Biochar!

Although there will be much more to consider as the election saga unfolds this week, I want to talk about a local project that will make our community here more secure and resilient regardless of election results in November.  A local group, Zero Waste Vashon (ZWV), wants us to mimic the efficiency of the rest of nature, in which [where] the concept of waste does not exist.  The wooded lot next door seems to grow year after year with seemingly nothing but sunlight, water, and air being added and no waste ever piling up.  Just the leaf-fall would quickly become a hundred feet high if it wasn’t actively recycled by millions of flora and fauna for their, and our, ultimate benefit.  By far the greatest number and variety of those flora and fauna live in and make up the soil.  

For that reason, it is understandable that Zero Waste Vashon is concentrating on nurturing our soil with products that we heretofore have considered “waste.” Americans spend millions of dollars hauling this “waste” to remote landfills and millions more importing processed soil amendments made from the same material.  Why not avoid all that transport and do as nature does:  recycle our own material?  It may be a long time before we know how to be as totally resource self-sufficient as most of the rest of nature is, but we can make great strides, now, by utilizing well-understood knowledge and exploring new concepts that hold great promise.

The tried and true technology of compost making is one process that Zero Waste Vashon is trying to systematize for maximum output and utilization.  They are exploring better methods for traditional compost making as well as researching the viability of an anaerobic digester that would produce methane as an energy resource and compost as well.  That methane, a potent greenhouse gas, now escapes into the atmosphere.  

This brings up a second consideration in all that ZWV does: combatting climate change by carbon sequestration.  Although it is inevitable that the natural cycle produces greenhouse gases, it is evident that their pre-human production was usually manageable.  The atmospheric carbon dioxide was absorbed by the oceans and sequestered in the soil and sea beds as photosynthesis created stable carbon to store and oxygen for us to breathe.

Unfortunately, most of the soil that we have cultivated for our own use has been destroyed by modern farming methods.  The living soil is decimated by chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.  As well, the practice of clearing and tilling the soil on a regular basis disrupts the living structure and allows sequestered carbon to be released as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.  More on that problem another time.

Since we are all carbon-based life forms, carbon is a major ingredient in the soil.  It plays a part not only in the energy chemistry of life but also in the physical structure of the soil where nutrients need to be available and the micro-flora and fauna live.  Recent studies have estimated that soil, the extremely thin living layer that covers much of the earth, can sequester twice as much carbon as the atmosphere and five times as much as all the world’s forests.

An old method of enriching soil and sequestering carbon has been rediscovered.  Ancient civilizations in South America produced soils that are still fertile today due to the regular introduction of biochar.  Biochar, basically the same as charcoal, is produced by burning woody material in a low-oxygen environment.  It is the black brittle wood-shaped chunks you will find among the ashes of last night’s bonfire.  It is pure carbon and, if left in the ground in the absence of heat, will hold that carbon for thousands of years.  As to the aforementioned fertility, the theory is that the biochar provides millions of life supporting  tiny pockets that hold nutrients, water, and air and provide habitat for soil microflora and fauna.  This year, ZWV will be doing a comparative study of the effects of biochar in the Food Bank Garden behind the IGA complex.  If you are interested in finding out more or helping with that project, contact Will Lockwood, will.lockwood@zerowastevashon.org.

If you would like to know more about biochar, how to make it, and how to use it, plan to participate in Zero Waste Vashon’s daylong event on June 18. The Country Store is hosting workshops on worms and natural pesticides starting at 10 AM.  At 2 PM, there will be a lecture by Norm Baker at the new VAA Green Room. Mr. Baker is a biochar expert and is involved in the conservation of fish and wildlife in Puget Sound.  Admission is by donation. At 3:30 PM, at Vashon Distilling across the street, there will be a biochar-making demonstration by our biochar czar, Ken Miller, and a party featuring the wildly popular local band, Poultry in Motion, available for autographs and selfie portraits between sets!  Vashon Distilling will have samples available and food will also be available.  Should be informative and a lot of fun, so come for part or all.

Comments?   
terry@vashonloop.com