> No. Biocoal is, afterall, just high-grade coal. We know it > will stay unchanged in the ground for millions of years. That > may not be true of biochar.
Biocoal is a term used by different companies and institutes, which includes my own institutiton, namely the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands#. http://www.ecn.nl/publications/default.aspx?nr=c05013 You will find much more by googling "ECN torrefaction". The article you quote: http://biopact.com/2007/08/belgian-dutch-partnership-to-develop.html is a cut and paste job by an overworked editor. Look at the graphic: http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u238/biopact2/biopact_biocoal_comparison.jpg?t=1186749895 It has zero scientific content and comes from this website: http://www.biocoal.net/comparison.html The Biopact story basically fuses two stories that have nothing to do with each other, and then throws in some further information gleaned from a very dubious website, the sole connection being the use of the term "biocoal". > It certainly is not when applied > as a soil amendment. See this survey report: > > http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/node/578 The survey you quote is really interesting and up to date. I think there are differences in biodegradability between different kinds of coal, lignite, peat, torrefied biomass etc.., but I don't think they are well researched, and I suspect that coal may be safe from aerobic degradation for millions of years because it is in an anaerobic environment. Does anybody here know of research looking at the potential albedo effects of using carbon as a soil conditioner? # The usual disclaimer, this is my own private opinion and I am not speaking for my own employer in this forum. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
