Conferences, Symposiums, Field Trips, and Commercial Demonstrations

[erich]

Here is an update for the upcoming 2007 Conference of the International Agrichar Initiative, which will be held April 29-May 2 in coastal Terrigal, NSW.

 

International Agrichar Initiative 2007 Conference

 

After reading this I sure wish I had my passport in hand,

Erich

 

 

 

"Ron,

Thanks for the query. We are getting down to the final planning for the upcoming 2007 Conference of the International Agrichar Initiative, which will be held April 29-May 2 in coastal Terrigal, NSW. We had a great response to the call for abstracts, and have 14 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations scheduled, on various aspects of agrichar/biochar research and development, the impacts and benefits of agrichar/biochar, agrichar/biochar production and testing, and economics, environment, and policy applications. We also have a day of panel discussions on agrichar/biochar R&D, and production and utilization/markets and commercialization, and a plenary discussion to prioritize future management questions for the IAI. We are very excited that Professor Tim Flannery (author of The Weather Makers, and other books) will deliver the keynote wrap-up. Mike Mason of Climate Care (a carbon offsets company in the UK) will also be speaking, and we are still in discussions with Peter Garrett (an Australian MP) as a potential dinner speaker. We are hoping to have some exciting announcements about new projects and support for the initiative by the time of the Conference, all with the goal of furthering promotion and commercialization of the technology at various scales.

 

Two conference field trips are also planned -- one just prior to the start of the conference to see field trials at the NSW Department of Primary Industries, where agrichar/biochar has been applied to soils and crop response and other impacts are being tested. We understand that we will hear about some very exciting impacts from these trials, both during the field trip and at the conference. The second trip will be to visit the BEST Energies pyrolysis unit and facility in Somersby.

 

We have also had a great response from Sponsors, many of whom are involved in agrichar production and development. Registrations are coming in from around the world, which is as we had hoped, and include both academic/research and business interests, which will make for some great discussions and interactions. Please visit the conference website at International Agrichar Initiative 2007 Conference for an updated agenda and information for registration and travel to attend. We will be posting abstracts from the conference, as well as (un-reviewed) papers and powerpoint presentations that are delivered during the conference, for those unable to attend.

 

Please feel free to contact me for further information, and we hope that some of you may join us!

 

Debbie Reed, Coordinator

International Agrichar Initiative

 

 

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Erich J. Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

E-mail: shengar at aol.com

(540) 289-9750

[erich]

Dear Folks,

Please contact me if any of you are interested in joining me on a field trip to Dayton VA. to see Dr. Foster A Agblevor's chicken litter pyrolysis project.

 

I will set a date dependent upon the folks who contact me, probably the first week in April

If any need a place to stay I've got plenty of room.

 

 

I feel like Dorothy in OZ,,,,,,,,, Who knew after all my searching's that this would fall into my own back yard.......there IS no place like home!

 

 

Chicken Litter Project & Potential of TP Sequestration | Terra Preta

 

 

Erich J. Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

E-mail: [email protected]

(540) 289-9750

[erich]

After speaking to sme of the principles involved with Dr. Foster A Agblevor's chicken litter pyrolysis project the Field Trip date is now projected to be, hopfuly, May or June.

 

Erich

[erich]

Here is a post by Jim Mason to the TP bioenergy list;

 

 

 

Burning Man takes on green tech

 

 

Daniel Terdiman, for News.com

Published: May 7, 2007

If you head to Burning Man this summer and see an 80-foot slug belching plumes of fire as it inches across the desert, don't worry: it's not an environmental disaster.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-11392_3-6181680.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

"here is a nice article considering how burning man might do the impossible: become a compelling venue for exploring participatory alt energy solutions. but everyone asks, "can an event primary founded on fire, really be anything other than wildly consumptive and destructive"? or does it just get a free pass because it is about something other than our everyday living.

 

towards this end, the mechabolic is going to be gasifying trash at the event. we are going to be gasifying event trash to create gaseous and liquid fuels for fire effects, mobility and electricity. the byproducts of the gasifiation are charcoal and ash, which becomes a terra preta soil amendment, returning the biomass nutrients in the event trash back to the soil, while sequestering carbon as charcoal in the process. free carbon sequestration through plow agriculture. all energy of decomposing biomass mined and used for energy, instead of lost through slow decoposition. nothing left to rot and off gas methane to the atmosphere (a la composting). all of which, oddly, requires the thoughtful use of fire.

 

who would have thought that there was a way to burn things to a more healthy planetary carbon cycle? but such is the promise of an integrated application of gasification, pyrolysis and terra preta. "

 

Erich

[freeztar]

Awesome article! That really makes me want to go there and see Mechanoid!

[Michaelangelica]

A conference soon -2008- in the UK.

Anyone any details?

[erich]

2008 The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

 

 

Others The International Biochar Initiative (IBI)

[Michaelangelica]

Page 1

Carbon Farming

EXPo & ConFErEnCE

Carbon Farming is the New Agriculture. It is land and stock management designed for the Era of Climate Change.

Carbon Farming includes:

•

grazing management

•

biochar

•

low/no-tillage

•

mulching

•

pasture cropping

•

keyline planning

•

biological farming

•

natural sequence farming

•

biodynamics

•

alternatives to nitrogenous fertilisers

•

composting

•

and many others…

These are methods of capturing and holding Carbon in soils.

On the deficit side, growers face the challenge of emissions from stock (methane) and fertilisers (nitrous oxide).

The farm plan which incorporates both carbon capture and emission reduction is called Carbon Farming.

agricultural rural & Education Centre, mudgee

9.00am — 5.00pm, 16th — 17th November, 2007

“It is an historical event of international importance”

Rattan Lal, Professor of Soil Science, SENR President, Soil Science Society of America

Page 2

PraCtiCal Carbon Farming: thE voiCE oF EXPEriEnCE

The World’s First Carbon Farming Conference is a unique opportunity to see the entire issue from all angles. Speakers will

include senior scientists who were centrally involved in creating the Australian Government’s greenhouse strategies as well as

leading ‘carbon farming’ practitioners and expert market observers. The Draft Program includes the following topics:

Carbon CoCky oF thE yEar

The first annual “Carbon Cocky of the Year” Competition will be conducted

in conjunction with the Expo and Conference. Each Catchment Management

Authority will conduct a search for outstanding Carbon Farmers in their catchment.

An overall winner will be declared during the event. The winner will be entered

into the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Challenge Awards for 2008/09.

For more information: http://www.carbonfarming.com.au

Prize

money to

be won!

techniques and Costs of

measuring Soil Carbon

Dr Brian Murphy

Senior Soil Scientist,

NSW Department of

Environment and Climate

Change

Federal government

assistance to Soil Carbon

trading

Hon. Kerry O’Brien

Shadow Minister for

Agriculture

biochar’s Promising trials

Adriana Downie

Research Scientist,

Best Energies

your Farm’s Carbon

Footprint: treading lightly

David Marsh

“Allendale” Boorowa

Dynamic results From

Combining grazing

management, Pasture

Cropping and biological

Farming

Col Seis

“Winona” Gulgong

Soil Carbon trading:

Cma audit Scheme for

voluntary market

John Lawrie

Soils Officer, Central

West Catchment

Management Authority

Successful biological

and biodynamic

Farming

Cam McKellar

“Inveraray Downs”

Spring Ridge

Soil Carbon trading

Schemes: State of the

market

Michael Kiely

Carbon Farmers of

Australia

how to use Carbon

Calculators to manage a

Carbon Farm

Dr Jeff Baldock

Research Scientist, CSIRO

Land & Water

agriculture and

greenhouse Emissions:

Challenge for Farmers

Dr Bill Slattery

Australian Greenhouse

Office

Carbon Farming:

bringing it all together

Ian Packer,

Soils Officer, Lachlan

Catchment Management

Authority

opportunities on

global soil carbon

markets

Mike Walsh

SVP, Chicago Climate

Exchange

Chairman’s introduction:

Climate Change Challenges

& opportunities

Gary Allan

Climate Change Project

Manager, Department of

Primary Industries

CarbonCredited Produce:

Emissions reductions

Scheme for Farmers

Louisa Kiely

Carbon Coalition Against

Global Warming

a Farmer’s Experience with

natural Sequence Farming

Craig Carter

“Tallawang” Willow Tree

Page 3

thE FirSt oF itS kinD

Carbon Farming as a movement had its origins in the Central West of NSW. This event is the first dedicated conference

and trade show ever held.

The future of Agriculture is being created by the leaders in Carbon Farming. This is your opportunity to play a part in the

growth of the largest commodity market the world has ever seen.

rEgiStration For DElEgatES: $165

(inCl. gSt)

oFFiCial SuPPortErS

http://www.carbonfarming.com.au

 

Phone 02 6374 0329

Fax

02 6374 0354

Email: [email protected]

Please forward applications to:

Carbon Farmers of australia

ACN: 127 011 134

“Uamby”

Via Goolma 2852

Phone 02 6374 0329

Fax

02 6374 0354

Email: [email protected]

 

I have a copy of the final programme if you want to send me your email address or message via HiPog

[scalbers]

There has been a recent conference that included a presentation on Biochar held this November at Iowa State Univ. When I reach 10 posts, the board will allow me to include the links. So for now you can Google on these words:

 

2007 Biobased Industry Outlook Conference

 

Perhaps a more seasoned forum member could post links to the conference and the Johannes Lehmann Biochar presentation?

 

A couple of U.S. presidential candidates spoke at this conference as well.

[Philip Small]

2007 Biobased Industry Outlook Conference

 

Perhaps a more seasoned forum member could post links to the conference and the Johannes Lehmann Biochar presentation?

 

 

I did find the conference and the agrichar session. There may be other links...

[erich]

UN Climate Change Conference: Biochar present at the Bali Conference

 

UN Climate Change Conference: Biochar present at the Bali Conference | Terra Preta

[erich]

Dynamotive to build fully commercial fast-pyrolysis biofuel plant in Missouri

12/05/07

 

 

"200 tons per day of wood by-products and residues from nearby sawmills into 34,000 gallons per day of bio-oil "

 

I'm guessing the char would be about 30 tons / day?

 

In Argentina, $50 million for 15.7 Megawatt Plant, a bit costly per Megawatt;

 

"Each complex will be comprised of a 15.7 megawatt electricity generating station powered by the majority of the fuel output of two 200-ton-per-day modular plants producing bio-oil from wood waste and residues from nearby forests and other biomass residue. Excess bio-oil produced at these facilities will be sold into commercial and industrial fuel markets"

 

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa

 

 

 

Erich J. Knight

Shenandoah Gardens

1047 Dave Berry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

(540) 289-9750

[email protected]

[Michaelangelica]

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

 

United Nations Climate Change Conference - Bali, 3 - 14 December 2007

All eyes on Bali for a crucial breakthrough on climate change

Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary:

Bali, the “island of the Gods,” is a prime example of the beauty of our natural environment. At the same time, Indonesia has first-hand experience of the extreme weather events caused by climate change. Bali is therefore a poignant setting for the forthcoming crucial international negotiations on the way forward to save our planet from the devastating effects of global warming.

more

[Michaelangelica]

The Barli conference

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

 

Methods & Science

 

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

[erich]

UNCCD: Sustainable land management for adaptation to climate change

Presented by the UNCCD

 

A brief report on the UNCCD side event that featured the biochar

presentations at Bali can be found at:

 

ENBOTS @ United Nations Climate Change Conference - Bali, Side Events convened on Thursday, 13 December 2007

 

Hopefully the presentations will be available soon at the UNCCD website or

from the authors.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Goodspeed Kopolo, UNCCD Secretariat, presented on the potential role of

biochar, a type of charcoal produced from biomass, to enhance sustainable

land management and sequester carbon. He listed benefits of biochar as a

carbon sink under the CDM, noting that additionality and permanence of

sequestration are assured, and the baseline is simple. He described actions

required for biochar to be recognized under the CDM, namely: revision of

the additionality test and of LULUCF rules to include biochar; and the

engagement of all stakeholders to ensure its inclusion in a post-2012

climate regime.

 

Wolfgang Zech, Bayreuth University, Germany, emphasized that land

degradation affects all continents. He described the positive effects that

charcoal, used in conjunction with mineral fertilizers, can have on

improving soil organic matter and land productivity, and sequestering

carbon.

 

Christoph Steiner, University of Georgia, US, stressed that use of charcoal

as a soil amendment is not new. He highlighted research and development

into the production of biochar as a by-product of gasification, with

simultaneous sustainable land management and carbon sequestration benefits.

He noted that a CDM market could make biochar widely available.

 

Participants discussed strategies for ensuring inclusion of biochar within

the CDM in a post-2012 regime."

 

More information

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

 

Contacts

Goodspeed Kopolo <[email protected]>

Wolfgang Zech <[email protected]>

Christoph Steiner <[email protected]>

[erich]

Hi All,

These folks are working in association with Danny Day and Virginia Tech . They are talking of having products and equipment out this year!

 

 

Genesis Industries, as the current licensee of Eprida technology, provides you with a carbon negative Eprida energy machine at the same cost as going direct to Eprida. Through our technical support staff we also provide you with the information to obtain the best utilization of the biocharcoal that is produced by the machine. Recent research has shown that Eprida charcoal can increase plant productivity as it sequesters carbon in the soil, thus helping reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide.

 

eGenesis Industries : HOME

 

 

Seeing the film background of their executives , I sent a post imploring the production of a Wee Beastie animation of TP soil and their benefits.

 

THE CAST:

In E. O. Wilson's "The Future of Life" he opens the book with a letter to Thoreau updating him on our current understanding of the nature of the ecology of the soils at Walden Pond.

 

 

" These arthropods are the giants of the microcosm (if you will allow me to continue what has turned into a short lecture). Creatures their size are present in dozens-hundreds, if an ant or termite colony is presents. But these are comparatively trivial numbers. If you focus down by a power of ten in size, enough to pick out animals barely visible to the naked eye, the numbers jump to thousands. Nematode and enchytraied pot worms, mites, springtails, pauropods, diplurans, symphylans, and tardigrades seethe in the underground. Scattered out on a white ground cloth, each crawling speck becomes a full-blown animal. Together they are far more striking and divers in appearance than snakes, mice, sparrows, and all the other vertebrates hereabouts combined. Their home is a labyrinth of miniature caves and walls of rotting vegetable debris cross-strung with ten yards of fungal threads. And they are just the surface of the fauna and flora at our feet. Keep going, keep magnifying until the eye penetrates microscopic water films on grains of sand, and there you will find ten billion bacteria in a thimbleful of soil and frass. You will have reached the energy base of the decomposer world as we understand it 150 years after you sojourn in Walden Woods."

 

 

 

Certainly there remains much work to just characterize all the estimated 1000 species of microbes found in a pinch of soil, and Wilson concludes at the end of the prolog that

"Now it is up to us to summon a more encompassing wisdom."

 

I have been researching Metagenomic work with soils, a DNA assay technique which allows study of entire microbe communities, Metagenomics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm Way over my head, sending emails to convince these guys to support a Metagenomic Project for Terra Preta Soil Technology.

 

We have been groping in the microbial dark for a very long time, now with tools like Metagenomics, we will see the light of our symbiotic relationships with weebeasties in our health as well as our soils.

I sent off my TP post & links to all the contacts on the soils studies on this list ;

http://www.genomesonline.org/gold.cgi?want=Metagenomes

 

Cheers,

Erich

[diazotrophicus]

Hi,

in case someone gets near Sherwood Forest:

Exchange Morning Post

diazotrophicus