The Biochar Solution

by Bates, Albert; Shiva, Vandana

• ISBN13: 9780865716773
• ISBN10: 0865716773
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-23
• Publisher: New Society Pub

Summary

Conventional Agriculture pollutes our water, is a major contributor to climate change and has degraded soil carbon by as much as 80 percent in most of the world's breadbaskets. Created by burning biomass in the absence of oxygen, biochar has the unique ability to withhold carbon from the atmosphere while simultaneously building soil fertility. Author Albert Bates traces the evolution of this extraordinary substance from the ancient dark earths of the Amazon to current practices.

Author Biography

Albert Bates teaches permaculture and appropriate technology and has written several books on energy and the environment including The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Losing the Recipe
The Roots of a Predicament	p. 9
Sombroek's Vision	p. 13
Conquistadors	p. 15
El Dorado	p. 19
The Great White Way	p. 25
The View from the Bluff	p. 30
Confederados	p. 36
Hartt's Breakthrough	p. 39
City Z	p. 43
Agriculture and Climate
Making Sand	p. 49
The Moldboard	p. 55
Changing the Paradigm	p. 58
The Amazon and the Ice Age	p. 63
Predicting Climate's Meander	p. 67
Capturing Carbon
Carbon Farming	p. 75
Understanding Soil	p. 82
The Soil Food Web	p. 91
The Role of Ruminants	p. 98
Compost	p. 102
Tea Craft and Designer Biochar	p. 107
From Biochar to Terra Preta	p. 113
Making Charcoal	p. 121
Stove Wars	p. 125
Gardening the Earth
Milpas	p. 141
Chinampas	p. 146
Trees	p. 149
The Power of Youth	p. 154
Greening the Desert	p. 159
Sahara Forest	p. 161
Drey's Challenge	p. 164
At the Turning Point
The Biochar Critique	p. 169
Carbon Trading	p. 177
The International Biochar Initiative	p. 181
Permaculture Marines	p. 184
Carbon-Negative Communities	p. 188
Notes	p. 197
Index	p. 205
About the Author	p. 209
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