My first youtube talk on soil carbon - thanks to all convos here over the years!

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by Ichsani, Sep 15, 2011.

  1. Ichsani

    Ichsani Junior Member

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    Hey guys,

    I've spent several years of my undergrad reading through these boards & conversing on various topics - I found it the best source of decent conversation and thought around sustainable land practice available at the time 8) ... and by looking at the member list its grown much larger since (YAY!)...

    So I wanted to share this for your scrutiny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhSggAFw7TU

    and to say thanks :hi:

    And let me know what you think, concerns, worries, ideas.. all welcome :)

    Cheers
    Ichsani
     
  2. LonerMatt

    LonerMatt Junior Member

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    I really enjoyed the talk Ichsani :).

    What's your favorite way to introduce more carbon/organic matter into dessicated soils?
     
  3. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    Hi Ichsani

    Enjoyable talk, thanks for posting it.

    If your ever passing through Nth Brisbane and want to catch up and talk labile and recalcitrant carbon, shoot me a message. =)

    From a farmers point of view it often comes down to dollars as they are running a money making business, so maybe adding a money value percentage for increasing soil carbon and some real examples of how introduced high carbon soil improvement programs increasing farmers bottom line. Nothing better to get a business persons attention than, you want to make more money, this is how you do it.

    PS just for the sake of the environment please call it Biochar and not Charcoal, their is quite a difference. =)
     
  4. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Baz, if I haven't before.. thanks for teaching me so much about Biochar.

    Ich.. I am downloading it. It's going to take several hours, so I look forward to learning from it.

    Edit - Whoa! A TED discussion!!!! GRATS!!! :party::bow::):clap:
     
  5. Ichsani

    Ichsani Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies guys :)

    @LonerMatt - what is your situation? It does depend if you are working intensively or more extensively and what state (how degraded) the system you are working on is... I guess my favorite if I had to pick would be in the semi-arid systems that use rotational grazing techniques along with restoration of surface hydrology :)

    @Bazman - I'm quite familiar with biochar though I wonder why do you not like the term charcoal? Is it to do with capture of the gases & liquids? (aka a more industrially controlled process rather than a barrel in the backyard) or more to do with the dangers of blithely applying un-weathered biochar to soil? I'm up that way every year or so, perhaps we should have a chat... though when it comes to labile carbon I like to look here https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/EN10006.htm

    As to money, well, everyone is trying to make a buck off this stuff. Yes there is great promise but there remains much groundwork to be done... I am working on the dollars and sense side of things for farmers, but is not the type of material suitable for a TEDx :)

    @Pakanohida - thanks! :) have never been more excited and scared at the same time, as soon as I was asked I almost swallowed my tongue ... but I love the topic, endlessly fascinating! :nerd:
     
  6. LonerMatt

    LonerMatt Junior Member

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    I'm pretty new to gardening and building soil, so I've just recently started adding mulch and grass clippings to hopefully break things down a bit more, and add organic matter. My soil is dark and damp, but doesn't hold together when I hold it in my hands.

    How was your talk received? Were people interested?
     
  7. Ichsani

    Ichsani Junior Member

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    A close-up pic of the soil demo :)

    Over the fence-line comparison, brown vertosol (heavy self-mulching clay), 650 mm/yr

    Left side: conventional, full till & fert wheat cropping ~40 yrs
    Right side: pasture, traveling stock route, agisted
     

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  8. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Good luck with your research, it simply and profoundly reenforced the notion that I need to build my soil back up which I am doing with living mulches. All around my area are clear cuts & areas like your photo with no plants, only soil. Its very depressing at times.
     
  9. Ichsani

    Ichsani Junior Member

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    @LonerMatt

    Sounds like the soil where I just moved, heavy, sandy clay, wet. Getting the worms back in is key I think (mine had none when I arrived, now there's some..)... to do it quick smart dig in a bag of manure (horse, sheep, cow) to every square metre or so (but I might be moving again.. so am doing it the slower, cheaper way of just growing plants & chop n drop or just digging them in). I'd also added some dolomite, occasionally some compost when I have it and some rockdust...

    The talk was well received tho the audience was stacked to people who are into agriculture :) Guess the best comments I got were around 'clear, simple language' & ' you just talked to us'.. :)

    @Paknohida - sounds great :)
     
  10. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    I have been guilty in the past of calling it charcoal as a way to explain it, but I now have drawn a line in the sand to educate people to the differences of the product and how it is manufactured.

    Not all chars are equal, not by a long shot, even comparing what I make with my home made gasification or batch reactors and comparing those against something produced in the perfect pyrolysis environment, The porous structure produced in the right temperate range and quenched at the right time produces the same quality product every time, the ash content is extremely low and a passive system like that developed by Russell Burnett retains much of the feedstock nutrients in a usable plant form. It has the optimal particle size to maximise the porous surface area. Plus the fact that we scrub and capture emissions and use the syn-gas to fuel the system, excess syn-gas is used to generate energy and the system produces what I hope will end up being a valuable liquid condensate by-product. Our production process uses a waste stream from the poultry industry and the product works extremely well when matched with commercial composts also made from poultry litter. Other prototype systems use similar scrubbing and capture technology to us and our industry is based on using sustainable feedstocks.

    Compared to what I call charcoal. Charcoal is produced as a product to burn in fires or BBQ's with limited smoke, plus some possible filtering and other minor uses. A lot of charcoal production is made in earth pits, yes even in Australia. The feed stock is in general hardwood timber taken from various sources, some better than others. The process is in general done by feel, with possible primitive heat and oxygen controls, it's not that important when you are making charcoal compared to a horticultural grade Biochar. Emissions handling can be limited to say the least. I'm sure there may be producers doing it well but the charcoal fines are still just a by-product of making charcoal. I get phone calls a couple times a month with people offering to sell me charcoal fines which is often imported, it's crazy stuff.

    I think Horticulture Australia or one of those gov industry groups are in the process of producing an industry standard booklet. I hope this will end up clearing the path for those trying to get a clean Biochar industry off the ground.

    Here's the local and international bodies representing research and the very limited Biochar industry.
    https://www.anzbiochar.org/
    https://www.biochar-international.org/

    The DPI calls it Biochar, the CSIRO calls it Biochar, the USDA calls it Biochar. The Queensland University green waste trial I'm involved with is calling it Biochar. So I'm not alone with my line in the sand. =)

    So for someone who touches on the topic of recalcitrant carbon suggesting Biochar instead of Charcoal will at least point those who are interested in the right direction with regards to research. =)
     

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