Research

[erich]

Biochar Chocolate............Ummmm

 

 

Now finely a product to sink your teeth into!, Even more reasons to love Laurens

 

Integrated agroforestry and 'low-carbon' cocoa project kicks off

 

Douala, October 26, 2009 - Cocoa is the main cash crop for farmers in the village of Malende, in the South-West Region of Cameroon. Most of these farmers are smallholders who produce only a few tons of the valuable beans a year. You will not find large plantations amongst them. The farmers rather prefer, or are limited to, a system that combines subsistence crops, tree crops and cash crops. These mixed cropping systems – which leave large trees standing – protect biodiversity and may generate organic products.

 

Biochar Fund - fighting hunger, deforestation, energy insecurity and climate change - Biochar with cocoa

[Essay]

Any word or figures on worldwide potential?

 

 

According to Lehmann (2009), 64,000 tons of biochar will yield up to almost one megatonne of CO2 equivalent abated.

 

I get the feeling we're talking something like the Great Wall of China here, in volume at least; and 5-10 Great Walls if we're talking weight... just to get up to one gigatonne.

 

Does anyone know what the Great Wall weighs?

===

 

p.s. Lehmann's analysis is focused on small (2 tonnes/hr.) industrial-scale agricultural usage of biochar. There are other more carbon-intensively sequestering uses of biochar (de-desertification & bioremediation/restoration) that can be developed too.

Plus there are the billions of third-worlders who can each make their own biochar without local- or industrial-scale infrastructure.

 

p.p.s. The "magnifying" effect comes from counting both the stabilized biomass (biochar), but also the reduced and avoided emissions from ag. soils, displaced fertilizer & other ag. inputs, enhanced yields, and fossil fuel displacements.

...and they're not even counting the magnifying effect on the microbiome!

 

~

[Eclipse Now]

Cheers. I think I also read somewhere at Eprida long long ago that the resulting fungi and microbial growth fixed another 5 times the Co2 that the original biochar locked away.

 

So I guess the real question is if Eprida's 10 tons biomass = 3 tons diesel fuel and 1 ton biochar, how many tons of biochar could we hypothetically make JUST from 'approved' sources. (We don't want to annoy George Monbiot here by appearing to propose chopping down old growth forests. We don't want to annoy me either!)

 

So just from agriwaste and carefully managed forestry plantation waste, I'm wondering if anyone has worldwide agriwaste figures on a crop by crop basis? Anyone know anyone in agriculture that could track down the average agriwaste from the top grains for instance?

 

Better than that, anyone seen a paper estimating how much Co2 we could save annually if we really got our rural areas cracking in storing biochar in the soil and running on the syngas/synfuel that comes from the Biochar?

 

I assume a harvester can run on syngas?

[Essay]

I assume a harvester can run on syngas?

 

Hhheeeyyyy....

 

It's far-fetched (and not a perpetual-motion machine), but you could get some extra power for a combine/harvester that processed (a portion of) the ag. waste while harvesting, and -after immediately turning it into biochar- could then simply till it back into the soil during the same "harvesting" pass.

 

Basically....

Corn plants into the front, corn ears out the side, and biochar out the back... into the soil.

 

It'd sure be easier than gathering the waste, to take -to make into biochar- and then transport back to be applied at some later time, via some arduous (energy intensive) method.

 

~

[erich]

64,000 tons Char = 1 Mega tons CO2e.

Thats no "wall of china", only 3,200 Truck loads ( 20 tons / load, 40' reefer) per Mega ton

So;

32,000 Truck loads per Giga Ton,

So;

320,000 truck loads to cover 10 Giga Tons of CO2e to more than cover world human emissions .

 

 

I have seen 24 G tons as the figure of total ag & forest waste

 

Erich

[Essay]

64,000 tons Char = 1 Mega tons CO2e.

Thats no "wall of china", only 3,200 Truck loads ( 20 tons / load, 40' reefer) per Mega ton

So;

32,000 Truck loads per Giga Ton,

So;

320,000 truck loads to cover 10 Giga Tons of CO2e to more than cover world human emissions .

 

 

I have seen 24 G tons as the figure of total ag & forest waste

 

Erich

Thanks Erich,

I've been looking for a citation on how many billion tons of ag and forest waste we could be using. If you run across a source for that, please post it....

===

 

But I think we need more trucks!

 

That should be 3,200,000 truckloads to get up to one gigatonne of CO2e.

===

 

Well that should employ a few people, eh?

 

~ ;)

[erich]

OOPs..........I must be more careful with my decimal points :)

 

For total Biomass break down;

 

NPP Database

Net Primary Production (NPP)

 

 

Here are 5 G tons of presently burned crop waste;

 

Biomass Burning in the Tropics: Impact on Atmospheric Chemistry and Biogeochemical Cycles -- Crutzen and Andreae 250 (4988): 1669 -- Science

 

And

 

About 120 billion tons of biomass, the energy capacity of which is five times the total present energy consumption in the world, is formed each year by means of photosynthesis (see Table 1) . But only 1% of the total energy capacity has been used as energy. It can supply about 14% of total energy consumption in the world.

 

A potential renewable energy resource development and utilization of biomass energy

[Eclipse Now]

Hey Erich, not if we bring the biochar cooker to the farm instead of taking the farm-waste to the biochar cooker!

 

Imagine farmers getting into the convention of collecting their ag-waste and putting it in large piles (and covering it with plastic tarps if needed so it doesn't blow away). They wait their turn, and eventually the biochar cookers comes to them, processes the biochar on site, and gives them some syngas as well which they store in large tanks on site.

 

It'd sure be easier than gathering the waste, to take -to make into biochar- and then transport back to be applied at some later time, via some arduous (energy intensive) method.

 

A particular doomer head of ASPO Australia (peak oil group) was telling me that there's just no way carting millions of tons of agriwaste around could work out energetically and economically in the vast areas of Australian rural hinterland.

 

However, as I learnt on the other thread, Bigchar have a mobile char-making unit, and one of the Bigchar people actually replied that they were looking into bringing the mini-refinery with them to at least harvest the syngas.

 

Australian biochar and mobile biochar production

 

Bigchar replied here that it might one day prove economical to do so, but again it's about economies of scale.

 

Then the syngas could potentially run the harvester, especially if we develop hybrid electric harvesters that run on a similar engine to the electric buses New York are now using. ("Gas" fired turbine charges the electric battery for power...but is that American gasoline = petrol, or actual gas? D'oh! There goes my neat solution if I had a semantic misunderstanding.)

[Eclipse Now]

About 120 billion tons of biomass, the energy capacity of which is five times the total present energy consumption in the world, is formed each year by means of photosynthesis (see Table 1) . But only 1% of the total energy capacity has been used as energy. It can supply about 14% of total energy consumption in the world.

I'm alarmed at this kind of thinking. This is the kind of thing that made George Monbiot go nuts at biochar activists. We can't risk thinking that all ecological systems are 'available energy'. I'm one who believes that most transport must quickly be converted to electricity precisely because energy farming cannot supply all our liquid fuel transport needs, let alone all our electricity, let alone all our energy needs 5 times over.

 

The effects of deforestation on global warming are significant (20%) and the effects on biodiversity are catastrophic. We've simply got to stop the extinction rate or various ecosystems could implode.

 

So when I discuss available biomass, I'm talking about agriwaste and plantation forestry, and assuming that not an extra twig is removed from our last old growth forests.

 

Cheers.

[Eclipse Now]

2. What is IBI’s goal for carbon removal from the atmosphere?

IBI is focusing presently on the feasibility of one “wedge,” which equals one gigaton of carbon per year. The

term “wedge” comes from an often-quoted analysis (Pacala and Socolow, 2004) showing a need to have seven

gigatons of carbon per year (seven wedges) of reduced carbon emissions by 2054 to keep emissions at the 2004

level.

3. Is a one gigaton per year biochar wedge achievable by 2054?

Yes. In the four basic scenarios we have examined, we found several ways to create at least one wedge by 2054.

http://www.biochar-international.org/images/final_carbon.pdf

[erich]

Mutual Validation for a Credit-Able Carbon Market

 

Dear Soil Carbon Concerned,

 

This is the finest explanation I have read on the process of biochar testing. Hugh McLaughlin lays it out like medical triage, to extract the data most needed for soil carbon sequestration. A triage for all levels of competence, the Para-Medic Gardener to the Surgeon Chem-Engineer / Soil Scientist..

 

I believe this work will be central to issues of industry Biochar standards, critical for inclusion to the Ag Soil Carbon Sequestration Standards in final review at USDA.

 

Hugh has been of great service, providing independent validations for many manufacture's chars. All char producers should avail themselves of this free service for the good of the industry and the creation of a credit-able Market.

 

Hugh's phone; 250-649-2460

 

See the following document prepared by Hugh McLaughlin:

 

Characterizing Biochars prior to Addition to Soils | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)

 

 

Characterizing Biochars prior to Addition to Soils

 

Hugh McLaughlin, PhD, PE, Alterna Biocarbon Inc. , January 2010

 

Biochar is a vague term that applies to a potentially broad class of charcoal materials intended for addition to soils. Many raw materials and conversion processes can lay claim to producing biochar, and the resulting biochars will have different characteristics. The purpose of this discussion is to formulate a simple scheme for characterizing biochars before addition to soils. Efforts will be made to discuss the logic behind the individual characteristics, in addition to the limitations of the individual assays.

 

The presentation and content here is consistent with the paper titled “All Biochars are Not Created Equal, and How to Tell Them Apart”, by McLaughlin, Anderson, Shields and Reed presented at the North America Biochar Conference in Boulder, August, 2009. (Biochar Characterization). However, this discussion is new, in the sense that it attempts to simplify the logic and methodology in order to arrive at a characterization strategy that is widely accessible to many practitioners.

 

The general characterization scheme breaks the biochar into a small number of constituent parts, consisting of: Moisture, Ash, Mobile Matter and Resident Matter. Each constituent part can be further subdivided, as will be discussed. Initially, we will discuss the significance of each portion, how it is measured and what the measurement represents. Then we will discuss additional biochar consideration when added to soils.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope to see you at ISU for the 2010 US Biochar Conference

 

Dr. Robert Brown <[email protected]>, and the team in Ames Iowa are planing the next national biochar conference. The Conference will be June 27-30 in Ames Iowa Hosted by Iowa State University.

The Call for papers; 2010 U.S. Biochar Initiative Conference -- Welcome/home

 

Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.

Cheers,

Erich

 

 

Erich J. Knight

ISU 2010 US Biochar Conference

Chairman; Biochar Markets and Business Opportunities Review Committee

 

EcoTechnologies Group Technical Adviser

EcoTechnologies Group

Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)

1047 Dave Barry Rd.

McGaheysville, VA. 22840

540 289 9750

Co-Administrator, Biochar Data base & Discussion list TP-REPP

[erich]

Abiotic and Microbial Oxidation, & Molecular Structure of Chars

 

 

from Tom Miles <[email protected]>

reply-to [email protected]

to [email protected]

date Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 12:49 PM

subject [biochar] Two Publications of Interest from ACS

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1. Abiotic and Microbial Oxidation of Laboratory-Produced Black Carbon (Biochar)

Andrew R. Zimmerman†

 

Abiotic and Microbial Oxidation of Laboratory-Produced Black Carbon (Biochar) - Environmental Science & Technology (ACS Publications)

 

 

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 241 Williamson Hall, P. O. Box 112120, Gainesville, Florida 32611-2120

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2010, 44 (4), pp 1295–1301

DOI: 10.1021/es903140c

Publication Date (Web): January 19, 2010

Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society

 

Abstract

 

Pyrogenic or “black” carbon is a soil and sediment component that may control pollutant migration. Biochar, black carbon made intentionally by biomass pyrolysis, is increasingly discussed as a possible soil amendment to increase fertility and sequester carbon. Though thought to be extremely refractory, it must degrade at some rate. Better understanding of the rates and factors controlling its remineralization in the environment is needed. Release of CO2 was measured over 1 year from microbial and sterile incubations of biochars made from a range of biomass types and combustion conditions. Carbon release from abiotic incubations was 50−90% that of microbially inoculated incubations, and both generally decreased with increasing charring temperature. All biochars displayed log−linearly decreasing mineralization rates that, when modeled, were used to calculate 100 year C losses of 3−26% and biochar C half-lives on orders ranging from 102 to 107 years. Because biochar lability was found to be strongly controlled by the relative amount of a more aliphatic and volatile component, measurements of volatile weight content may be a convenient predictor of biochar C longevity. These results are of practical value to those considering biochar as a tool for soil remediation, amelioration, or atmospheric C sequestration.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Dynamic Molecular Structure of Plant Biomass-Derived Black Carbon (Biochar)

 

Marco Keiluweit†, Peter S. Nico‡, Mark G. Johnson§and Markus Kleber*†

 

 

Dynamic Molecular Structure of Plant Biomass-Derived Black Carbon (Biochar) - Environmental Science & Technology (ACS Publications)

 

 

Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, Earth Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California—Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, Corvallis, Oregon, 97333

 

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2010, 44 (4), pp 1247–1253

DOI: 10.1021/es9031419 Publication Date (Web): January 25, 2010

Copyright © 2010 American Chemical Society

 

 

Abstract

 

Char black carbon (BC), the solid residue of incomplete combustion, is continuously being added to soils and sediments due to natural vegetation fires, anthropogenic pollution, and new strategies for carbon sequestration (“biochar”). Here we present a molecular-level assessment of the physical organization and chemical complexity of biomass-derived chars and, specifically, that of aromatic carbon in char structures. Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET)−N2 surface area (SA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron-based near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are used to show how two plant materials (wood and grass) undergo analogous but quantitatively different physical−chemical transitions as charring temperature increases from 100 to 700 °C. These changes suggest the existence of four distinct categories of char consisting of a unique mixture of chemical phases and physical states: (i) in transition chars, the crystalline character of the precursor materials is preserved; (ii) in amorphous chars, the heat-altered molecules and incipient aromatic polycondensates are randomly mixed; (iii) composite chars consist of poorly ordered graphene stacks embedded in amorphous phases; and (iv) turbostratic chars are dominated by disordered graphitic crystallites. Molecular variations among the different char categories likely translate into differences in their ability to persist in the environment and function as environmental sorbents.

 

Tom

 

T R Miles Technical Consultants, Inc.

[email protected]

T. R. Miles Technical Consultants, Inc.

biochar.bioenergylists.org

[maikeru]

Thanks, Erich.

[erich]

Another log on the Research pile for our Non-Combustion fire.

We can add Ca and Mg among the concomitant benefits.

A new article from Dr. Julie Majors PhD dissertation, out online. Reports on a 4-year field trial set up by Marco Rondon while at CIAT. Shows maize yield increases and improvements in soil fertility. Please share as you see fit.

 

Erich

 

Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol

SpringerLink - Journal Article

[erich]

Dear List,

PyroGrams.... Not from Western Union......... but From our friends at NSW Department of Primary Industries;

 

A very nice layout of products of pyrolysis, and new to me ; PyroGrams , a great graphical illustration of the process with differing feedstocks.

 

 

Characterisation of biochar and soil organic carbon by Py-GC-MS

 

Erich

[maikeru]

Another log on the Research pile for our Non-Combustion fire.

We can add Ca and Mg among the concomitant benefits.

A new article from Dr. Julie Majors PhD dissertation, out online. Reports on a 4-year field trial set up by Marco Rondon while at CIAT. Shows maize yield increases and improvements in soil fertility. Please share as you see fit.

 

Erich

 

Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol

SpringerLink - Journal Article

 

It matures like fine wine.

[erich]

Dairy-Manure Derived Biochar Effectively Sorbs Lead and Atrazine

 

 

* Dairy-Manure Derived Biochar Effectively Sorbs Lead and Atrazine *by*SeaChar.org