Fight global warming and food shortage with biochar:
Sonntag, 25. Juli 2010
Mittwoch, 21. Juli 2010
Saving and Recycling Water in the Garden (Google / Suite101)
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Auf dem eigenen Mist gewachsen - Biologische Siedlungsabfälle in Humus umgewandelt / Referent des Bundesumweltministeriums in Zempow - Märkische Allgemeine - Nachrichten für das Land Brandenburg
Organic municipal waste converted into humus / Speaker of the Federal Environment Ministry in Zempow http://bit.ly/csMeMb
Auf dem eigenen Mist gewachsen - Biologische Siedlungsabfälle in Humus umgewandelt / Referent des Bundesumweltministeriums in Zempow - Märkische Allgemeine - Nachrichten für das Land Brandenburg
VORTRAG: Auf dem eigenen Mist gewachsen
Biologische Siedlungsabfälle in Humus umgewandelt / Referent des Bundesumweltministeriums in Zempow
ZEMPOW - Selbstversorgung. Abwasserloses Grundstück. Ausufernder Humusgehalt im Boden. Um diese Stichwörter rankte sich am Freitag üppiges Wachstum. Doch wer an Luftschlösser dachte oder diesen Traum wie eine Seifenblase zerplatzen sah, wurde eines Besseren belehrt.
Haiko Pieplow, promovierter Agrarwissenschaftler und Bodenkundler, und als Referent für Umwelt und Wirtschaft am Bundesumweltministerium in Berlin tätig, stellte seine Erkenntnisse über Terra Preta (fruchtbare Schwarzerde) jüngst in Zempow vor. Im Umlandhaus Buchfinkenhorst des Dorfes sprach er vor mehr als 40 Besuchern, die mit ihm auf die „Reise“ durch die Weiten des Amazonasgebietes in Brasilien gingen.
Diese Vorfahren im Amazonas verfügten über „ein ausgefeiltes Abfallmanagement“, erklärte Haiko Pieplow und zeigte zum Beweis auf überdimensionierte Krüge. Diese dienten als Fermentierungsgefäße, um organische Substanz abzubauen. Das alles liegt bereits 500 bis 700 Jahre zurück. Doch das Erbe ist noch heute sichtbar, denn der wertvolle Boden ist nicht nur stabil sondern kann auch nachwachsen. Als Wissenschaftler diesem Phänomen im Wortsinn auf den Grund gingen, entdeckten sie einen extrem hohen Gehalt an Holzkohle. Diese gilt als Schlüssel zum Erfolg, denn „Holzkohle enthält einen hohen Anteil an Kohlenstoff und wird nicht aus dem Boden ausgewaschen“, so Pieplow. Ganz im Gegensatz zu herkömmlichem organischen Mist oder Mulch.
„Seit zehn Jahren beschäftigen sich Wissenschaftler in Deutschland mit dieser Thematik und bringen somit tragbare Lösungen für die dauerhafte Bodenfruchtbarkeit auf den Tisch“, erläuterte Pieplow im Vortrag. Gleichzeitig liefern die Experten den praktischen Beweis, dass auch abwasserlose Grundstücke möglich sind. Das Geheimnis vom schwarzen Gold in der Erde: Der hohe Anteil von Biokohle. Der Zusatz von effektiven Mikroorganismen, die in der Lage sind, organische Substanz langsam abzubauen. Der Zusatz von nährstoffreichen Reststoffen wie Gartenabfällen oder menschlichen Fäkalien. Diese drei Bestandteile führen zur fruchtbaren Schwarzerde.
Praktiker in Deutschland sind inzwischen auf den Zug von Terra Preta aufgesprungen. Sie vertreiben nach dem Baukastenprinzip einzelne Elemente zur Eigenproduktion dieses humusreichen Bodens. Marko Heckel stellte als Unternehmer diese Produkte jetzt in Zempow vor. „Gut 30 000 Nutzer gibt es inzwischen in Deutschland“, brachte er die Dimension auf den Punkt. So kann im Wortsinn das Obst oder Gemüse auf dem eigenen Mist wachsen, denn die anfallenden Fäkalien werden vollständig zu Terra Preta umgewandelt.
Wolf-Hasso Schoner, promovierter Chemiker aus Neuruppin, erläuterte am Rande des Vortrags seinen erfolgreichen Selbstversuch, Terra Preta herzustellen. „Innerhalb von drei Monaten setzten die Mikroorganismen die Fäkalien gemeinsam mit der Einstreu unter luftdichten Bedingungen zu hochwertigem Humus um“, so Wolf-Hasso Schoner. Eine Angelegenheit, die Gärprozesse bewirkt und daher nicht zum Himmel stinkt.
Weiterführende Informationen zum Thema unter www.triaterra.de (Von Christamaria Ruch)
Montag, 5. Juli 2010
GOOD STOVES
- GOOD STOVES
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saibhaskar
- May 22nd, 21:56
16,00,000 PEOPLE ARE KILLED GLOBALLY EVERY YEAR DUE TO INDOOR AIR POLLUTION.
The United Nations estimates that 2 billion people a day are still cooking with open fires. There is a requirement of at least 1 billion good stoves on earth. Respiratory disease is the fifth-leading cause of death in the developing world, and 1.6 million people per year die from breathing wood smoke. Within India alone about 5 lakh people die due to indoor air pollution from cook stoves. Majority of the affected people are women and children.
This is a six years journey into the lives of people killing themselves and young siblings by still using primitive stoves for meeting their daily cooking needs. We are probing the surface of moon and exploring the universe many light years away, but still we could not provide the good stoves for millions on this Earth. Although at least one billion good stoves are required on earth there is very little done to mitigate the impacts. There are not many professionals trained on the Good Stoves technology. We require trained professionals to do research and design good stoves. There are not many educational institutions conducting professional courses on Stoves. Similarly as policy, very few governments have taken the cause seriously. The youth is not inspired and aspired to take up the challenge of designing / production and facilitation of Good Stoves, because there is less awareness on this aspect. For the press silent death of people is no news, they are interested to cover the news of few thousands dying in bomb blasts rather covering millions dying due to indoor air pollution every year.
There are three aspects at present on earth – Energy, Environment and Economy or 3E’s. Even the recent COP15 held at Copenhagen is a failure of consensus around these three aspects. With in next 30 to 40 years, human beings would witness many important aspects like – oil peak, coal peak, population peak, food security crisis, extinction of many species, mass exodus of populations affected by sea level increase, etc. Many countries have developed due to easy access to energy, leading to bubble economies at the cost of environment. With growing colossal energy demands, rural biomass has become a commodity in the form of biomass for electricity, bio-fuels, charcoal and also as biomass. These demands from urban areas and industrial sectors lead to degradation of the soils in the rural areas as biomass is exported and diminishing the return of biomass to soil.
The ‘STOVE’ is one of the most basic needs of all human beings. One cannot imagine a family without a stove. There are many homeless families, but rarely any family without a stove. In majority of the cases, people are using very low cost and inefficient stoves. The peaceful death of people is never an major issue for the governments. Although the challenge is so huge, there is not a single college or institute which has a long term course to teach on making good stoves. There is no mention in any of the school books or many environmental books the term ‘stove’. One billion Good Stoves is one of the biggest challenges on earth. There is not much honor to humanity if we fail to provide a good stove to the common man.
Geoecology Energy Organisation [GEO] is working with communities in different parts of the world. Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy is the founder and CEO of GEO [http://www.e-geo.org] has designed 40 Good Stoves in the last 6 years [http://www.goodstove.com GOOD STOVE] There are two series of stoves AVAN (Earth) Series - These series of stoves are designed especially for poor people. They are low cost, efficient and can be easily constructed by people on their own using locally available raw material. MAGH (Cloud) Series - These series of stoves are designed especially for people who can pay and buy a good stove which is made of metal and other material. The above two series of stoves are based on Scientific Principles and latest technology. Magh series stoves based on Top-lit Updraft technology, generate Biochar as byproduct. Biochar + amendments to the soil improve the fertility of soils and also for reclaiming the degraded soils. GEO is one of the very few organizations in India to do research on Good Stoves and Biochar production and application. [http://www.biocharindia.com Biochar India]
This is an initiative of GEO to mitigate climate change through community adaptation. The belief is that each person on earth can strive for a good earth apart from having a sustainable livelihood. In Andhra Pradesh alone there is a need of 10 million Good stoves. GEO aims to facilitate at least 1 million stoves in the next 5 years to communities around the world through partnerships. All the stove designs are declared as ‘Open Knowledge (OK)’ http://www.okgeo.org for the common good. 'OK' means to adopt the design as it is / change the design and adapt / use different material to get the same result. GEO believes that at least technologies relevant to common man, environment and ecology should be in the domain of Open Knowledge.
Presently GEO is facilitating ‘Good Stoves and Biochar Communities’ Project near Jangaon with the support of GoodPlanet, France. This is a research based project involving community. GEO through its 300+ websites disseminating knowledge and technologies relevant to environment and development aspects and reaching more than 1000 people around the world every day.
Recently GEO has successfully conducted a workshop in Bangladesh for BARCIK and 7 other NGOs on Good Stoves and Biochar, in which more than 40 people participated including Government officials.
One day about 6 years back, I was in a village trying to understand the rural energy aspect in Mahabubnagar District. The distinct observation was that the court yards of many houses were filled with dry wood. They were appearing like small mounds. This fuelwood was for meeting the cooking requirements. It is harvested from the village commons or from near by degraded scrub land or from their own fields. People spend up to 4 days per month for this resource. Considering the present value of labour, it amounts to not less than Rs. 400. Sometimes it is costly to cook on biomass stoves, than people cooking on subsidized LPG gas stoves. Intentionally visited about 50 kitchens to see their stoves in use. This is the day to remember in my life, because about 50% stoves were three stone stoves and the rest were made up of clay and were looking rudimentary and primitive. The stoves and the kitchens did not reflect the changes that happened in the lives of people since last 50 years, like, living in RCC houses, eating habits changed, communications accessed, some of the children are attending english schools, televisions and dish antennas existing, having 2 wheelers, ploughing by using tractors, etc. Kitchen is the last place for any guest visiting it, it was never a pride. It is smoky, pitch dark walls and a small space allocated inside or outside the house. Initially, I decided to create awareness on the indoor air pollution. Put up an LCD projector and have shown pictures of their stoves, although people were very much interested to see the slide show, but women objected when it came to see their own stove, requested not to show. They hate their own kitchen, it is never a pride. Explained people about the impact of indoor air pollution and multiplier affects. The people were very much interested to adopt efficient stoves, but were helpless as they don't have access to any technology. About 10 years back the Government has constructed smoke out stoves (chimney stoves), but never trained them on how to construct / maintain. Within few years, the stoves disintegrated / chimneys filled with sooth and became choking / grates burnt down and the stoves disappeared. For the government records they still exist, like the count of Biogas plants? The stove designs were standardized by the Ministry in Delhi, not designed considering the local aspects of utility. The stoves were freely distributed, so not many questions from the user regarding, its life, utility, maintenance, etc.
This exposure impacted my sensitivity on this aspect. Started searching for stove designs, but, the challenge is to create stove for meeting the local community needs, there is no single global stove. As much the diversity of food crops, cultures, traditions, cooking methods, resources as many stoves evolved globally. This was a critical aspect in facilitating stoves and attaining sustainability in a region. In olden days some people argued that little smoke is good for protecting their thatched huts from insect attacks. But huts were porous too to exit the smoke. Government is providing RCC houses under the housing schemes, which makes their life more miserable.
GOOD STOVES is an initiative to reach the most needy communities through research, design and development of good stoves and with intentions of dissemination of this knowledge for the common good. All the knowledge and work of GEO on Good Stoves, Biochar, Biochar production, etc, is declared as [http://www.okgeo.org Open Knowledge]. GEO aims to facilitate at least 1 million stoves in the next 5 years.
Dienstag, 29. Juni 2010
Biochar ball starts rolling in Tasmania. - 29/06/2010
Biochar ball starts rolling in Tasmania.
Tuesday, 29/06/2010
Biochar experts from around Australia gathered for a day-long workshop in Hobart yesterday to get the ball rolling on biochar developments here in this state.
About 60 people, from landholders to researchers, to government department representatives attended the forum.
Its supporters say biochar is a way to sustainably produce energy, while disposing of bio-waste and providing a product to farmers that can improve their soils and reduce their reliance on fertilisers.
The rewards appear high if biochar projects can get off the ground, and internationally renowned biochar expert Attilio Pigneri from the Australia New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network says the state's one step closer to that after yesterday's workshop.
"We're just one day after the workshop and [so] the enthusiasm is still very strong, so we're really trying to build on that enthusiasm to move forward.
"We actually learned that quite a bit is happening already.
"From the University of Tasmania we heard about five projects [in the] very early stages, but things are happening and now we have these projects connected within the larger Australian and New Zealand network and we're hoping to build on that."
In this report: Attilio Pigneri, Australia New Zealand Biochar Researchers Network
Montag, 28. Juni 2010
DER SPIEGEL 30/2006 - Kohle aus dem Kochtopf
Grafiken zum Text
Die jüngst entdeckte hydrothermale Karbonisierung hat einen entscheidenden Prozessvorteil: Sie erhält nahezu den gesamten in der Pflanze gespeicherten Kohlenstoff, der bei den anderen Verfahren zu großen Teilen als Kohlendioxid entweicht. Auch muss nur am Anfang Energie zugesetzt werden, da sich der Verkohlungsprozess nach kurzem Anheizen aus der eigenen Wärmepro-duktion selbst in Gang hält. Max-Planck-Forscher Antonietti hat, bei Nutzung von schnellwachsendem Schilfgras, einen Jahres-Hektar-Ertrag von 14 Tonnen Kohle errechnet.
Der Brennwert des gewonnenen Gutes ist somit um ein Vielfaches höher als bei allen anderen bekannten Verfahren. Weniger erfreulich wäre lediglich der Aggregatzustand, sein direkter Einsatz etwa als Autokraftstoff ist nur schwer vorstellbar.
Immerhin ließe sich das schwarze Pulver in einem "Coal to Liquid"-Verfahren zu Benzin oder Diesel weiterverarbeiten - und das in denselben Anlagen, in denen auch BtL-Kraftstoffe gewonnen werden. Die Freiberger Firma Choren, derzeit größter Pionier der BtL-Branche, schätzt die energetische Ausbeute bei der Nutzung von Kohlestaub sogar deutlich höher ein als etwa bei Holz.
Doch die Schaffung neuer Flüssigkraftstoffe zählt für Max-Planck-Forscher Antonietti gar nicht zu den dringendsten Zielen. Für weit wichtiger hält er einen anderen Effekt der Pflanzenverkohlung: Sie könnte im Kampf gegen die Klimaerwärmung helfen, da sie in enormen Mengen Kohlenstoff bindet, der im natürlichen Kreislauf von Wachstum und Verrottung der Vegetation sonst wieder als Kohlendioxid in die Atmosphäre entweicht.
Der weltweite Ausstoß von Kohlendioxid durch die Verbrennung fossiler Ressourcen ließe sich nach Antoniettis Rechnung vollständig kompensieren, wenn die nachwachsenden Pflanzen auf einem Prozent der Erdoberfläche - immerhin 1000 mal 5000 Kilometer - nach seinem Rezept karbonisiert würden.
Das Resultat müsste noch nicht einmal Kohle sein. Wird der Garungsprozess früher gestoppt, etwa nach acht Stunden, entspringt dem Kohle-Kochtopf eine Vorform des schwarzen Grubengoldes, die der Gärtner schätzt: Humus.
Noch schneller als die Verwandlung des Ernteguts in Brennstoff würde die Herstellung hochwertigen und verwitterungsbeständigen Mutterbodens funktionieren - und damit die Gewinnung neuer Ackerflächen zur weiteren Kompensation von Kohlendioxid.
"Akute Ressourcenprobleme", sagt Antonietti, "kriegt die Menschheit vielleicht in 20 Jahren. Ein akutes Klimaproblem haben wir schon heute." CHRISTIAN WÜST
Freitag, 25. Juni 2010
Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy - BIOCHAR AS A NATURAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION METHOD
- BIOCHAR AS A NATURAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION METHOD
-
- June 12th, 16:45
Biochar is the charcoal applied to the soil along with other amendments to enhance the fertility of the soils. Biochar is not nutrient nor food for soil microbes, acts like a catalyst for the soil. Biochar for soil is like coral reef for sea. All other soil nutrients are required to be replenished regularly as per the conventional sustainable practice by the farmer.
Biochar is a recent term, but charcoal plus applications to soil was as old as civilizations existed. Terra Preta in Amazon, RAAB in India, Babito in Camaroon, BOCASHI or Bokashi in Japanese as some of the practices, using Biochar. The Biochar applied in the soil would last more than 1000 years. Even if small amounts of Biochar are applied every year, cumulatively it becomes huge. As we require about 10 tonnes of Biochar per hectare, say 0.5 to 1 ton applied per year in next 20 to 10 years respectively, one could easily reach the desired quantity. It is always good to gradually add Biochar to the soil rather adding all the Biochar in one go. There is also need to add other components along with the Biochar. Incremental Biochar plus application would condition the soil for better colonization by the soil microbes. There won’t be much burden on the environment too. The farmer can plant fast growing species within the field or convert the crop residue or use any other less useful plants in the area for Biochar production and could apply gradually over few years. This practice would be more sustainable and less costly for the farmer. Importing of Biochar from elsewhere should not be encouraged; the worst fears are that forests or other natural vegetation could disappear in those regions. For every ton of Biochar applied into the soil about 3 tons of Carbon dioxide is sequestrated, one should also account the CO2 emissions during Biochar production, transportation, etc. The biochar application is useful as a means of carbon sequestration and mitigating global warming issues too.
Terra Preta is more than 5000 years old practice in parts of Amazon basin until the Europeans arrived. Along with charcoal the rural trash consisting of pottery shards, fish bones, compost, etc. was added to the less fertile acidic soils to improve fertility of the soils. Similarly the rural trash in many villages in India had similar composition till recent past. The charcoal and ash from the traditional stoves, pottery shards from innumerable uses – such as roof tiles, pots, utensils, cultural utility, etc., compost and urine from domestic livestock, fish and animal bones, etc. was part of the rural trash. This was collected in farm yard manure pits, after composting spread in the fields. The charcoal, a byproduct of the traditional stoves is added to the farm yard manure / compost, which gets inoculated with the soil microbes, which was later transferred to the fields.
The value of charcoal was known to Indians and utilized as part of traditional and cultural practices for various purposes. The charcoal was never considered as a waste material. The crop residue burnt in the fields gets converted into charcoal and ash. In the process, the earth (soil) also gets burnt. This practice benefited the soils and farmers since ages (here no comparison with composting the biomass). The slash and burn in the margins of the forests or inside the forests is a very well known practice all over India (although it is no more sustainable because of huge population demands and costing the sustainability of forests). The burning of grass often leads to higher yields or Biochar. Grasslands are burnt accidentally or purposefully. People burn their crop residue in millions of tones in parts of India, more so during the February to July months as part of field preparations. The waste from the potters kiln a combination of charcoal, pottery shards and little ash was always a valuable source for improving the fertility of the soils. Although the addition of charcoal to the soils was existing as a practice, but it was not explicit, it remained as part of traditional best practices in India. As we explore more and more evidences are visible and proves that the Indian farmers were using charcoal since hundreds of years. Because of such good practices agricultural activity is still sustainable in many parts of India.
The exponential population growth, limited access to resources for agriculture, degradation / alkalinity / hardening of soils, food security, climate change and global warming are the various concerns. Biochar is a part of the solution for the above aspects. There is a need to create large scale awareness among the farmers to continue traditional best practices of biochar application and also adopt appropriate best technologies for improving the fertility of the soils and their sustainability. Integrating Biochar production and application locally is a sustainable practice then large scale production and dissemination. The worst fears are about commercialization of Biochar as a product. No one opposes the small and marginal farmers traditional subsistence sustainable systems.
References:
http://www.biocharindia.com
http://www.actioncarbone.org/en/projet.php?typ=ck&id=30
http://e-terrapreta.blogspot.com/
http://e-terrapretarooftopexp.blogspot.com/
http://e-alkalinesoilsterrapreta.blogspot.com/
http://e-charcoalmaking.blogspot.com/
http://maghbiocharretort.blogspot.com/
About the author
Dr. N. Sai Bhaskar Reddy, Founder and CEO, Geoecology Energy Organisation http://www.e-geo.org, has been working on Environment and Development issues since last 14 years. He has worked in majority of states in India and also contributed abroad on Biochar, Rural energy and Environmental aspects. He has done research and studies on Biochar and Biochar compost. Designed 40 good stoves, which are low cost and highly efficient, also working on efficient Charcoal retorts. Ardant believer and campaigner for Open Knowledge. Worked with the government, National and international - agencies, NGOs, Institutions etc., on environmental and developmental issues. http://www.saibhaskar.com
He is presently leading the project "Good Stoves and Biochar Communities (GSBC)", implemented by GEO, supported by GoodPlanet.org France
A Farmer Preparing Biochar Compost
Biochar in the soil
Biochar soaked urine for soil, source of nitrogen for plants
