Carbon Capture in Garden & Field

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NEWS FROM THE VEGAN-ORGANIC NETWORK

 

CARBON CAPTURE IN GARDEN & FIELD

Improved soil condition, increased yields and reduced global warming are

just three of the huge potential benefits of biochar, the residue

obtained from burning biomass in a fire without oxygen.

Craig Sams of Carbon Gold, writing in the summer edition of the

Vegan-Organic Network’s magazine Growing Green International, is clear

about biochar’s future role: “We should minimise burning biomass and

avoid feeding it to animals – turning it into biochar is our single most

effective tool to reverse global warming.”

Sams explains how the addition of biochar to the soil can reduce the

need for fertilisers and watering. As biochar stays permanently in the

soil, it makes a contribution to carbon dioxide and methane reduction

and reduces nitrate leaching, thus lowering emissions of nitrous oxide,

a greenhouse gas 300 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

Biochar is an exciting potential source of income for upland farmers who

are struggling to make a living from livestock. Worldwide, more than

half of farmland (6 billion hectares) is devoted to producing animal

feed. If just 2 billion hectares converted to biochar production, it is

estimated that 36 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide would be permanently

removed from the atmosphere every year.

Sams calls for an end to government subsidies for meat producers,

currently in the form of artificially cheap animal feeds and a lack of

carbon accounting or carbon taxes. His company, Carbon Gold, is

producing biochar from Soil Association-certified organic woodland waste

and thinnings. Simple pyrolosis equipment for producing your own

biochar is expected to be available in autumn 2009. See

www.carbongold.com.

The Vegan-Organic Network now has more than 35 affiliated stockfree

organic farmers and growers, half in the UK and the rest overseas,

mainly in North America. With topics as varied as the importance of

earthworms for soil structure, sensational seaweed and solar tractors,

Growing Green International is a treasure trove of articles about

stockfree growing around the world.

Read Craig Sams’ article in full on the VON website:

www.veganorganic.net.

For further information see www.veganorganic.net and

www.stockfreeorganic.net.

 

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