I think Lehmann is way ahead of the pack in Branson's Climate Prize Race. According to the New York Times, $100 Million was spent on the race for the $10 Million X Prize".
The movie,"Rat Race" with a story along similar lines was hilarious. Fred ----- Original Message ----- From: Frederick Sparber To: vortex-l Sent: 2/18/2007 12:44:39 AM Subject: Re: [Vo]: Re: The $25 Million Branson Climate Prize http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/Biochar_projects.htm " Currently (January 2007) we conduct experiments to evaluate the effects of bio-char on nutrient adsorption, nutrient leaching, water percolation, soil water availability and carbon cycling as well as the stability and mobility of bio-char itself with research in our Ithaca, New York lab, in Colombia, Brazil, Zambia and Kenya." " Greenhouse Experiments Manaus, Brazil, 2000-2001: Greenhouse experiments were conducted with rice and cowpea using closed and open systems (allowing the determination of leaching) at the Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental, Manaus, Brazil. (Collaborator: Jose Pereira da Silva Jr.) Abstract. The study tested whether bio-char additions were able to improve crop growth and nutrition as well as reduce nutrient leaching. In the first experiment, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) was planted in pots, while in the second experiment lysimeters were used to quantify water and nutrient leaching from soil cropped to rice (Oryza sativa L.). Bio-char additions significantly increased plant growth and nutrition. While foliar N concentrations decreased, uptake of P, K, Ca, Zn, and Cu by the plants increased with higher bio-char additions. Leaching of applied fertilizer N was significantly reduced by bio-char, and Ca and Mg leaching was delayed." http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/biochar/Biochar_energy.htm This research explores the opportunities and constraints to combining a bio-char soil management with energy production using novel low-temperature pyrolysis. Three real-world issues justify this approach: (1) The ever increasing pressure on rural land users to generate sufficient income from their land with decreasing market prices for food; (2) the necessity to provide sustainable production systems that minimize on- and off-site pollution and soil degradation; and (3) the demand for solutions to global warming. While food prices do not increase sufficiently enough to ensure healthy farm economies without subsidies in many industrialized countries, energy prices increase at unprecedented rates. Within the past two years, gas and diesel prices increased by 150% (DOE, 2005). In contrast, the proportion of a household income spent for food decreased from 21% in 1950 to 10% in 2000 (ERS, 2005). One strategy to resolve this dilemma for farmers is to engage in energy production over the long term in addition to food production in order to diversify income. Several different strategies for land-based bio-energy production exist that build on modern biomass technology (in contrast to traditional biomass, UNDP 2004). The underlying principle is usually the sustainable land-based production of an energy crop or the use of waste biomass (also animal manures!) and the conversion into bio-fuels by various mechanisms. Possible avenues for producing bio-fuels from bio! mass are ethanol production ! through microbial fermentation, extraction of oils from crops, pyrolysis and gasification of biomass (Caputo et al., 2005). Farmers have begun to understand the economic opportunities associated with bio-energy. This proposal introduces an emergent strategy of combining energy production using modern biomass with land application of bio-char which is a residue from the energy production that has multiple environmental benefits. ----- Original Message ----- From: Frederick Sparber To: vortex-l Sent: 2/17/2007 4:45:20 PM Subject: Re: [Vo]: Re: The $25 Million Branson Climate Prize Lehmann (Cornell University) also claims Bio-Char or Agri-Char in the soil also sequesters atmospheric CO2. Over the years I have noticed that flood irrigation of farmland produces higher crop yields than non-aerated well water, implying that soil CO2 made available to the plant root system aids plant growth. Given the large surface area of a good carbon char (more than hundreds of square meters per gram along with soil moisture retention, I can buy that. Fred Reading: Day, D., Evans, R.J., Lee, J.W. and Reicosky, D.: 2005, Economical CO2 , SOx , and NOx capture from fossil-fuel utilization with combined renewable hydrogen production and large-scale carbon sequestration', Energy 30 , 2558-2579. Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. and Rondon, M.: 2006, 'Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems a review', Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 11, 403-427 Li, X., Hagaman, E., Tsouris, C. and Lee, J.W.: 2003, Removal of carbon dioxide from flue gas by ammonia carbonization in the gas phase', Energy & Fuels 17 , 69-74. Yaman, S.: 2004, Pyrolysis of biomass to produce fuels and chemical feedstocks', Energy Conversi! on and Management 45 , 651-671. News Feature article in NATURE: Marris E 2006 Black is the new green. Nature 442: 624-626.
