions for home composting here on TreeHugger. But what about a worm bin that literally spreads its own contents in your garden? That's the idea behind a worm tower, which—it is claimed—uses free-ranging compost worms to break down organic waste and then move those nutrients out into your garden.
I like to think of myself as a relatively enthusiastic compost geek, but I must confess I have neither heard of, nor experienced, the concept of a worm tower. Nevertheless, the idea of actively encouraging compost worms not just to do their work at composting, but to then spread out into your garden and poop liberally strikes me—in theory at least—as being an elegant, low maintenance way of keeping nutrients cycling in your garden. Looks like lazivore gardening at its finest!
Just one question—anyone got any experience of whether this actually works?
More on Worm Compost and Composting Worm Compost Suppresses Plant Diseases Vermicondo: Worm Composter By Levitt Goodman More on Compost Tumblers, Compost and Composting Build Your Own Compost Tumbler (Video) Building a Hot Compost Heap How to Heat Your Shower with Compost Composting as Animal Husbandry: Moving Way Beyond Recycling
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