Biochar - Robert Flanagan

[Aaron]

There are other threads with biochar info.

Thought I'd start this to focus just on biochar.

Robert just sent me this video so I just posted it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pMud-NBUu0

EDIT: The above vid is a newer link - the original was too long for youtube.

[sucahyo]

autoremoved?

How about googlevideo?

This video has been removed because it is too long. Regular YouTube videos must be 10 minutes or less

[Aaron]

biochar vids

It was more than 10 minutes.

I have a 10 min version that I'll upload soon plus a second video with Q & A.

[Aaron]

Robert Flanagan on Biochar

Here is the new upload on youtube:
YouTube - Robert Flanagan on Biochar CBRC May 2010.wmv

[Aaron]

Part 2 - Robert Flanagan on biochar

Part 2 should be up anytime with Q & A at the end.

YouTube - Robert Flanagan on Biochar CBRC May 2010 part 2

[sucahyo]

Thanks

[erich]

Research

WorldStoves in Haiti ; ( A Man, a Stove, a Mission « The Charcoal Project ) and

The Biochar Fund deserves your attention and support.
Exceptional results from biochar experiment in Cameroon
http://scitizen.com/screens/blogPage...tribution=3011

NSF Awards $600K to BREAD: Biochar Inoculants for Enabling Smallholder Agriculture
Award#0965336 - BREAD: Biochar Inoculants for Enabling Smallholder Agriculture

To me, in the long run, the final arbiter / accountancy / measure of sustainability will be
soil carbon content. Once this royal road is constructed, traffic cops ( Carbon Board ) in place, the truth of land-management and Biochar systems will be self-evident.

A dream I've had for years is to base the coming carbon economy firmly on the foundation of top soils. My read of the agronomic history of civilization shows that the Kayopo Amazon Indians and the Egyptians were the only ones to maintain fertility for the long haul, millennium scales. Egypt has now forsaken their geologic advantage by building the Aswan dam, and are stuck, with the rest of us, in the soil C mining, NPK rat race to the bottom. The meta-analysis of Syn-N and soil Carbon content show our dilemma;
The Myth of Nitrogen Fertilization for Soil Carbon Sequestration -- Khan et al. 36 (6): 1821 -- Journal of Environmental Quality
and
Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Nitrogen: A Global Dilemma for Sustainable Cereal Production -- Mulvaney et al. 38 (6): 2295 -- Journal of Environmental Quality


Biochar Soils.....Husbandry of whole new Orders & Kingdoms of life

Biotic Carbon, the carbon transformed by life, should never be combusted, oxidized and destroyed. It deserves more respect, reverence even, and understanding to use it back to the soil where 2/3 of excess atmospheric carbon originally came from.

We all know we are carbon-centered life, we seldom think about the complex web of recycled bio-carbon which is the true center of life. A cradle to cradle, mutually co-evolved biosphere reaching into every crack and crevice on Earth.

It's hard for most to revere microbes and fungus, but from our toes to our gums (onward), their balanced ecology is our health. The greater earth and soils are just as dependent, at much longer time scales. Our farming for over 10,000 years has been responsible for 2/3rds of our excess greenhouse gases. This soil carbon, converted to carbon dioxide, Methane & Nitrous oxide began a slow stable warming that now accelerates with burning of fossil fuel. Agriculture allowed our cultural accent and Agriculture will now prevent our descent.

Wise Land management; Organic farming and afforestation can build back our soil carbon,

Biochar allows the soil food web to build much more recalcitrant organic carbon, ( living biomass & Glomalins) in addition to the carbon in the biochar.

Every 1 ton of Biomass yields 1/3 ton Charcoal for soil Sequestration (= to 1 Ton CO2e) + Bio-Gas & Bio-oil fuels = to 1MWh exported electricity, so is a totally virtuous, carbon negative energy cycle.

Biochar viewed as soil Infrastructure; The old saw;
"Feed the Soil Not the Plants" becomes;
"Feed, Cloth and House the Soil, utilities included !".
Free Carbon Condominiums with carboxyl group fats in the pantry and hydroxyl alcohol in the mini bar.
Build it and the Wee-Beasties will come.
Microbes like to sit down when they eat.
By setting this table we expand husbandry to whole new orders & Kingdoms of life.
( These oxidised surface charges; carbonyl. hydroxyl, carboxylic acids, and lactones or quinones, have as well a role as signaling substances towards bacteria, fungi and plants.)

This is what I try to get across to Farmers, as to how I feel about the act of returning carbon to the soil. An act of penitence and thankfulness for the civilization we have created. Farmers are the Soil Sink Bankers, once carbon has a price, they will be laughing all the way to it.
Unlike CCS which only reduces emissions, biochar systems draw down CO2 every energy cycle, closing a circle back to support the soil food web. The photosynthetic "capture" collectors are up and running, the "storage" sink is in operation just under our feet. Pyrolysis conversion plants are the only infrastructure we need to build out.

Research:

This is the finest explanation I have read on the process of biochar testing. Hugh 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.
Characterizing Biochars prior to Addition to Soils | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)

The Ozzie's for 5 years now in field studies
The future of biochar - Project Rainbow Bee Eater
The future of biochar - Project Rainbow Bee Eater*(Science Alert)

Phosphorous Solution;
Microbial Fertilizers in Japan | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)

The Japanese have been at it decades:
Japan Biochar Association ;
http://www.geocities.jp/yasizato/pioneer.htm

UK Biochar Research Centre
Biochar

ICHAR, the Italian Biochar Association
ICHAR - Associazione Italiana Biochar - Home

Field Trial Data Base; The new version of BiocharDB has been released! To see it, please visit biocharbazaar.org.

Virginia Tech is in their 4 th year with the Carbon Char Group's "CharGrow" formulated bagged product. An idea whose time has come | Carbon Char Group
The 2008 trials at Virginia Tech showed a 46% increase in yield of tomato transplants grown with just 2 - 5 cups (2 - 5%) "CharGrow" per cubic foot of growing medium. A Biological Tool for Reducing Input Costs | Carbon Char Group

USDA in their 2 nd year; "Novak, Jeff" <Jeff.Novak@ars.usda.gov>, & "david laird" <david.laird@ars.usda.gov>,
There are dozens soil researchers on the subject now at USDA-ARS.
and many studies at The ASA-CSSA-SSSA joint meeting;
Session: Biochar Use for Improving Environmental Quality: I

Nikolaus has been at it 4 years. Nikolaus Foidl,
His current work with aspirin is Amazing in Maize, 250% yield gains, 15 cobs per plant;
Trials in Maize, reactivating dormant genes using high doses of Salicylic acid and Charcoal | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)

My 09 field trials with the Rodale Institute & JMU ;
Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09
Alterna Biocarbon and Cowboy Charcoal Virginia field trials '09 | BioEnergy Lists: BioChar (or Terra Preta)


Most recent studies out;
Imperial College test,
This work in temperate soils gives data from which one can calculate savings on fertilizer use, which is expected to be ongoing with no additional soil amending.
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1755-1...1-2be7e2f3ce1b


The BlueLeaf Inc./ Dynamotive study are exciting results given how far north the site is at 45 degrees, and the low application rates. I suspect, as we saw with the Imperial College test, the yield benefits seem to decrease the cooler the climate. In 2008, a 20% increase in grain yield was shown and for a forage mixture in 2009 a 100% increase in fresh biomass was obtained. Other parameters showing increases with CQuest Biochar included earthworm, nematode and mycorrhizal root colonization, supporting the hypothesis that biochar may serve as a refuge for soil microbes. Surface soil water infiltration was also greater in biochar amended soil.
BlueLeaf Inc. and Dynamotive Release 2nd Year Field Trial Results With Dynamotive CQuestT Biochar | BioFuels Journal

[sucahyo]

Great info

[erich]

Reverse-Geo-Engineering &amp; TP Prayers &amp; Dreams

It's a real shame that biochar is grouped with "Geo-Engineering". Even as it is, it gets fourth or worse billing behind infrastructurally impossible schemes. I would much rather see it framed as it is in this PNAS report (by a Nobel lariat) which should cause the Royal Society to rethink their report that criticized Biochar systems sequestration potential;
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Reducing abrupt climate change risk using
the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory
actions to complement cuts in CO2 emissions
Reducing abrupt climate change risk using the Montreal Protocol and other regulatory actions to complement cuts in CO2 emissions — PNAS

Biochar is more reverse-Geo-Engineering. This is why Dr. W.Ruddiman's work at UVA, boldly showing the atmospheric hall marks of Combustion & Ag technology engineering over 10 millenniums need mitigation, with IMHO, biochar and land-management the perfect logical choice.

Hopefully as more in-depth scrutiny and elucidation of biochar systems, relative to the other climate manipulations advanced, will bear out this truth that we just plan to but the carbon back where it came from.
To me, in the long run, the final arbiter / accountancy / measure of sustainability will be
soil carbon content. Once this royal road is constructed, traffic cops ( Carbon Board ) in place, the truth of char systems will be self-evident.

Biochar field studies, from 45 degrees North latitude to 40 degrees south latitude, show that the local soil food web has an affinity for char.

I feel Terra Preta soil technology is the greatest of Ironies since Tobacco.
That is: an invention of pre-Columbian American culture, destroyed by western disease, may well be the savior of industrial western society. As inversely Tobacco, over time has gotten back at same society by killing more of us than the entire pre-Columbian population.

My Dad, a cold warrior, Vietnam battalion commander, gave this short answer when asked about Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD defense policy,
" GIVE ME Liberty or GIVE ME Half-Life "

While I envision an offensive policy of Mutually Assured Sustainability (MAS) in a new "Green Cold War" with China. Based on carbon accountancy, the rules are simple; Who ever moves more Carbon from the air to the Soil wins, but so does second place, as third and so on.

Since we have filled the air , filling the seas to full, Soil is the Only Beneficial place left.
Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.

Carbon, being life's center, let the bellow paraphrases of religious and political icons write themselves;


The Terra Preta Prayer

Our Carbon who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name
By kingdom come, thy will be done, IN the Earth to make it Heaven.
It will give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our atmospheric trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against the Kyoto protocols
And lead us not into fossil fuel temptation, but deliver us from it's evil
low as we walk through the valley of the shadow of Global Warming,
I will feel no evil, your Bio-fuels and fertile microbes will comfort me,
For thine is the fungal kingdom,
and the microbe power,
and the Sequestration Glory,
For ever and ever (well at least 2000 years)
AMEN


Soil Carbon Commandments:

1) Thou shalt not have any other Molecule before Me

2) Thou shall not make wrongful use of the name of Biochar, It will not acquit anyone who mis-charactorizes it's name

3) Observe the Fallow days and keep them, as Sustainability commands thou

4) Honor your Micro Flora & Fauna , as the Soil Carbon commands you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that High Soil Carbon has given you.

5) Thou shall not murder the Soil Food Web

6) Neither shall thou adulterate the Soils with Toxicity

7) Neither shall thou steal Biomass from the Soil Food Web

8) Neither shall thou bear false witness against your neighbors Biochar, or about Thy own

9) Neither shall thou covet your neighbor's Fertility

10) Neither shall thou desire your neighbor's house, or field, or Pyrolysis Reactor, or farm implements, or anything that belongs to your neighbor, as thou may Create thy Own



Soil Carbon Dream

I have a dream that one day we live in a nation where progress will not be judged by the production yields of our fields, but by the color of their soils and by the Carbon content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, a suite of earth sensing satellites will level the playing field, giving every farmer a full account of carbon he sequesters. That Soil Carbon is given as the final arbiter, the common currency, accountant and Judge of Stewardship on our lands.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made forest, the rough soils will be made fertile, and the crooked Carbon Marketeers will be made straight, and the glory of Soil Sequestration shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see a Mutually assured Sustainability.

This is our hope.

My apologies to Dr. King, but I think he would understand my passion

Your Chartarian,
Erich

Erich J. Knight
Eco Technologies Group Technical Adviser
Shenandoah Gardens (Owner)
1047 Dave Barry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
540 289 9750
Co-Administrator, Biochar Data base & Discussion list TP-REPP

[shawn]

Biochar

Biochar

The goal of this project is to characterize chars produced by CSET’s thermochemical processes, to test the char’s suitability as a biochar soil amendment, and ultimately, to engineer and produce biochars that exhibit desirable agronomic properties.

Biochar is the solid product of thermochemically processing biomass, used for agronomic or horticulture purposes. As soil amendments, chars have been shown to increase soil fertility by improving nutrient and water retention, lowering soil acidity and density, and increasing microbial activity. In addition, energy production from biomass that stores carbon as biochar can be considered carbon negative due to biochar’s high recalcitrance.

Multiple physical, chemical and soil analyses are used to characterize these chars to better understand how production conditions relate to end product biochar properties. Particle size distribution, proximate analysis, BET surface area, pore size distribution, and particle density make up the physical characterizations. Elemental CHNOS analysis and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) quantify the char’s chemical and trace mineral content. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) provides information about surface functional groups and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is used to estimate the char’s degree of aromaticity, which is believed to relate to its long term stability in soil.

Chars from slow pyrolysis, fast pyrolysis and gasification of switchgrass and corn stover were studied first as a baseline for locally-producible biochars. Compared to traditional wood char (charcoal), these chars have high ash content, which may provide a liming affect on soil. Surface area and char aromaticity increase with process temperature, albeit with lower char yields.

After characterization, various lab, pot and field trials, conducted in collaboration with agronomists at ISU, will determine which kinds of biochars are the most successful as soil amendments. New biochars will then be engineered from a wide range of biomass feedstocks using optimized thermochemical processing conditions for additional pot and field trials.

Alternative Pyrolyzer Design: Free Fall Reactor

Alternative Pyrolyzer Design: Free Fall Reactor

The primary focus of this project is to research, develop and evaluate an alternative fast pyrolysis reactor design for the production of bio-oil. The reactor being studied is a radiative free-fall reactor shown in Figure 1.

Fast pyrolysis of biomass is the thermal degradation of lignocellulosic material in the absence of oxygen. When exposed to moderate temperatures between 450 – 550°C the biomass vaporizes forming condensable vapors, char and non-condensable gas. Commercially, fast pyrolysis has been performed in bubbling fluidized bed and circulating fluid bed reactors. These reactors can produce high bio-oil yields (~70 wt %) due to high heat transfer rates and short vapor residence times. Large amounts of carrier gas are used to fluidize the bed material and quickly remove the vapors. Alternative reactor designs may overcome these inefficiencies by minimizing the use of an inert carrier gas, simplifying the design and reducing the number of moving parts.

The free fall reactor is essentially a heated, upright pipe through which biomass is fed. The reactor is externally heated to 500°C by ceramic radiative heaters. Biomass is ground down to small particles using a knife mill and fed into the top of the reactor with a volumetric screw feeder (not shown in Figure 1). The particles fall 2m through the length of the pipe before they are completely pyrolyzed. The char is collected in a canister. The pyrolysis vapors and non-condensable gases pass through a heated cyclone before entering a condenser system. Here the vapors are quenched into bio-oil and the non-condensable gases exit to a dry gas meter and a micro GC for further analysis. The gases are then vented.

[bob_dewan]

I hope this it will help you !
I found the best book about biochar with a special holiday price The Biochar Revolution
Biochar Books
It is a truly biochar Bible.
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A real deal at a great price

[Aaron]

Advanced biochar process

YouTube - Compounded Biochar, Amino acid & Microbe Organic Fertilizer Plant