Burn Charcoal to Help Reverse Climate Change?

Burning something organic is usually seen to be dirty--not, porn "dirty" but pollution dirty. However, science is finding that a form of charcoal might actually help reduce greenhouse gases:

As much as 12 percent of the world's human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials. That's more than what could be offset if the same plants and materials were burned to generate energy, concludes a study published August 10 in the journal Nature Communications. "Biochar offers one of the few ways we can create power while decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And it improves food production in the world's poorest regions by increasing soil fertility. It's an amazing tool."

Biochar is made by decomposing biomass like plants, wood and other organic materials at high temperature in a process called slow pyrolysis. Normally, biomass breaks down and releases its carbon into the atmosphere within a decade or two. But biochar is more stable and can hold onto its carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years, keeping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide out of the air longer. Other biochar benefits include: improving soils by increasing their ability to retain water and nutrients; decreasing nitrous oxide and methane emissions from the soil into which it is tilled; and, during the slow pyrolysis process, producing some bio-based gas and oil that can offset emissions from fossil fuels.

Green man: It's going to take a patchwork of ideas and revolutionary science to tackle the vast scale of the problem. There is no "magic elixir" to change this trend and threat to not just our environment but our very lives. It's simply a reality that not every place gets enough sun for solar energy, not enough wind for wind energy and hydrogen is still expensive and volatile. Another idea that I like is using algae to power our cars. The problem isn't the ability to solve this problem but rather the lack of political willpower to see the dire need for these technologies. No where is this more evident than in the United States where a large chunk of the problem stems from with emissions. We Americans unfortunately know a lot about war and coming up with a multi-tiered plan is essential and something of a strong suit for us. We need to convince other Americans that this climate issue is a major national security issue--it's a war and thus demands an immediate and diverse battle plan. And it needs to be set into motion, frankly, immediately.

The irony of using biochar is that the environmental benefits of it have long been known to ancient man but modern man's arrogance took over and the assumption was that nearly everything the ancients knew was to no longer beneficial. "Amazonian Indians mixed a combination of charcoal and organic matter into the soil to improve soil fertility, a fact that got the scientists interested in studying biochar's modern potential." The renaissance brought about many wonderful benefits to civilization; not the least of which being science itself!! The very science that is now rediscovering the benefits of charcoal. Rediscoveries like this always make me sober in one respect because of all the genocide modern man is committing by cutting down the rain forests. How many cures for various cancers could be destroyed? Or cures for HIV/AIDS?

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Whale Shit: Eco-Gold.

When the International Whaling Commission meets in Morocco next week to discuss lifting the moratorium on commercial whaling, delegates might pause to consider an unexpected fact: the faeces of sperm whales is helping to save the planet. Australian researchers have found that the iron-rich faeces of sperm whales living in the Southern Ocean boosts the growth of phytoplankton, marine plants which suck in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

They estimate that the whales are responsible for removing 400,000 tonnes of carbon each year, twice as much as they contribute through respiration. According to the scientists, based at Adelaide's Flinders University, they would be disposing of 10 times as much carbon were it not for commercial whaling. "If we hadn't decreased sperm whale populations from their historical levels, we'd have an extra about two million tonnes of carbon being pulled out of our atmosphere every year."

Green Man: Whale SHIT!! I find it fascinating and remarkable that nature is so balanced that it has even factored in how whale shit can best benefit the overall eco-system. Everything was in harmony until man decided to go into a parasitic binge with the start of the industrial revolution. Nature has all these built in filters for carbon dioxide and built in oxygen tanks yet man thought we could mess with the environment all we wanted and it wouldn't affect us in the least. Nature was something that we arrogantly assumed either got in the way or was independent from us. We were so arrogant in fact that we figured since plant matter wasn't "intelligent" that it must be expendable.

Well, the destruction of nature might not have shown much danger for centuries but now we're learning a very painful lesson on just how much delicate and important nature is for our survival. We have no one to blame but ourselves and seeing how we are being humbled into the reality that we are just another cog in the wheel of nature, just like anything thing else, and that if nature goes down in flames--so will we. How we could observe the co-operation within the natural world and not assume we were apart of it, and interdependent upon it for survival is pretty amazing.

It's that damn monotheism that claims we are special creations from some old bearded white man in the sky who are meant to dominate the Earth and given the go-ahead to do whatever we wanted upon it. That was a big bet that the monotheists made for us but I don't take any joy in saying, "I told you so" regarding how that attitude led to the toxic environment we inherited today because I'm not sure how or whether if we can fix it. I do find it deliciously fitting, however, that whale shit is doing its part, so in that regard I hope whales shit all over the place!!

ADDENDUM: Obama wants whaling to go ahead again. So much for his claim to being a friend to environmentalism with his announcement of offshore drilling right before the BP explosion. As well as this whaling decision. And here I thought the guy was supposed to be a Liberal!! I keep being disappointed with him but where else am I going to turn? Conservative? That'll be the day when you know to haul me off to the mental hospital--for good!! I don't think it's in my DNA to be right-wing.

~The Green Man has Spoken~