Carbon Fodders;

erich · September 8, 2013

Carbon Fodders; Having Your Carbon & Eating it Too

Across scientific disciplines carbons are finding new utility to solve our most vexing problems

Physics:

Pyrolitic Carbon comes in many forms, this thermally converted carbon, ©, is the center of nano material research, C-Nano Tubes, C-60 Buckminsterfullerenes and Graphenes,. The physics of these structures, the tiniest pieces of C, are finding utility in so many processes, the strong diamagnetism & electrical properties, even the sieving of fresh water from sea water.

Climate Science;

Following the natural evolution of atmospheric C particles, like smoke & BC (Black Carbon, soot), coming together forming Carbonaceous aerosols. forming 80% of clouds, there for, 80% of our rain. The discovery this year that C-aerosols form around a potassium seed, or catalyst, the origins of this atmospheric potassium is fungal life itself. In strong support of the Gaia Hypothesis, life literally calling to the rain. An unaccounted Ecologic Service provided by healthy Soils.

Across disciplines from electronics, agronomy, microbiology and ecology Spectroscopy measurements tools in soil research have reassessed the proportion of Pyrolitic-C that makes up all Soil Organic Carbon, (SOC), at up to 50%.

New discoveries concerning soil microbiology and Soil Carbon are extremely supportive to Carbon Farming initiatives & Soil Carbon Standards, in addition to expanding the know demolitions of the soil Carbon bank. [1].

Astrophysics & Paleoclimatology;

Astrophysics has shown us this year, using the most intense form of pyrolitic carbons, Nano-diamonds & Rock Carbon Spherules, formed by 22,000 degree temperatures of cosmic impact. The strewnfield evidence, deposition of 10 Million Tonnes of Impact Spherules Across Four Continents 12,800 Years Ago is a smoking gun for the The Younger Dryas Mega-Fauna Mass Extinction.[2] This inverse climate challenge to mankind, 1000 years of Global Cooling, is in debate as the seed of the agricultural revolution, and in north America increase of Fire land management to foster the Bison.

Agronomics & Renewable Energy;

Biologically structured C, Charcoal, Plant-Coal, Charbon de Bois & Biomass, elemental C of the basic plant cell structure is the pyrolitic Carbon which has held my interest for the past seven years. A renown New Zealand climate scientist, the late, Dr. Peter Read coined the term "Biochar" for charcoal used in the soil and calculated the soil carbon building potentials to drawdown CO2e. This term embraced, has made Google filtering, to follow the exponential rates of publications in the last few years, a simple task.

I will leave aside for now the concomitant benefits of biochars for Soil Carbon Sequestration, building soil biodiversity & nitrogen efficiency, in situ remediation of toxic agents, and how modern thermal conversion systems are closed-loop, no significant emissions with a 1/3 carbon negative energy cycle to focus on Biochar as a feed supplement cutting the Carbon Hoof, Paw, Fin and Poultry foot prints of livestock.

The First reports from Dr Takeo Takahashi at the 2008 Asian Biochar conference, (http://www.anzbiochar.org/AP%20BioChar%20Conference-may09.pdf) described Japan's work with sick, thought dead, battery raised chickens being rejuvenated. That char fed laying hen's eggs had no odor, fetching twice the market price in Japan.

Read more at the Japan Biochar Association site; http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/pioneer.htm

In aquaculture a doubling in size of fish, clams & shrimp is reported by SuperStoneClean Biochar in Japan, [3]

Then from the EU, the Delinat Institute reported major health benefits in cattle & poultry, now they have quantified data collected from 80 farms, thousands of animals showing far better feed conversion ratios, curing chronic Botulism, extremely low bio-counts in milk, binding Estrogenic steroid hormones in manure, and leave it to the Germans & Swiss, literaly taking the stink out of Manure. [4]

This hard data and all other aspects of Biochar soil technology will be presented October. 13-17, at the University of Massachusetts, during the

2013 USBI North American Biochar Symposium

http://pvbiochar.org/2013-symposium/

The Biochar Novel Uses session will feature Hans Peter Schmidt from the Delinat Institute. I first took note of Hans-Peter's extensive work in vinyards across the EU, he has consulted for the most renown Viticulturist in California, His work with "Carbon Fodder" in animal husbandry is unsurpassed, demonstrating efficacy to the Swiss authorities, leading to Switzerland becoming the second nation to officially recognize Biochar this year, the first was Japan in 1984.

Helping several EU companies develop Carbon based Dog, Cat & Cattle foods, and pioneered integrated farm systems producing a continuous cascade of value enhancements. Char feed's health gains & methane reductions, then Char composting manures; conserving Nitrogen & reducing GHG emissions, then Char-Bound nitrogen compost to the fields, vastly reduced leaching yet plant available.

At Delinat they are developing a "Building Division" to exploit char use as a building material; in bricks, wood siding finishes, CharPlasters for solid state moisture control. If high temperature char is used...hold on to your Hats!.....All cellphone signals are Blocked!

At Umass Hans-Peter will present in a video interactive format with Dr Ron Leng ( if Dr. Leng can access a broad band connection in Vietnam)

Dr. Ron Leng published the first in vivo ruminant study, previous work with char and rumin liquids showed promise in vitro, but in the cow he achieved a 20-40% reduction of methane belching and a 25% increase in weight gain. This with a biochar supplement of just 0.6%. [5]

The number of ruminants now trampling planet earth is beyond belief. Ruminants evolved about 50 million years ago, and by the year 1500 there were about 200 million on our planet. Now there are 2 billion, and only 75 million are wildlife! Each year we breed 64 billion livestock (mostly chickens), that’s about 9 animals per person per year globally. Add to this another 600 million pets and mankind husbands a total of 2.5 Billion animals.

I have seen one accounting of the full life cycle analysis putting the Carbon-Paw-Print of a large dog equal to a small SUV, a cow, a couple of big SUVs, the potential to slash these Climate cost by 1/3, or more, with such a small diet modification can not be ignored.

[1]

Demonstration, Using quantitative 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy measurements, concluding that both Terra Preta Soils and Midwest dark soils contain 40% to 50%+ of their organic carbon (SOC) as pyrolytic carbon char, that this pyrolytic carbon can account for all CEC

Abundant and Stable Char Residues in Soils: Implications for Soil Fertility and Carbon Sequestration

J.-D. Mao, R. L. Johnson, J. Lehmann,

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es301107c

(Potassium) Salt Seeds Clouds in the Amazon Rainforest; http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2012/09/10/amazon-aerosols/

Fertile soil doesn't fall from the sky. The contribution of bacterial remnants to soil fertility has been underestimated until now

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=126987&CultureCode=en

Biologists Unlock 'Black Box' to Underground World: How Tiny Microbes Make Life Easier for Humans,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130103092030.htm?goback=.gde_4767237_member_201276911.

Cross-biome metagenomic analyses of soil microbial communities and their functional attributes,

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/52/21390

Re-Building the World's Soil: The Role of Soil Carbon Methodology for U.S. and Global Carbon Offset Projects,

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/12/prweb10185341.htm

The Hidden Organic Carbon in Deep Mineral Soils

This Reappraisal of the Soil Sink Bank of 225 Tons/ha in it's 15foot deep vaults, Multiplied by 13.4 billion hectares of just biologically productive land branch offices, brings their total Assets to; 3 Trillion Tons Carbon. Now we must cast a proxy vote on how much interest we should pay the farmers for additional deposits.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11104-013-1600-9

Deep soils store up to five times more carbon than first thought: study

http://theconversation.com/deep-soils-store-up-to-five-times-more-carbon-than-first-thought-study-15618

[2]

Cosmic Impact Sparked Devastating Climate Change, Caused Mass Extinctions,

http://scitechdaily.com/cosmic-impact-sparked-devastating-climate-change-caused-mass-extinctions/

[3]

SupperStoneClean; http://superstoneclean.com/video-presentations/

[4]

The Delinat Institute's Ithaka Journal;

The use of biochar in cattle farming

http://www.ithaka-journal.net/pflanzenkohle-in-der-rinderhaltung?lang=en