738 #ClimateSolutions #BioChar
"This ancient bit of ingenuity keeps carbon trapped for thousands of years"
by Matt Simon for Grist [Mar 03, 2025] [Audio available]
https://grist.org/science/ancient-carbon-credit-trapped-biochar/
Quotes:
"Turning plant waste into biochar captures loads of carbon. New research suggests it stays trapped for much longer than scientists thought."
"For all its plant and animal life aboveground, the Amazon rainforest’s soils are surprisingly poor in nutrients necessary for growing food. Thousands of years ago, the region’s Indigenous peoples solved this problem by creating “terra preta” from table scraps and charcoal and tucking it away in the hostile soil."
"As biomass like trees and crops grow, they sequester carbon in their leaves and branches. Heat that biomass up without fully consuming it and it turns to nearly pure carbon known as biochar,"
"The nagging question, though, is exactly how long that carbon stays in the soil. A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that scientists have been underestimating the staying power of biochar, meaning the technology is actually an even more powerful way to store carbon than previously thought."
"Nailing down exactly how long biochar can hold onto carbon is crucial for the carbon-removal credit industry, where companies like Microsoft and Google fund projects to draw carbon out of the atmosphere."
"Much as humans eat food off dishes instead of eating the dishes themselves, bacteria and fungi choose to eat organic matter like leaves over biochar. “It’s kind of like if you have a nice piece of cake and they bring it to us on a plate, we’re going to eat the cake,” Sanei said. “If we are very hungry, we eat it much faster. But still, we’re not going to eat the plate.”
#TakeCareForLife #TakeCareForEarth
#StopBurningThings #StopEcoside #StopThePlunder
#ClimateBreakDown #StopRapingNature
