Birth of a New Wedge

…Agrichar is the term not for the biomass fuel, but for what is left over after the energy is removed: a charcoal-based soil amendment. In simple terms, the agrichar process takes dry biomass of any kind and bakes it in a kiln to produce charcoal. The process is called pyrolysis. Various gases and bio-oils are driven off the material and collected to use in heat or power generation. The charcoal is buried in the ground, sequestering the carbon that the growing plants had pulled out of the atmosphere. The end result is increased soil fertility and an energy source with negative carbon emissions.

Prominent Australian scientist Tim Flannery, who has written a book on global warming called “The Weather Makers,” was on hand to give encouragement to the conferees. “I am deeply committed to your solution,” he told the group. In a keynote address, Flannery provided an update on the acceleration of global warming, from the rapidly melting Greenland ice sheet to the unprecedented drought that has gripped Australia.

Because the pace of global warming already exceeds projections, Flannery is convinced that the world must do more than just reduce emissions; we must find ways to rapidly remove CO2 from the atmosphere. According to many researchers at the conference, agrichar has the potential to store billions of tons of carbon safely away in soils.

The attendees were clearly excited by this potential, and, unlike other meetings concerned with climate change, an electric buzz of optimism was in the air. Joe Herbertson, director of a consulting company called Crucible Carbon, said, “When I heard about this technology, the hairs went up on the back of my neck. This is the best news on climate change I’ve ever heard.”

Truthout