[Stoves] Biochar Projects for Science Students

[Jeff Davis]

Dear Kevin  and Crispin,


I doubt that all the damage done to the soil from forest fires can be
blamed on charred tree roots, maybe some, maybe not. In regards to grass
fires how much of the charcoal gets washed away, how much is ash and how
much grass char works into the soil. In the long run would the grass
land been better off without the grass fire? Does the grassland fires do
as much damage to the soil as forest fires do to the forest soil? Do
these two items accurately represent biochar? If we look hard enough we
can find just about anything in the soil from lost pocket change to beer
cans... Sloppy science? People, we're talking about thousands of years
here....

This is the time for a group of real soil scientists, that are not
bought and paid for by a concern, to determine whether there could be
any long term problems down the road. Lets not find out 75 years from
now. Frankly I'm not qualified, the engineers are not qualified, the
chemists are not qualified, the hobbyists are not qualified and to say
that charcoal is inert so therefore no problem is reckless and
irresponsible. We are on the verge of making policies on a global scale
and someone has to be the bad guy and ask "if biochar persists in the
soil for thousands of years and it has not been added to the soil on a
global level in any meaningful way will there be any long term problems
down the road?"

The benefits of biochar are meaningless at this point. We need to make
sure that there will not be any problems down the road. Personally I
hope it works out OK. BUT shame on me if I don't speak up!



Best regards,


Jeff


    
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