Biochar Represented on the International Day of Climate Change

This past Saturday on October 24^th could have potentially been the largest global rally ever! Hosted by 350.org was the International Day of Climate Action where 181 countries participated in over 5,400 events uniting the world to act on the climate crisis we all face. The consistent theme of all the events was to shine light on the most meaningful number to planet Earth, 350. 350 parts per million is the upper safe level which scientists have identified as the limit for C02 in the atmosphere. The world is currently at 387 parts per million of C02, which is why we are experience a global climate change. I encourage all of you to visits www.350.org and view pictures from around the world where images with the number 350 were uniquely formed by mass crowds.^[1]

                                     

The loudest voices for climate action on this day were unsurprisingly heard from the island countries. With the arctic sea ice down 34% and the sea level up 58 mm since 1993 ^[2] , island countries are in fear of completely disappearing underwater. The President of Maldives, a country represented by 1,200 islands, said "If we cannot save 350,000 Maldivians from rising seas today, we cannot save the millions in New York, London, or Mumbai tomorrow," ^[3].

              

                    

At some of these events biochar was being represented as an effective solution for reducing the 387 parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. At a climate action event in Warner, New Hampshire “Put the Carbon Back in the Garden “ was a biochar theme organized by George Packard. Mr. Packard advocating that if a million people put 30 pounds of biochar in their gardens ^[4] not only will they increase yields, save money on fertilizer and irrigation, but they will help the world take 51,000 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.  At the “Big Event” which was held on the steps of the Colorado State Capital Building in Denver, Colorado a neon sign was held with the words “Biochar Will Help The World Get Down to 350” ^[5].

      

            

[1] 350. “International Day of Cliamte Action”. www.350.org.

        

[2] NASA. “Global Climate Change”.  http://climate.nasa.gov/

      

[3] CNN. “International day of Demonstrations on Climate Change.” CNN 10/26/09.http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/index.html

         

[4] Packard, George. “Put the Carbon Back Into the Garden”. 10/23/09. http://curiouslylocal.com/.

           

[5] 350Denver. “350 Denver”. http://www.350denver.org

            

To View Similar Blogs and Articles on Biochar and Climate Change, Please Visit www.biocharbrokers.com

Biochar: the Preferred Weapon in the War on Climate Change.

The biochar world is proud to announce one of its newest advocators, British entrepreneur billionaire Richard Branson. Branson is the founder of the brand name Virgin, which represents over 360 companies worldwide. ^[1] Lately, Branson has been allocating his efforts towards mitigating climate change. This past February, Branson teamed up with former vice president Al Gore offering $25 million dollars to anyone who can remove at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Earth's atmosphere. Additionally, Branson pledged to invest $3 billion dollars to fighting climate change. "I believe in our resourcefulness and in our capacity to invent solutions to the problems we have ourselves created," said Branson. ^[2]

With the idea that every war needs a war room, Branson helped create in Washington what is being referred to as the “Carbon War Room”. This special war room is designed for the specific purpose of examining all possible ways to not only cut emissions but also remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. “All options are on the table,” Branson explained. Of those options, Branson enthusiastically focused on biochar as perhaps the most promising idea. Branson is in absolute favor of a direct intervention to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and that’s exactly what biochar technology accomplishes. ^[3] Michael Turnbull, Australia’s former environmental minister, has recently said that biochar has the potential to absorb one-fifth of emissions in his country while also raising agricultural productivity. ^[4]

[1] “The World's Billionaires”. “#236 Richard Branson”. Forbes. 3/5/08. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Richard-Branson_2Y7I.html

[2] “Tycoon Hopes to Spur Milestone Research”. Kevin Sullivan. Washington Post. 2/10/07. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/02/09/AR2007020900693.html

[3] “Sir Branson Endorses Biochar”. Art Donnelly. 10/19/09. http://seachar.org/wordpress/p=246

[4] “Debating the Climate Benefits of ‘Biochar’”. James Kanter. New York Times. 4/15/09. http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/debating-the-climate-benefits-of-biochar/

Northeast Biochar Symposium 2009

On November 13th the University of Massachusetts in Amherst is hosting the 2009 Northeast Biochar Symposium. This all day event will highlight current biochar research, technological advances and provide the most recent biochar information available. Two keynote speakers at this event are Johannes Lehmann and Dr. Christoph Steiner. Johannes Lehmann is a biochar expert and author of the book Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology. He conducts his experimental research at Cornell University. His two presentations at the Biochar Symposium are titled “Biochar & Soil Fertility” and “Biochar & Carbon Sequestration”. Dr. Christoph Steiner is also a biochar expert who has participated in the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference. His two presentations are titled “Biochar and Soil Fertility” and “Biochar in the UN Climate Talk”. As a whole the Symposium will provide a forum for research exchange, stimulate biochar discussions, allow for an advanced networking setting and establish a Northeast Biochar Initiative. The event is to also gain national media attention for biochar.  To register for the Northeast Biochar Symposium 2009 or to learn more you can visit http://www.nsm.umass.edu/biochar09/schedule.html

Senators on Board

Amazingly enough a bipartisan group of senators have come to an agreement and are sponsoring a new bill. Harry Reid (D-NV), John Tester (D-MT), Max Baucus (D-MT), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Udall (D-NM) have introduced a proposal to promote research and funding for biochar production and technologies. The bill is titled “WECHAR” standing for “Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvest & Restoration Act of 2009”. As problems in western states are rising with invasive species, water efficiency, dead biomass fueling fires, and destructive pine beetles, an interest in biochar is rapidly growing. 1)

             

The bill states that the pine beetle has killed thousands of acres of standing forests creating an immense build up of dead trees that now pose as a serious fire threat. Additionally, it references salt cedar as an invasive plant species covering over a million acres consuming 200 gallons of water per plant each day. The bill intends to use these problems as a feedstock resource to produce biochar. Invasive species as well as dead biomass can be harvested solving many of these problems and then be used to create biochar. The biochar is to be applied back into the soil creating an even healthier landscape. Among many other benefits as a soil amendment, biochar absorbs both nutrients and water making it available to plant roots at all times. This should surely help restore the lush western landscapes we were once familiar with. 1) 

            

Additionally, this bill provides benefits in a global manner. When plants decay they release the carbon captured during its growth process into the atmosphere. But if those same plants are used for biochar production, about 40% of the carbon originally in the plants will remain in biochar and be sequestered for thousands of years. Approximately one ton of biochar stores 3-3.6 tons of C02. Thus biochar is considered a carbon-sequestering agent helping to reduce the trend of climate change. 2)

                

In other news, an entirely different bill is also being pushed this week. The senate's environmental committee will take up an energy and climate-change bill that calls for stricter limits than those already approved by the house. The climate bill passed by the house calls for a 17% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. This new bill co-sponsored by Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is pushing for a 20% reduction rate. 3)

1) Greenbang 

-www.greenbang.com/as-west-dries-and-burns-us-senators-mull-biochar-bill_11927.html

2) Ecopreneur

-www.ecopreneur.co.za/2009/09/28/what-is-biochar-and-how-is-it-made/

3) Facts came from Jim Tankersley (LA Times) 

-www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate30-2009sep30,0,128921.story