Every year, I hold within me a desire that disco will make a comeback. I often sit in class, dreaming about how amazing it would be to do a classic disco move at a party and not be avoided as if I’m bringing the bubonic plague back, rather than a simple dance step. When all hope seemed to be lost, something centuries old made a comeback, and my faith was restored that maybe disco has fighting chance. However, I am not referring to a dance from the Renaissance, I am referring to an agricultural method performed ages ago.

Over 500 years ago, dwellers of the Amazon Basin lived in an infertile land. Half a millennium later, the Amazon Basin’s soil is regarded as one of the most productive in the world. How is this possible? I see countless forests taken down in favor of a new building, but I never really see the reverse. Even in a not-so-extreme case, such as my own garden, I never see such drastic change in productivity, no matter how hard I try to use HGTV’s gardening tips. However, these dwellers had something up their sleeve that may just be implemented into our modern society. In 2012, the Kyoto Protocol, which is our current climate change pact, will be replaced by an agreement that includes this ancient method of making our soils more fertile – biochar.

Biochar is charred organic material that treats infertile soil to produce more fertile soil. However, the extent of Biochar’s greatness does not just rely on its soil fertilizing abilities. Biochar also sequesters (captures and stores) carbon while also displacing fossil fuel energy. With the potential to do both of these things, the carbon impact that biochar can have is basically double that of something that only does one or the other.

The cost-effectiveness of biochar is remarkable, as well. Biochar does not need to be some complex organic product synthesized in the depths of a factory; it can be homemade, simply by burning peanut shells or pine chips in air-tight conditions. The product is essentially a highly porous charcoal that helps water and nutrient retention within the soil, while also helping retention of gases and heat that can be used as energy. Biochar’s carbon also resists degradation for up to thousands of years, resulting in a nearly permanent sink for carbon dioxide.

Other bioenergy technologies have disadvantages, such as the depletion of soil organic material by such technologies. According to Steiner, the head University of Georgia researcher of this topic, “Removing crop residues for bioenergy production reduces the organic matter accumulating on agricultural fields and thus the soil organic carbon pool, which depends on constant input of decomposing plant material. In contrast, pyrolysis with biochar carbon sequestration produces renewable energy, sequesters CO2 and cycles nutrients back into agricultural fields.”

By utilizing waste biomass and by not competing with food production, biochar seems to be an excellent option to fertilize our world with. With a carbon sink like biochar, our world can ideally minimize the rate of global warming. Retro agricultural methods are back, now I can only hope disco does the same.

News Story Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217190439.htm

Book Reference Link: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=f4wP7xyCM7EC&oi=fnd&pg=PA45&dq=Christoph+Steiner+biochar&ots=Apptoinmg1&sig=ozYB9URz2_nI5pGXOeCHJExL3lY