[Stoves] Fwd: Biochar is making its way into the oceans, apparently

[Otto Formo]

Paul O,I second your comments and statement, very much.
There is no need for "rocket science" to understand, that any type of material laying on the surface will easily be washed away by heavy rains.On the other hand, most of this lagre forest fires occurs in North America or Siberia and heavy rainfalls are seldom.
We should not worrie to much, since it is a "long" time we have had heavy bush fires in dense rainforests, apart from human activity clearing for plantoil plantations in Indonesia etc.
Otto 

Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 06:40:37 +0700
From: paul.olivier at esrla.com
To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
Subject: [Stoves] Fwd:  Biochar is making its way into the oceans, apparently

Most of the charcoal in nature is from wild fires and combustion of 
biomass in general. When charcoal forms it is typically deposited in the
 soil.“ From a chemical perspective, no one really thought it dissolves,
 but it does,” Jaffé says. “It doesn’t accumulate like we had for a long
 time believed. Rather, it is transported into wetlands and rivers, 
eventually making its way to the oceans.”

If biomass is burned, and if afterwards the charcoal from this burning remains on the surface of the ground, how is it supposed to accumulate in the soil? How is charcoal "typically deposited in the soil" from a wild fire? Wildfires do not till the soil and mix in char in a uniform manner. 


If biochar is properly mixed into the top soil through human activity, this is an entirely different matter. It seems likely that it would be washed away in a large rainfall event only if the top soil in which it were incorporated were washed away.


Thanks.
Paul Olivier


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <crispinpigott at gmail.com>

Date: Sun, Apr 21, 2013 at 5:55 AM
Subject: [Stoves] Biochar is making its way into the oceans, apparently
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>



Dear Friends of Biochar This will probably be of interest. I am posting here because of the biochar enthusiasm and because I am not subscribed to any biochar lists. 
 Regards Crispin +++++++ Copied fromhttp://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/04/19/something-else-to-worry-about-carbon-in-the-water/#more-84542
  “…According to the authors, the results imply that greater consideration must be given to carbon sequestration techniques (the process of capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide). Biochar addition to soils is one such technique. Biochar technology is based on vegetation-derived charcoal that is added to agricultural soils as a means to store carbon.
 Although promising in storing carbon, Jaffé points out that as more people implement biochar technology, they must take into consideration the potential dissolution of the charcoal to ensure these techniques are actually environmentally friendly.
 Jaffé and Dittmar agree that there are still many unknowns when it comes to the environmental fate of charcoal, and both plan to move on to the next phase of the research. They have proven where the charcoal goes. Next, they want to answer how this happens and what the environmental consequences are.
The better scientists can understand the processes and the environmental factors controlling it, the better the chance of developing strategies for carbon sequestration and help mitigate climate change.”
 Source: http://www.mpg.de/7112434/charcoal_oceans
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