Comments on: Blenheim biochar gets global attention

By: new_biochar_land

new_biochar_land — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:00:14 +0000

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By: Carbonscape update â€” Hot Topic

Carbonscape update â€” Hot Topic — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:22:06 +0000

[...] we mentioned in a recent postÂ New Zealand companyÂ Carbonscape was shortlisted inÂ the Financial Times competition to find the [...]

By: AndrewH

AndrewH — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:54:17 +0000

Or to put it another way…

“Its a hard road finding the perfect solution to climate change, boy!”

By: AndrewH

AndrewH — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:52:45 +0000

I would have thought so too.

I would have thought there are at least a few million hectares where Peter Read could get started without offending Monbiot’s sensibilities too much and basically just give it a whirl.

If it delivers as promised and nothing else turns up with the same capability then I would have thought wide deployment was quite appropriate and to hell with the social consequences.

If it is good enough for the Amazon rain forest it can’t be too bad for the rest of us either.

By: Bryan Walker

Bryan Walker — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:44:32 +0000

I would have thought there were more significant battles for Monbiot to wage than with Peter Read

By: Gareth

Gareth — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:21:30 +0000

GM hoes into Peter Read in his latest column.

By: Bryan Walker

Bryan Walker — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 06:08:50 +0000

I see Chris Goodall, of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, has also responded to Monbiot, gently but firmly.

By: AndrewH

AndrewH — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:58:13 +0000

George Monbiot has a go at Peter Read along with Carbonscape. I saw Peter Read give a talk at Canterbury University a couple of years ago. It was the first time I heard about bio-char.

He seemed fairly pragmatic to me….his goal was getting carbon out of the atmosphere (ie curtailing emissions wasn’t likely to achieve enough in his view). His first tool in the kit was planting forests anywhere and everywhere (think Mackenzie country) at least where albedo wasn’t adversely affected. Second was bio-char.

Not a miracle cure, but a good idea that could be put into action fairly easily.

He also had an interesting analogy that has given me food for thought. If you are in a sinking ship (the earth’s climate) and have to bail, would you prefer a perfectly formed silver teaspoon (kyoto protocol) and measure every drop as you bail…..or would you choose a leaky plastic bucket (forests – biochar and whatever else we can think of) and not care too much if a bit of water falls back in the ship each time.

By: Gareth

Gareth — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:38:30 +0000

Jim Hansen wasn't impressed either.

By: Bryan Walker

Bryan Walker — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:14:39 +0000

Monbiot has certainly gone over the top. Most of what I have read hasn’t proposed it as a universal solution, or an easy way out, but as one among many measures. If scientists like Hansen are right and we have to actually reduce even the present level of CO2 in the atmosphere the possibility of biochar being one way of doing it obviously worth consideration, as are the claims of Lackner and others that we may be able to scrub it from the atmosphere and sequester it in a variety of ways, mineral sequestration being his best hope. So far as benefits to the soil are concerned I think there is recognition that some soils may benefit more than others, and some may not benefit at all. My impression is that there is some quite careful scientific monitoring work being done on that – I saw a video clip of a scientist working on a patch in Australia, but can’t remember where now. And Carbonscape in NZ reported links with Lincoln University for research into biochar effects on NZ soils. There may well be hazards as well as virtues, but the virtues deserve a bit of time to demonstrate how significant they may prove to be.