BioChar 1 (created 8-7-09)

We've all seen biochar but probably didn't have any idea that it has the potential to save the world. Have you ever made toast that went to far. The black stuff is biochar. Go too far when toasting a marshmallow over a campfire, the black stuff is biochar. In the spring, some country people burn off the dead grass in the road side ditch. The black stuff left is biochar. Before the European Americans settled the Great Plains and tilled it into farmland, there were natural, periodic grass fires which swept across the land. It left behind a thin layer of black biochar. This biochar built up over thousands of years is why the Great Plains were so incredibly fertile and the early farmers reported top soil "six feet deep."

Biochar is a form of activated carbon, similar to the universal antidote used by doctors. Biochar acts like a molecular sponge. It absorbs molecules which are in excess around them and then releases those molecules when they are no longer in excess. So when biochar is incorporated into the soil, it absorbs water when it rains and hold onto it until a dry spell and then releases the water for the plants roots. Biochar absorbs nutrients when in excess, as when a farmer or yard owner applies fertilizer, and releases it as the plant roots need it. Biochar protects the ground water from many forms of pollution.

Biochar won't protect the soil and groundwater from everything. It is not a panacea. In a future blog, I will expose some of the horribly silly things people are talking about doing with biochar.

Bye for now, Doug