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What are other ways we can take an astonishing solution (livestock) to reverse climate change (once caused by that very solution)?
Allan Savory took the unthinkable idea of using the "problem" to solve the problem, using livestock to reverse the desertification once caused by the livestock itself. Is it possible to use fossil fuels to reverse greenhouse gasses? How about fertilizers to reduce water nitrification? Do you think these solutions are possible?
Seth Itzkan
Margriet O'Regan
Margriet O'Regan
It is not widely appreciated that the most substantial process of carbon sequestration on the planet is accomplished biologically by myriad marine organisms making their shells which latter are produced from calcium & magnesium ions in sea water & CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) TAKEN FROM THE AIR AS IT IS FIRST ABSORBED BY SEA WATER. WHEN THE ORGANISMS DIE, THEIR SHELLS DISINTEGRATE & SINK TO THE SEA-FLOOR & FORM CARBONATE SEDIMENTS SUCH AS LIMESTONE, WHICH ARE SAFE CARBON TRAPS which sequester the stuff for sometimes millions of years - see the white cliffs of Dover, England.
"Eco-cement" (& the concretes made with it) are not only better (stronger more elastic, also bond with wood), BUT ARE CARBON NEGATIVE BECAUSE THEY ABSORB MORE CARBON DIOXIDE THAN THEY PRODUCE.
THESE CARBON-NEGATIVE CEMENTS & CONCRETES ARE CALLED "ECO-CEMENTS" because they mimic one of nature's ways of of taking CO2 out of the biosphere & sequestering in this instance in carbonate shells.
This year China & India will use 40 times the amount of cement // concrete used in the USA.
Both of these nations are beginning to realise that if global warming continues they will pay a particularly high price. Each rely on snow & glacial melt water from the Himalayas - which are now diminishing at an ever accelerating pace. "eco-cement" could be just one of their solutions, as it could be for everyone. And biochar !!!! And Allan's desert greening.
george lockwood 20+
Ziska Childs 50+
It's the wild west out there in biochar land
The main problem is the one you stated "I had never heard of biochar before"
"Biochar Solutions" (Morgan Williams company- the one which did the Hope Mine in the previous link) is one of the finalists for the Branson Carbon Capture prize- so yes it's a viable solution. His company has a biochar franchise- you buy the equipment from him and then run your own pyrolizer franchise. It's not a proven money maker (another big problem)
http://www.biocharsolutions.com/
There are a bunch of DIY pyrolizers on youtube (mostly using coffee cans or oil drums) These are fun for the home gardener but don't begin to solve the big problem of beetle kill pine, wood waste or traditional agricultural burning. It's likely your local garden center either has small quantities of biochar for sale or can point you in the right direction. There are also plenty of internet sites where you can buy it in small quantities (again very $$$).
The most hopeful solution I've found so far is a startup in the Washington area which is making a portable pyrolizer. This is the one which makes sense to me- take the kiln to the "feedstock" not the other way around. It seems like the same type of solution as mosquito nets for malaria- don't spend the money on a huge stationary plant but take the oven direct to the woodpile.
http://seedstock.com/2013/02/18/fledgling-biochar-company-makes-it-better-faster-cheaper-to-build-healthy-soil/
Don Anderson 20+
Ziska Childs 50+
This exactly what I mean by "stovepiping" by both the permaculture and the public sector. There are multiple solutions out there and they could dovetail nicely into each other if we just stop protecting our individual turf and get on with it.....
JMO.
Ziska
Ziska Childs 50+
If it's purification you're looking for.....
Take a looksee at what was accomplished with biochar on slag a few years ago. Turn slag into soil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCaOlirfLic
We have a lot of beetle kill and we need to capture that carbon before it goes back into the atmosphere with a big forest fire. A 5% biochar addition to mulch yielded exceptional results at the Hope mine (the youtube link). There was also an impressive study done for the Biosphere project where the air was purified using a "filter" of 3 cubic meters of dirt.
Jacqueline Patterson
Don Anderson 20+
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How about fertilizers to reduce water nitrification?
Look up benefits to compost tea, a health lawn is good for water, CO2 capture and is better looking.
Ziska Childs 50+
Don Anderson 20+
To make it financially attractive how about using coal for home, hospital, etc air filtering then add coal to the current recycling system. AI you put our used filters in your recycle bin and it goes to a coal power plant or preferable as soil biochar as I think you’re suggesting.
It’s uncanning you mentioned mining, for it triggered old memoirs I have of me and my dad going fishing at former strip coal mines that where turned into cattle grassing land with good little known fishing ponds. Good memoirs, thanks for triggering them.
Gail . 50+
As an American, I can speak as one. In America, the most watched (by far) news channel is FOX. Every time the grave threat of global warming is mentioned, there is a refusal to discuss how this will impact us no matter who or what is causing it. Viewers are never told that this will impact the ability of Americans to survive - just as it has impacted other parts of the world. Most people don't know that much of the USA is really a desert, and that the desert is growing as quickly as the glaciers in Glacier National Park are melting.
I am stunned that the national conversation is limited to what is to blame (Nature or man) and it never turns to what it means to our survival, regardless of who or what is causing it. There is a large block of Americans who believe that they and their families will be raptured before hunger and thirst enters their own homes. Because of this, they refuse to even acknowledge the threat. Those who are not raptured deserve what they will get (their thinking), so there is no need to limit any damage or even conserve (which is odd for those who call themselves conservatives).
My question is one of how we can get this message heard without having billions of dollars to buy air-time on those networks that will allow such a video to be aired.
Jacqueline Patterson
Gail . 50+
Jacqueline Patterson
Gail . 50+
We need to think outside of the box.
Keith W Henline 20+
Answer:
CBS currently has the highest overall TV ratings in the US.
Gail . 50+
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/category/cable-news/
(Here is a rundown for 3/4 - but all rundowns for the past couple of years show the same thing. Numbers are showing thousands of viewers.)
FNC 1,195
CNN 362
MSNBC 470
CNBC 159
FBN 68
HLN 439
Primetime
FNC 2,182
CNN 545
MSNBC 893
CNBC 134
FBN 70
HLN 638
Net Morning programs (6-9 AM)
FNC FOX & Friends 1,152
CNN Early Start/Starting Point 193
MSNBC Morning Joe 397
CNBC Squawk Box 174
HLN Morning Express w/ Meade 282
FOX (FNC) certainly is the main-stream news media that they complain so bitterly about.
Keith W Henline 20+
I don't blame the news reporters they have to answer to the man with the money just like I don't blame our troops for the insane wars they are asked to fight with the same exact problem, they have to answer to the man with the money.
george lockwood 20+
Jacqueline Patterson