Special Series: What’s the deal with offsets?Photo illustration by Tom Twigg / GristImagine a system that can:
(potentially) store billions of tons of carbon in soil for centuries; dramatically reduce agricultural waste, forest debris and some municipal solid waste, thus eliminating the production of greenhouse gases that result from their decomposition; generate energy to both power itself and a surplus for use in surface transportation or electricity generation; and greatly increases the productivity of agricultural soil, thus reducing the need for expensive and polluting fertilizers.This is the promise of biochar — the carbon-rich remains of “burning” organic matter via an oxygen-free process. According to the International Biochar Initiative (IBI), biochar “has four value streams: waste reduction, energy production, soil fertilization, and carbon sequestration.” This has implications for both developing and developed economies — and, most importantly, the interrelated problems of global warming and food security.
Based on the work of researchers in the Amazon who discovered the startling properties of terra preta,... Read more
