Recycling the Biosphere

• Main Authors: Young, Daniel, Larson, Ronal G, Knight, Erich
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 2013
• Subjects: Agricultural and Resource Economics; Organizational Communication; Other Environmental Sciences; Soil Science; Arctic; albedo
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/biochar/2013/Policy/8

Entropy, Order and Information in Biochar Structure and Climate Stability: Daniel Young A review of thermodynamic principles relating to the initiation and evolution of life and the effectiveness of biochar. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the emergence of complexity and design in open systems. The importance of pattern and extra-cellular matrix in ecosystem regeneration. The role of biochar in implementing these principles. The Perception of Biochar within the Geo-engineering Community: Ronal Larsen Geoengineering or “Climate engineering” is defined differently by different groups but to all it implies large-scale modification of the environment for climate reasons. . Geoengineering has (or should have) two distinct parts. The first and most controversial is Solar Radiation Management (SRM). Biochar is often inaccurately and unfortunately placed in this category, even though SRM specifically refers only to changing the earth's albedo (a measure of light reflection). Only a few approaches are usually mentioned – injecting sulfur compounds and “whitening” clouds. The second Geoengineering category is called Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Biochar certainly fits here, but biochar proponents are mostly ignoring this topic. Biochar enthusiasts are mostly interested in soil improvement, albeit recognizing biochar's potential CDR/NET benefits. Biochar has 5-6 major competitors in this category – the most serious being “BECCS “(Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage. The advantages and disadvantages of these competitors will be described. But mainly the talk will focus on how the members of the Google group called “Geoengineering” are reacting to the concept of biochar. Some emphasis will be placed on what seems to drive opinions of this expert group – topics such as size of the supporting organizations (IBI, etc), funding, active countries, ethical issues, arctic ice disappearance, etc. Most important is the perceived size of the biomass resource. Agriculturally Engineering the Biosphere: Erich Knight A review of new research concerning Soil Carbon, Carboniferous Aerosols, extent of Pyrolytic-Carbon fraction in soil and the first survey of the extensive deep soil carbon sink.