The upcoming G8 & G20 summit in Huntsville, Canada, makes this the perfect time to write about a topic somewhat neglected by our blog recently: biochar.
So what is this thing they call biochar, you ask? It’s been described as the Swiss Army knife, or the “killer app” of climate solutions.
Stephen J Dodds, Professor of Control Engineering at the University of East London, gives us a clue.
Biochar is a 2,000 year-old practice that converts agricultural waste into a soil enhancer that can hold carbon, boost food security and discourage deforestation. The process creates a fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain nutrients and water.
Biochar can be an important tool to increase food security and cropland diversity in areas with severely depleted soils, scarce organic resources, and inadequate water and chemical fertilizer supplies.
Biochar also improves water quality and quantity by increasing soil retention of nutrients and agrochemicals for plant and crop utilization. More nutrients stay in the soil instead of leaching into groundwater and causing pollution.
The carbon in biochar resists degradation and can hold carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years. Biochar is produced through pyrolysis or gasification — processes that heat biomass in the absence (or under reduction) of oxygen.
My note: biochar is an important byproduct of the good combustion in certain improved cookstoves, like WorldStove’s Lucia stove, among others.
In addition to creating a soil enhancer, sustainable biochar practices can produce oil and gas byproducts that can be used as fuel, providing clean, renewable energy. When the biochar is buried in the ground as a soil enhancer, the system combats climate change by becoming “carbon negative.”
We can use this simple, yet powerful, technology to store 2.2 gigatons of carbon annually by 2050. It’s one of the few technologies that is relatively inexpensive, widely applicable, and quickly scalable. We really can’t afford not to pursue it. To put 2.2 gigatons in context, that’s the amount of CO2 produced by China in 1990. Today it emits 6.1 gigatons.
Thank you, Professor!
Ok, you say, but what does this have to do with a bunch of suits meeting in a remote town in Canada’s interior?
We all know that these periodic meetings of the club of wealthiest nations produce a lot of hot air… Oops… I meant, C02 emissions.
Now, a group calling itself the Huntsville Project is trying to get every summit delegation to offset its C02 emissions by investing in biochar projects around the world. (Plus, who really wants to invest in a methane digester? And offsetting with reforestation is sooooooo last summit.)
The simplicity of the idea is one reason why this just might happen.
Here’s how it works:
1. A country chooses from a global list of ongoing and planned biochar projects for their offsets.
2. The money is collected in a global Biochar Climate Mitigation Fund. Biochar entrepreneurs will then use microcredit for affordable finance to start New Carbon Economy biochar projects.
3. The Biochar Climate Mitigation Fund will be operated by a foundation with the highest levels of accountability, oversight and transparency
The challenge now — and the real reason why we’re writing about this — is that the Huntsville Project must get Canada and every delegation attending the June 25 – 27 summit on board. We think this is a good idea because it will bring some much needed attention to biochar as an potentially critical solution to real carbon sequestration, food security, clean water, and many other challenges.
Do your part by signing the petition asking Canada and visiting delegations to offset their carbon footprint with biochar!
Visit http://www.newcarboneconomy.info/
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I live half time in Huntsville Ontario – and have been a team member in putting the Huntsville Project together.
Craig Simpson PhD , P Eng (R)