[Stoves] Edinburgh biochar

[sylva at iname.com]

Ron

 As you see Lehmann is the most polished of the speakers and so are most of the senior academics. There was one presentation of a company buying up as well as producing charcoal fines and packaging them in ~1kg boxes for supermarket retail.

 There are about 150 people, predominantly academics and a representative of Biofuel watch who I have yet to meet.

 I don't know the power level of the kiln but it runs continously from a 1m3 sealed hopper which was running on woodpellet but there were various bags of dry woodchip also on show. With the pace they have available I don't think they can easilly do more than make a specifically heated char, I.e. they can probably control reaction time and temperature of any given feedstock, that's all it is needed for.

 The consnensus seems to be the recalcitrance is a no brainer for the required life in the soil to be a viable means of sequestration, the debate is about competition with other uses and land uses.

 It looks like it is accepted there is not an easy means to gain financial carbon credits for the farmer yet but prove the agronomic benefits and there will be uptake simply because it will pay.

 Some caveats are that the bebefits are only likely on poorer acid soils.

 Most of the posters seem to confirm a measurable benefit for things like better water retention, lower N2O emmisions and some unexplained link with retention of phosphates, a couple of people pointed out the likely future shortage of phosphate rock for minral fertiliser.

 Lehmann romped through a comprehensive overview demostrating the rise in interest in biochar from the exponential likiek growth of cites in academic papers since 2004 and similar increase in adverts and publications dealing with compost.

 I see one other subcriber to the list from India on the attendnce list but have not come across him yet.

 AJH