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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Biochar
  • Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:22:50 -0800 (PST)

My objection is that we can use a given biomass only once: we either return
it to the soil to maintain humus and feed the microbes and other soil
organism or we turn it into charcoal.

Humus is capable of providing both the living environment and the food for
microbes. There is no reason to assume that the microbes and other soil
organisms in my soil would suddenly want prefabricated charcoal “apartment
buildings” after having evolved without them for billions of years.

I live in a semi-arid climate on heavy clay soil. The positive effect on
fertility of adding biomass to the soil is immediately visible. According to
a figure I came across recently, there can be 10 tons or more of soil
organisms in 1 hectare of rich soil. These organisms need to be fed! I
return every ounce of biomass available in my place to the soil. To turn
biomass into charcoal would reduce the food I can provide to the soil
organisms.

The last 100 years have seen an unprecedented destruction of biomass. Many
of our environmental, health and other problems can be directly or indirectly
traced back to this destruction of biomass. Not aware of the importance of
biomass for maintaining humus and soil fertility, the public is likely to
favor any plan to destroy even more biomass - considered a waste by most –
that, like biochar or biofuel, promises a quick fix to our environmental
problems and allows us to continue the wasteful lifestyle made possible by
industrial methods.

On a global scale it doesn’t matter if someone wants to try out charcoal in
his backyard. However, to have the effect on global warming that is claimed
by biochar advocates, we need to turn biomass into charcoal on a large scale.
Added to the destruction of biomass that is already ongoing and the
devastation caused by biofuel production, this will greatly reduce the future
prospects for organic farming, which relies on feeding the soil with biomass.


Dieter





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