Soil Carbon
Not all carbon in biomass is recycled back to the atmosphere. Forest
fires and brush fires leave charcoal (biochar) behind. It takes
years for biochar to oxidize when exposed directly to the atmosphere.
And,
when biochar becomes buried beneath the surface of the earth
(soil carbon) it can take centuries, or millennia, to oxidize.
Biochar is different from charcoal, in that “Charcoal” is produced for
fuel; it is intended to be burned, often in a family barbecue. Biochar is
not intended to be used as fuel, if it was, its carbon would be returned
to the atmosphere.
Biochar Soil Enhancement
Biochar produced by Carbon
Farms can
be processed and systematically buried on unproductive land
— Land that is useless for farming (marginal land or desert
land) can be converted to rich agricultural land over time
through biochar soil enhancement.
Soil enhancement
is not the same as fertilizer—the
benefits of buried biochar will take years (Contact
University researchers for more details).
Large scale biochar soil enhancement will be a gift for future
generations, one that gives the present generation a practical
method for
reducing atmospheric carbon today by making fossil
fuels
burned in automobiles, effectively carbon
neutral.
Marginal land would be excavated to a depth of six feet or greater,
for the purpose of burying biochar. The dirt removed by excavation
would be mixed with biochar and other organic waste,
and possibly additional soil bacteria. After mixing, the
enhanced dirt would be put back in the ground.
Five hundred pounds of biochar can be included (mixed) in one cubic
yard of enhanced dirt; the percent of biochar in the mixture
would then be about 15-20% by weight. A square yard area six
feet deep will hold
two cubic yards. An acre of land is 4,840 square yards; and
if excavated six feet deep, an acre can hold 9,680 cubic yards
of enhanced “dirt” sequestering 500 pounds of biochar per
cubic yard.
4,840 square yards multiplied by 2 yards deep equals 9,680 cubic yards
per acre; at 500 pounds of biochar per cubic yard, one acre
six feet deep would hold 4,840,000 pounds of biochar. One U.S.
ton (short ton) weighs
2,000 pounds. 4,840,000 divided by 2,000 equals 2,420 tons of
biochar per acre.
In order to make the U.S. transportation sector carbon
neutral, Carbon
farms would need to produce and bury 500 million tons of biochar
per year. 500,000,000 tons divided by 2,420 tons per acre would
require 206,612 acres
of marginal land per year to “bury” the
biochar.
After the biochar has been mixed into the soil, it will take several
years before the biochar and bacteria in the soil reach optimal
conditions for agriculture use; so, until then, 206,612 acres
of new switchgrass
or other high-yield biomass, such as fast growth trees, could
be planted each year over the newly “soil
enhanced” acreage, to make use of the land.
Switchgrass has been identified by the DOE as a primary crop for bioenergy
development because of its potential for high yields and its
ability to grow on marginal cropland without intensive management.
Switchgrass, a perennial native North American tall prairie grass, reaches
full maturity
in about three years, producing 5-10 tons of biomass per acre,
and switchgrass roots extend 8-10 feet deep, accounting for
more than
80 percent of the
plant's biomass, increasing organic carbon within the soil.
At 200,000 plus acres of enhanced soil development per year, after ten
years, over two million acres of marginal land will have been
converted to potentially valuable crop land that will remain
productive for generations. In
100 years, over 20 million acres of U.S. land would have been “enhanced” for
agricultural use.
How much will it cost and who will pay for it?
A guarantee from the U.S. Government to purchase Biochar made from
home-grown USA biomass, including forest residue, agricultural waste
and organic waste sent to public landfills, for $100 per ton (with long-term
contracts) would attract the private capital investment required to
build the Carbon farms and pay for the pyrolysis equipment. So, the
cost of the Carbon farms and pyrolysis equipment should not be a concern
if a market for the biochar is assured
500 million tons of biochar per year at $100 per ton will cost 50
billion dollars annually. [Approximately equal to the cost of five months
of military operations in Iraq.]
The money to pay for the biochar and to fund the soil enhancement program
would come from a fee charged to wholesale fuel distributors.
Which means the money would not need to come from the federal
treasury. Using an acronym derived from the full name Atmospheric
Carbon Extraction and Sequestration the fee would be called the ACES fee.
Continue reading on next page ——> ACES
Carbon Neutral <—— Back
to Previous Page
Additional Recommended reading:
Can
'biochar' save the planet? — “Biochar
is considered by many scientists to be the 'black gold' for agriculture.
Its high carbon content and porous nature can help soil retain water,
nutrients, protect soil microbes and ultimately increase crop yields
while acting as natural carbon sink - sequestering CO2 and
locking it into the ground.”
What
Is Soil Carbon Sequestration? — “Soil carbon sequestration
is the process of transferring carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into
the soil through crop residues and other organic solids, and in a form that
is not immediately reemitted. This transfer or 'sequestering' of carbon helps
off-set emissions from fossil fuel combustion
and other carbon-emitting activities while enhancing soil quality and
long-term agronomic productivity... Carbon is a key ingredient in soil organic
matter (57% by weight). Plants produce organic compounds by using sunlight
energy and combining carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with water
from the soil. Soil organic matter is created by the cycling of these
organic compounds in plants, animals, and microorganisms into the soil. Well-decomposed
organic matter forms humus, a dark brown, porous, spongy material that provides
a carbon and energy source for soil microbes
and plants.”
Charcoal
takes some heat off global warming
— “Biochar can offset 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon emissions
annually” - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change
— Nature Communications, August 10, 2010
|
