Many of the interactions between the char, the soil and the microorganisms that develop with time and lend the soil its richness and stability are still poorly understood. Glaser believes that the key to making agrichar behave like terra preta lies in the biological behavior of the original Amazonian dark earths—a difference he attributes to their age. "You would need 50 or 100 years to get a similar combination between the stable charcoal and the ingredients," he cautions.
"I think [research into the biological behavior of terra preta] is where the new frontier will be," Lehmann counters. If he is right, and scientists can perfect a modern-day recipe for agrichar, then its fans will not need Richard Branson's $25 million to jump-start their initiative—the annual demand for fertilizers exceeds 150 million tons worldwide.
Additional reporting by Coco Ballantyne and Christopher Mims
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9 Comments
Add CommentThe obvious near term solution would be to use the amazonian terra preta to inoculate the agrichar and other ingredients and grow it. I'm sure this has been tried and I'd love to know about results.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInoculation does indeed work in the Amazon, but not elsewhere. But why this is is the subject of much speculation. Unfortunately there is scant little research being done on the subject. It is soil that feeds us, but strangely the science of soil is underfunded throughout the World. For instance, we know very little about soil bacteria etc...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDear Ones
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNew Exclusive Innovative Green Project, that will utilize the agrichar (renewable biomass waste) as a major raw material to produce light weight solid concrete bricks for the building &construction industry in order to substitute the widely used clay brick which should be prohibited since it is made on the account of our fertile land natural resources, mud/clay rich soil which should be conserved for only agriculture to cultivate more crops/food for a starving of food World.
When you have non farmers evaluating terra preta you miss the importance of the other materials present with charcoal, such as bones and fired clay bits (pottery and bricks) and wood ash. All of these buffer the acidic Latrelite soils, stablize the ionic clays and prevent leaching of the plant nutriants from the upper soil horizons. Because of the ionic buffering the water and nutriants in the soil are readily avaliable to the plants. Charcoal and pottery shards will survive for a very long time in latrelite soils that form in warm wet areas. These soils destroy organic humis very quickly and the clays cement up if exposed by tillage. The bones and wood ash balance the ph of the acid of the clay soils.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am developing a project to produce biochar and biofuels from agave. One hectare of our ultra-high-density variety can produce from two hundred to five hundred tonnes of biomass per hectare per year.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe are using several agave species, both for semiarid and temperater (Mediterranean) climates. We are developing cold resistant varieties.
Mainly, we will use the biofuels for electricity production -the main source of GHG in Mexico-, to mitigate emissions.
Regards,
Arturo Velez
agaveproject2@gmail.com
The Al Gore offer is for the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Has anyone noticed that this removes two parts of oxygen for each single part of carbon? What kind of scientists are working on removing this oxygen from our air? Bio-char is the only corrective carbon removal that I see right now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about the char produced from the pyrolysis of rubber and plastic? Can this also be added to soils?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisno. the carbon from rubber produces carbon black and plastic produces coke. Neither healthy for soils, both with already large industries. essentially, they would poison the soil, very quickly making it toxic dirt. Carbon produced from fossil fuels (coal, tar sands, petroleum) contain way to many other toxics in it that would just not be cost effective to remove or filter out.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe best source of biochar is woody mass... and at that, wood waste. Biomass across the board can go, but its actually the larger chunks (found in wood chips) that produces the best haven for microbial life and nutrient retention. Though... a mixture is still good..of small and large particles... both of which you find in larger wood chips. Smaller materials (leaves, grass clippings, etc) are better suited for composting... which, when blended with char, makes arguably the best soil this side of the equator (US).
“The Biochar Revolution” with “The Biochar Solution”
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://biochar-books.com/
The Biochar Revolution collects the results and best practical advice that these entrepreneurs have to offer to the biochar community. When practice and theory advance to the point where they meet in the middle, then we will truly see a biochar revolution.