[AG-EQ] From the Mother Earth Network

[Jewel]

Laboriously taken and editted by "Yours truly"
Biochar might be the answer to climate change!  Though you may not have heard of it by that name, 
it's a good bet you'd recognize it if you saw it.
Those who are familiar with barbecues know it well as it is just charcoal. It's created when organic 
matter like wood chips, rice/corn stalks or even manure is heated up in the absence of oxygen. Think 
of a sealed metal drum full of wood chips over a fire. It's simple, can be produced anywhere and 
could just end up saving the world.
For something as simple as charcoal, biochar, in the right applications, does three  amazing things: 
It takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and locks it into a solid form;  improves the health 
of the soil it's plowed into, and creates clean energy, according to the International Biochar 
Initiative.

When organic matter is turned into biochar, the CO2 contained within the plant is converted into 
solid carbon. and when ploughed back into soil, it is sequestered for a long time.
Biochar fields have been found in South America dating back thousands of years and still full of 
their carbon solids. Soils augmented with biochar retain nutrients better as the tiny, sponge-like 
structure of the carbon solids sucks up and holds the fertilizer, reducing the amount needed. The 
same structure holds water better and has been shown to decrease the emissions of nitrous oxide and 
methane.
When "slash-and-burn" farmers in the rainforests of South America reject the practice   and adopt 
that of "biochar",  they're able to stay and farm the same plot of land year after year instead of 
having to move on every couple of seasons when the soil becomes depleted.
Their destructive path through the rainforest is , well!  not * halted yet:  we still have some way 
to go before that happy day dawns, , but is, greatly, reduced:  thus saving thousands of acres of 
precious forest: ergo, the habitats of the animals and plants with whom they * share it, not * have 
sole ownership to!

An easy sell

When organic matter is heated up in the absence of oxygen, it releases hot gases that can be 
captured and burned in power generators, or also refined into bio-oil and synthetic gas, both which 
can be further refined into effective gasoline and diesel substitutes. If the gases are burned right 
away, the process of creating biochar - called pyrolysis - is energy-positive, returning six to nine 
times as much energy as necessary to run and maintain it.

Right now we're far from squeezing out all the benefits biochar offers. Sustenance-based 
slash-and-burn farmers still must slash , and we need to build the infrastructure for taking in 
agricultural waste from farms and then distributing the resulting biochar back to their fields. One 
of the great things about biochar is how easy it is to make. Poor farmers can make it using simple, 
handmade clay kilns, while rich farmers can build elaborate biochar processing plants that also 
generate electricity, bio-oil and synthetic gas.

Biochar is an easy sell. Everyone involved in the process wins. Poor farmers get more food for their 
work and are able to settle on one plot of ever-productive soil. Rich farmers and corporate 
agriculture save a lot of money on fertilizer and also see the same boost in production. The 
environment benefits because of the reduction in fertilizer runoff and the removal of CO2 from the 
air. Big business wins because of the profits generated from the production and distribution of 
biochar. Politicians get to take credit for implementing a pragmatic, job-creating solution to 
global warming. Workers get jobs. Governments get tax revenue and that is only the benefits to the 
human race, so when the benefits that the other residents of this planet are taken into account, 
biochar seems to be a win/win solution.