Save the 3rd World thru Biochar

These guys are helping poor farmers turn invasive plants into biochar, to improve moisture and nutrient retention and store carbon:

https://grist.org/climate/biochar-farming-capture-carbon-thousands-of-years/

John S
PDX OR

Very cool and I love the "stacking functions" of sequestering carbon, earning farmers more money, conserving water and nutrients, and removing invasives.

I'd love to see more of this in the US. Imagine a modern "Civilian Conversation Corps" that is converting waste biomass, be it waste wood, invasives, or dead/diseased trees from forests into biochar and then applying it to woodlands, rangeland, and farms. It'd employ people, clean up waste and potential wildfire fuel, and remove invasives...while sequestering a LOT of carbon and enriching soil.

I agree Mike.  We could use Americorps  or Vista for something like that.  Here in the PNW, my son was involved in a similar organization.  I think it was called Northwest Youth Corps.  
John S
PDX OR

If biochar earns the farmer more money because they are given carbon credits, that's a win. Most farms need all the carbon they can get, so many people worry that if biochar is sold as a product, the farmers that make it will loose that carbon and their soil will be worse for it.

If they earn more money because their soil is able to grow more and they don't need to buy food or fodder from elsewhere, that is also a form of "money in the pocket".

I was shocked when I read a chart about how selling vegetables is a form of selling the land's critical nutrients. Sometimes those nutrients can be replaced when healthy, microbe rich soil mines those nutrients, but it's pretty scary how much good stuff can leave a market garden farm in the form of veggies!

Jay Angler wrote:I was shocked when I read a chart about how selling vegetables is a form of selling the land's critical nutrients. Sometimes those nutrients can be replaced when healthy, microbe rich soil mines those nutrients, but it's pretty scary how much good stuff can leave a market garden farm in the form of veggies!

It does sound odd, but in a way it's true. If you're not replenishing the soil, you're slowly losing nutrients and organic matter over time. It's why industrial agriculture is so dependent on more and more inputs every year.

By adding organic material, cover cropping, and of course adding biochar, you can replenish the soil while still taking a harvest.

I can recall my dad telling me about the host of the old Victory Garden show on PBS talking about how he loved shared garden extras with this neighbors, but it always "got awkward when I had to ask for the nutrients back when they were done with them".

Mike Farmer wrote:I can recall my dad telling me about the host of the old Victory Garden show on PBS talking about how he loved shared garden extras with this neighbors, but it always "got awkward when I had to ask for the nutrients back when they were done with them".

Hilarious! But also true -- before mass mining of potash, the "night bucket" crews did exactly that work.