Image courtesy of Todd434 on FlickerThere's a perplexing story on the USA today website. The title is "Could chicken manure help curb climate change?" Here's the gist: A farmer is able to turn chicken manure into "...a charcoal-like substance known as "biochar" — which is not only an excellent fertilizer, but also helps keep carbon in the soil instead of letting it escape into the atmosphere..." Well, that sounds great!
Digging a little deeper reveals some contradictory info:
"Because biochar contains high levels of carbon, the element contained in all living things, it often serves as a very effective organic fertilizer..." BUT "the carbon in biochar is particularly resistant to that conversion, so it stays "locked into" the soil much longer than other, unprocessed substances — as long as 1,000 years in some cases." Fertilizer that doesn't break down?! How is that fertilizer? Maybe I'm missing something here?
I just hope that farmer (who paid $1 million for his biochar machine) can make some money from this venture...or at least break even.
4 comments:
Interesting, it must be chicken week this week! We just posted about our 'girls' yesterday. I actually have never heard of Biochar, but it does sound odd taking a perfectly biodegradable by-product of poultry rearing, and locking up the carbon. I think for now we'll stick to good old fashioned composting. The gardens love it, and it doesn't cost a million dollars to make!
I've heard of biochar, and I had this picture in my head of it being something you bury deep down, sort of like the stuff that was buried in the now-melting permafrost, and hope it holds on and slowly, slowly releases for those thousand years. I think if you want it to be fertilizer, you compost it for a season and then spread it direct on your fields. (This is what my grandfather did with the results of his 8 chicken-houses starting in the late '40s and the soil quality was fabulous for this treatment.)
Hope the farmer didn't get screwed on this one. That happens so often...
Jackie, I am still trying to get my mind around this biochar matter. Further study is called for before I can comment. I must say however ... that is a gorgeous portrait of someone's chicken! Interesting and important topic for us to all learn more about. ;>) carol
I've read about biochar in the past. Now I've forgotten most of it, but I think it holds onto the nutrients in the soil, so they don't leach out as much. You aren't supposed to have to fertilize as much.
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