BioChar (Terra Preta) - Improving Soils - Capturing Human Waste Nutrients - Decreasing Atmospheric Carbon

[Heather K]

BioChar (Terra Preta) - Soil Tilth Improvements & Decreasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide with fine-grained charcoal high in organic carbon. A locally produced charcoal from plant & animal 'wastes' can promote microbial & fungal life in the soil in ways we are still learning about, combined with organic matter & manures it improves the soil CECapasity greatly.
The indigenous native tribes of the Amazon basin observed that their Terra preta soil 'grew' in depth. Some of their community-made soils are the deepest & most fertile soils measured in the tropics!

Join in sharing your experiences through the years.
I'll post some great sites & basic information,

To interact with others globally with your questions, be sure to explore the Yahoo sites listed in discussion

(And for those who are excited, we have globally known researchers in our bioregion, who may post their newest research links as they are published)

Scroll down for more information & resources...

[Heather K]

Readings & Resources on Using & Making Bio-Char (Terra-Preta) for soil improvments & carbon sequestration for communities to decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide (plus earn an income and improve soil tilth!)

Be sure to check our Event Listing for any local annual BioChar Celebration Worshops in the fall!
(Thanks Rich & Larry & Sean & helpers for your vision & work!)

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Online Discussion Group between those new & experienced with its use:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/
And at least 3 more advanced bio-char discussion sites on yahoo!_____________________________________________

Gardening with Biochar - FAQ! - posted via biocharwebsite at:
http://biochar.pbworks.com/FrontPage This website Rocks!!
Some of the best online information is on this BioEnergy Lists site(
(I have more biochar links stored on my faceboooks notes account)

Learning ABout Biochar (Terra Preta) & its Value to Soils & Climate Effects
- via BioEnergy Lists: http://biochar.pbworks.com/FrontPage
" From a recent scientific paper:
"Biochar is ... plant biomass derived materials contained within the black carbon (BC) continuum. This definition includes chars and charcoal, and excludes fossil fuel products or geogenic carbon."
"From the International Biochar Initiative:
"Biochar is a fine-grained charcoal high in organic carbon and largely resistant to decomposition. It is produced from pyrolysis of plant and waste feedstocks. As a soil amendment, biochar creates a recalcitrant soil carbon pool that is carbon-negative, serving as a net withdrawal of atmospheric carbon dioxide stored in highly recalcitrant soil carbon stocks. The enhanced nutrient retention capacity of biochar-amended soil not only reduces the total fertilizer requirements but also the climate and environmental impact of croplands. Char-amended soils have shown 50 - 80 percent reductions in nitrous oxide emissions and reduced runoff of phosphorus into surface waters and leaching of nitrogen into groundwater. As a soil amendment, biochar significantly increases the efficiency of and reduces the need for traditional chemical fertilizers, while greatly enhancing crop yields. Renewable oils and gases co-produced in the pyrolysis process can be used as fuel or fuel feedstocks. Biochar thus offers promise for its soil productivity and climate benefits."
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Research from our local Fourth Corner Nurseries: Soil-BioChar Study 2007-2009
http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/ Scroll down to buckwheat plots photo's from our County
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Making BioChar: There is more than one way, and this link gives you some instrucitons:
http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/makingcharcoal

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Also see the videos posted in our TransitionWhatcom Video Tab

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[Heather K]

Although the autumn Bio-Char celebration & demonstation event was cancelled, there was a successful bio-char celebration of tours & bio-char info sharing!
Dr. Rich has shared there is a kiln that does meet WW air quality standards, Adams Retort, that is fabricated from steel in new england. (Links at : http://www.biocoal.org/3.html ).
There was a bio-char demonstration by Art D. at the regional permaculture convergence this past weekend.

I'm hoping that as Dr. Rich writes on his website & blog about the bio-char news, that he'll also provide us with a link on this discussion thread.
I've posted details of our past bio-char celebration event below.
Yours in the spirit of life cycles - carbon - water - minerals - energy!
Heather
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Bio Char Celebration Autumn 2009
Rich Haard on September 19, 20 and 26, 27
at Fourth Corner Nurseries, Sand Road, Bellingham, WA.

Co-Sponsored by Transition Whatcom

Some Background
Biochar is charcoal, plain and simple - charcoal converted from biomass
The name Biochar was coined to differentiate it from charcoal because Biochar is meant to be used in soil.
See http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org
Sean Barry is coming here from Stillwater, MN
to promote the production and use of Biochar. Sean
is engineer and owner of Troposphere energy LLC.
He is bringing a portable kiln he has built for us
to test and use. This is a tool that can make
positive inroads on global warming and soil
improvement.

This is an open source technology
A United Nations FAO portable kiln, that can make 700-1000 lbs of Biochar in 24 hours and is designed to
be operated by 2 people. It can be used anywhere
in the world where there is biomass and requires
only basic wood cutting tools. By helping Sean
perfect this prototype kiln, we can learn more
about making Biochar and share it for gardening
research.

Events Scheduled
Open Discussions ongoing
Saturday, September 19
Setting up, firing and monitoring the kiln
Sunday September 20
harvest and breakup the Biochar
Saturday September 26
Another burn this time with dry garden
waste. AND making Biochar based compost
Sunday September 27
again harvest and breakup of Biochar and distribution of Biochar for gardening research.

Event Contacts
Registration application and local information --
Richard Haard, [e-mail] or [phone]
Kiln information and appointments for other demonstrations --
Sean Barry, http://www.troposphere-energy.com,
[e-mail] (651)-285-0904 (Work/Cell),
351-0711 (home/fax)
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Comment by Richard T. Haard on September 18, 2009
The biochar burn is canceled. However we will be there to show the kiln and discuss biochar on 9/19

a bit of an interesting story here

Larry and Sean conducted a burn in Spokane, and they did not really set up the burn right (learning curve) and it smoked like hell. At the burn was State DOE and air pollution authority who put out notice to whole state of our activities. This morning NW APA contacted me at the farm, they had my name and said if I do not pass 20% opacity standard I would receive a citation/ and so on