I recently became aware of the huge extent of ancient carbon sequestration in the jungles of the Amazon. This is a major eye opener. Certainly, it was hinted at in practice world wide, but to find a locale in which it became practice over hundreds of years is a major breakthrough.
Firstly because it was used on soils that are impoverished solely due to incessant rainfall. The only alternative was traditional slash and burn agriculture.
Secondly, it sustained huge population densities through intensive cropping. The promise of the tropics was realized over centuries of experience.
Thirdly, it becomes possible for us to study these soils in order to comfortably predict outcomes globally. A thousand year long field test beats a thousand man years of theory any day.
This also very neatly resolves one of the problems faced by model farms worldwide. That is, what is the best way to deal with wood waste in particular and agricultural waste in general.
This explicitly informs us that low temperature carbonization is the preferred solution.
Complete incineration is achieved at 600 degrees. Carbonization occurs between 300 to 400 degrees. And the product is sterilized and charcoal like. Obviously, modern practice will do a superior job of temperature control to provide a uniform product.
It is fundamental to the future of modern agriculture that woodlands are operated in conjunction with traditional husbandry. Making carbonization the principle method for elimination of cornstalks and straw and waste wood is hugely beneficial to soil maintenance.
Our model farm can now become an ongoing carbon collector and carbon sink, with carbon been added to the soils in a form that postpones release for hundreds of years.
This means that instead of woodlands retaining a natural load of an average fifty tons per acre and operated fields dropping down to seven tons per acre through normal cropping methods, we can project a system that will ultimately store perhaps as much as thirty to fifty tons in the fields. Recall that the black soils in the amazon were remarkably thick as a result of this practice.
This method needs to be globalized.
Firstly because it was used on soils that are impoverished solely due to incessant rainfall. The only alternative was traditional slash and burn agriculture.
Secondly, it sustained huge population densities through intensive cropping. The promise of the tropics was realized over centuries of experience.
Thirdly, it becomes possible for us to study these soils in order to comfortably predict outcomes globally. A thousand year long field test beats a thousand man years of theory any day.
This also very neatly resolves one of the problems faced by model farms worldwide. That is, what is the best way to deal with wood waste in particular and agricultural waste in general.
This explicitly informs us that low temperature carbonization is the preferred solution.
Complete incineration is achieved at 600 degrees. Carbonization occurs between 300 to 400 degrees. And the product is sterilized and charcoal like. Obviously, modern practice will do a superior job of temperature control to provide a uniform product.
It is fundamental to the future of modern agriculture that woodlands are operated in conjunction with traditional husbandry. Making carbonization the principle method for elimination of cornstalks and straw and waste wood is hugely beneficial to soil maintenance.
Our model farm can now become an ongoing carbon collector and carbon sink, with carbon been added to the soils in a form that postpones release for hundreds of years.
This means that instead of woodlands retaining a natural load of an average fifty tons per acre and operated fields dropping down to seven tons per acre through normal cropping methods, we can project a system that will ultimately store perhaps as much as thirty to fifty tons in the fields. Recall that the black soils in the amazon were remarkably thick as a result of this practice.
This method needs to be globalized.
This seems to have a hand-in-hand relationship with "gasification" (low-heat smoldering of carbonaceous matterials) which I remember from the '70s as an alternative fuel. It was conceptualized for an internal combustion engine but was cumbersome and complicated in that use. Other venues may be in use already and I just have not heard. Methane and alcohol production were favored but this method has it's beauty.
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