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what is BIOCHAR?
Biochar is a new word for an old idea: producing charcoal and adding it to the soil to make it more productive. I have a separate pinboard "Wood Gasification"…
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Brian Cartwright
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Soil
Petroleum Coke
Oil Spill
Succulents
350 Degrees
Resins
Plants
Succulent Plants
Plant
when the temperature gets above 350 degrees, the high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons, the resins and asphaltenes, undergo a series of cracking and condensation reactions to form solid char, similar to the petroleum coke produced in refineries.
Growing Lettuce
Rice University
Medical Research
Environmental Science
Fertility
Geology
Save Energy
Federal
Rice University pyrolysed oil-contaminated soil to reduce total petroleum hydrocarbons below US federal standards, while leaving beneficial carbons. While this technology may not be used to grow food, they demonstrated success growing lettuce, which is recognized to be sensitive to hydrocarbon contamination.
Charcoal Uses
Port Townsend
Paper Mill
Soil Improvement
Canada Goose Jackets
Copper
Winter Jackets
Water Filters
Decoding
Paper mill byproducts made into biochar serve in 'totes' as filtration media for heavy metals in roof and storm water runoff. Efficiency is greater than expected: 99% of zinc and 95% of copper removed.
Brian Cartwright
what is BIOCHAR?
Recycled Christmas Tree
Christmas Trees
May The Forth
Happy Star Wars Day
New Words
Bob
How To Apply
How To Plan
Learning
Bob Cirino is "Biochar Bob". In a visit to the Via Organica Ranch near San Miguel, Mexico, he interviews Rachel Kastner and local farmers who are learning and applying ideas of regenerative agriculture, growing lots of healthy food in small spaces, and incorporating biochar in innovative ways like under turkey bedding where it controls ammonia and produces a rich composted product.
Brian Cartwright
what is BIOCHAR?
Garden Compost
Garden Soil
Edible Garden
Vegetable Gardening
Permaculture
Farm Gardens
Outdoor Gardens
Bokashi
Organic Gardening Tips
By making biochar from brush and other hard to compost organic material, you can improve soil — it enhances nutrient availability and also enables soil to retain nutrients longer.
Moxham
Composting
Livestock
Barrel
Scale
Weighing Scale
Barrel Roll
Barrels
Libra
Dolph Cooke demonstrates biochar making for farm scale with the Moxham open barrel kiln. The "pyrolysis front" of flame consumes any unburned gases coming from the charring biomass at the bottom.
Organic Compost
Organic Fertilizer
Sustainable Gardening
Red Worms
Worm Castings
City Farm
Worm Farm
Worm Composting
VermaChar is a biochar product inoculated with a material called Ambrosia which is enriched worm castings. It is produced and sold in the Los Angeles area.
Floating In Water
Investing Money
Renewable Energy
Investors
Mother Nature
Homesteading
From Forbes Magazine, mainstream business attention: "Cool Planet: A Company That Makes Biochar And Gasoline"
Small Compost Bin
Mushroom Compost
Digestion Process
Top Soil
Medium Sized Dogs
Organic Matter
Grow Your Own Food
Organic Farming
Indoor Plants
Frank Strie says Tasmania needs to develop a carbon economy with biochar at the centre of the state's 'clean energy' mix. "Yes, it is a revolution but a friendly one. It's far more than just looking at biochar as a single entity. It's part of a much bigger process, and it fits into organic farming, with a clean, green and clever image and land restoration."
Conifer Trees
Stand Strong
Maple Tree
Environmentalist
Second Best
Wildlife
Survival
Earth
Leaves
From Carbon Gold: "Biochar has in turn been proven to improve the health and survival rates of living trees, keeping more of our CO2 absorbing trees alive and strong." This article describes demonstration projects with soil enhancements including biochar.
Planet Energy
Trials
Planets
Canning
Water
Fit
Gripe Water
Shape
Cool Planet’s biochar production process features an extra step that tailors the biochar to best fit a particular application. As a result, field trials have shown Cool Terra can increase crop yields while reducing water and fertilizer inputs by as much as 50 percent.
New England
Homestead
Dreams
Youtube
Youtubers
Youtube Movies
New England Biochar's new video on YouTube shows off their new integrated production facility including efficient use of process heat. Surprise ending!
Nitrogen Fixation
Carbon Sequestration
Astronomy Science
March For Science
Biologist
Fungi
Biochar quiets microbes, including some plant pathogens. In this experiment, E.Coli cultures are tested for microbes' ability to signal each other in the presence of biochar with various characteristics. The goal is to provide a simple guide to tailor production temperatures for intended uses.
New Harmony
Environmental Challenges
Physical Properties
Ecology
Land Scape
Compost
"Working on solutions to some of the world’s threatening environmental challenges and creating the world we want to live in is a thrilling opportunity. At Remineralize the Earth we are doing just that – working on research that has the potential to alleviate many of the environmental and agricultural problems humanity faces today, such as climate change, air pollution, unsustainable agriculture, and poor water quality."
Justus Von Liebig
Learning Resources
Science
People
Baron
Agriculture
19th Century
Charcoal
Kelpie Wilson writes about Baron Justus Liebig, who researched the applications of charcoal long before the age of industrial agriculture: "In the 19th century, the issues that biochar could help solve were related to health, disease, poverty, and above all, the recycling of human sewage to replenish the soil."
Arctic
Turning
News
Wood Turning
Arctic News: Turning forest waste into biochar
Agricultural Sector
University Of Calgary
Wood Waste
Recent News
Greenhouse Gases
New Technology
Politics
Canada
Biochar used for filtration at dirty energy's Ground Zero, Alberta: "On the tailings water we can remove up to 90 per cent of the organics and that should reduce significantly the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced when those organics in the tailings ponds get chewed up by the bacteria that live in those ponds and create methane gas."
Green Monsters
Plant Drawing
Illustration
Nature Plants
Animal Species
Plant Needs
Ny Times
Biology
A teaspoon of soil may have billions of microbes divided among 5,000 different types, thousands of species of fungi and protozoa, nematodes, mites and a couple of termite species. How these and other pieces all fit together is still largely a mystery. [..] “The greater the soil diversity, the fewer diseases that emerge in plants,” said Eric B. Nelson, who studies soil and disease ecology at Cornell.
Fields
Larger
Natural
Growing Up
Using biochar to reduce nitrous oxide emissions: "Nitrous oxide is generated by a natural process, the denitrification, caused by bacteria which transform nitrates from the soil. So, it has always been there. Then, why is it a problem? The reason is its growing tendency: year after year, more fertilizers are applied to larger fields which has increased the amount of nitrates in the soil and, therefore, the nitrous oxide emissions."
Cooking Stove
Household
Stoves
Wood
Outdoor Decor
Gardening
Drum
Tin Cans
Stove
Jock Gill has developed the iCan, illustrated here on his web page about Improved Biomass Cooking Stoves
Organic Gardening
Gardening Tips
Humic Acid
Plant Fungus
Hydroponics
The web site for CarbonChar, a western NC biochar producer, has very informative and well-illustrated pages on biochar. "A microscopic view of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus growing on a corn root. The substance coating them is glomalin, revealed by a green dye."
Charcoal Briquettes
Vertical Farming
Blacksmith Shop
Steel Barrel
55 Gallon
Wood Burner
Blacksmithing
Garden Inspiration
Nando gives an illustrated introduction to the construction and use of the CarbonZero Experimental Biochar Kiln.
Wood Vinegar
Clean Technology
New Energy
Public
"The facility turns straw into biochar and wood tar, cleaner-burning alternatives to diesel fuel. It also produces wood vinegar out of straw -- a liquid that makes nonarable soil grow crops. The facility captures a large quantity of combustible gas from the process to meet its own energy needs and to heat a nearby hotel and a public bathroom -- a popular facility in rural China."
Health Problems
Farmers
Climate Change
Planting
Nostalgia
In some regions of China, "burning straw is a major cause of smog. The smoky air also has a pungent odor that causes coughing and other health problems. [..] Lawmakers here have tried to ban straw burning, but farmers in a hurry to clean fields for the next planting often ignore that. In 2005, after hearing about farmers in neighboring villages being jailed for burning straw, Lin Zhenheng, decided to seek a solution."
Nitrogen Cycle
Scientific Reports
Microorganisms
Ph
"We propose the function of biochar as an “electron shuttle” that facilitates the transfer of electrons to soil denitrifying microorganisms, which together with its liming effect would promote the reduction of N2O to N2."