Definition Climatefarming en francais

Definition Climate Farming

Climate farming uses agricultural means to keep carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses from escaping into the atmosphere. Like organic farming, climate farming maintains biodiversity and ecological balance on productive, argicultural land. But climate farmers like Hans-Peter Schmidt go a step further and covert leftover organic mass into biochar, a solid carbon compound that can improve soil quality. Biochar production also creates a kind of gas that can then be burned to help generate power. A climate farm could grow food, generate power, and help keep carbon out of the air.

Climatefarming – Pour une agriculture durable

von Hans-Peter Schmidt

Le climatefarming est souvent décrit comme une méthode agricole au moyen de laquelle du CO2 est prélevé de l’atmosphère et stocké de façon stable dans le sol sous forme de carbone. Ceci pourrait permettre de freiner le changement climatique. Mais le climatefarming, c’est également un concept écologique durable pour l’agriculture du future, qui produira aussi bien des denrées alimentaires que de l’énergie et de l’air propre, encouragera la biodiversité et protégera le paysage.

Au travers de leurs feuilles, les plantes prélèvent du dioxyde de carbone contenu dans l’air et le transforment à l’aide de la lumière, de substances minérales et de l’eau en molécules carboniques. Lorsque la plante meurt ou pourrit, ou si elle est mangée et digérée, les molécules longues de carbone sont de nouveau scindées. Ce processus libère de l’énergie et donc du carbone qui, composé à plus de 99% de CO2, s’évapore dans l’atmosphère. (en savoir plus ...)

Mittwoch, 8. Dezember 2010

Does Biochar Deliver Carbon-Negative Energy? | Energy Seminar

Does Biochar Deliver Carbon-Negative Energy?

Johannes Lehmann, Associate Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry and Soil Fertility Management, Cornell University

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 | 04:15 PM - 05:15 PM | Building 420, Room 40 | Free and Open to All

Averting dangerous climate change was central to the agenda in Copenhagen, but viable strategies to meet energy needs and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions have not been sufficiently explored. Agricultural carbon provides tremendous theoretical opportunity, but just how to weave carbon sequestration by soils into modern carbon management is not clear.

Biochar systems may offer a theoretical way forward, but have been met with as much criticism as enthusiasm. Some herald biochar as the sole solution that can save us from climate collapse, while others see a scam of global proportions looming, or at best a failure as through past efforts to use biomass for energy. Whether friend or foe, scientific inquiry is starting to provide some answers to the most contentious issues. Basic assumptions have been addressed and show the site dependency that can be expected from managing agricultural landscapes and complex feedstock streams. But final assessment is still outstanding and will depend on evaluation of biochar systems at scale of implementation. The complexity of biochar systems may be both a strength in its ability to address multiple sustainability issues, but also a challenge in timely and global implementation.

Bio:
Johannes Lehmann, associate professor of soil biogeochemistry and soil fertility management at Cornell University, received his graduate degrees in Soil Science at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Prior to his appointment at Cornell, he coordinated a research project on nutrient and carbon management in the central Amazon where he started work on Terra Preta soils. During the past 10 years, he has focused on nano-scale investigations of soil organic matter, the biogeochemistry of black carbon and the development of biochar and bioenergy systems. Dr. Lehmann is co-founder and Chair of the Board of the International Biochar Initiative, and member of the editorial boards of Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems and Plant and Soil.

Climatefarming in northern Senegal