Click the links to search Google NafNotes Sign In Communities Classifieds Sign Up Home About
My Profile
Garden Advice
Click to view complete profile I started gardening organically in 1988 out of curiosity. It worked for me ...Read more
Friends 0
NafCircles 0
 Bookmark me    Friend Me Connect with this author. All you need is your Nafella Nickname  
Authors & Friends
Sign in to read/compose message
Search Authors
Find Nafloggers who share your interest.
ArchivesRSS feed
    
Favorite Links
Master Gardeners VA
 
Subscribe to Subscribe to the RSS feed.
Improve Soil and Air Quality with Biochar           1726  Views
 
>>  Post Comments [0]  Send to friends Report Abuse   <<  
 

This week Financial Times mentioned biochar, a technique to convert crops into charcoal through partial combustion:   “The most exciting new idea that does not require high-tech equipment is “biochar”. This offers a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up for millennia while fertilizing the soil and generating energy.  Biochar uses simple equipment to convert crops into a granular form of charcoal through “pyrolysis” – partial combustion in a low-oxygen environment. The pyrolysis process generates useful energy as other chemical elements are driven off, leaving behind fairly pure carbon in the form of charcoal, which is then mixed into soil. Because biochar resists degradation, it can sequester carbon in soils for hundreds or even thousands of years.”

This is an ancient tradition in South America to add powdered charcoal to soil.  Biochar was traditionally added to soil to improve soil quality and increase crop yields. Now this is being looked at for an additional benefit of improving air quality by carbon sequestration. On our web site you can an article “Benefits of Biochar”  describing soil improvement using this concept.

For anyone interested in making biochar at home you can find instructions  or more information.

 

 
Posted on 1/21/2009 8:20:10 PM     © Garden Advice
Organic  Gardening  air  quality  soil  improvement 
 
 
>>  Post Comments [0]  Send to friends Report Abuse   <<  
 
Post a comment!
  • You can comment even if you are not a Nafella member! (Already a member? Sign In here)
  • Please be respectful. Nafella encourages and fosters thoughtful dialog and debate. While we believe in free speech, the author and Nafella reserve the right to delete abusive, racist, homophobic and xenophobic comments and content. Thanks!
   
 *  
 
 *
 *
Email ids are not shared or made public
 
Maximum characters allowed
 * Visual verification Help prevent automated programs from using Nafella services. If no image appears, check your browser settings. Refresh image by clicking on reload icon.   
 
Type the characters you see in the picture above. Letters are not case-sensitive.
     
Popular Today
1. Review
Related Nafella Classifieds
...More
More in EnvironmentRSS feed
Home       RSS feeds RSS feeds available       About        Contact Us       Terms and Conditions        Privacy Focus naflogger
© 2004-2010. Nafella LLC. All Rights Reserved.