The argument for encouraging biochar use as a ubiquitous household practice is compelling: Improved garden soil will increase food production where it has the most impact on energy demand. Implementing charcoal manufacture at a household level draws in a supply of yard prunings and workbench scraps that otherwise would be lost to non-charcoal alternatives. Unfortunately, finding even the most basic information on how to implement biochar use as a personal sustainability practice is discouragingly time consuming. In response I have started up a FAQ

Charcoal cannot replace the need for adding mineral nutrients.

Application of the charcoal to soils may be key to sustainability. Application of charcoal to soils is hypothesized to increase bioavailable water, build soil organic matter, enhance nutrient cycling, lower bulk density, act as a liming agent, and reduce leaching of pesticides and nutrients to surface and ground water. The half-life of C in soil charcoal is in excess of 1000 yr. Hence, soil-applied charcoal will make both a lasting contribution to soil quality and C in the charcoal will be removed from the atmosphere and sequestered for millennia.

...engaging with the organic myths of pseudo-environmentalists and their historically impoverished views of agriculture.

Peak Energy has a long post on Terra Preta that brings together what has been established on the subject. As of yet, there is no direct mention of the role of glomalin , just a minor mention of the mutualistic fungi that produce it. Glomalin is an unvalidated factor in Terra Preta formation that several of us sense will be demonstrated by soil research as fundamentally important. Spurred on by back40, I am fascinated with bio-char, Terra Preta's key soil amendment. Last summer I constructed a small charcoal retort out of a cracker tin. I used it to produce small pilot batches of low temperature charcoal. Hoping to transform my simple charcoal into a reasonably bio-char-like material, I am currently composting my bits.

The world needs more science bloggers. There are a lot of science bloggers in NC. Soil science bloggers are few. There is a concentration of soil scientists in and very close to North Carolina. Soil scientists should go to the 2007 Science Blogging Conference Sat, Jan 20, 2007, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chapel Hill, NC.

David Berlind agrees. According Dave Winer, wikis could use a bit of OPML (Outline Processing Markup Language).

I write at least twice a week about life as we know it and the trials and tribulations of dirt doctoring.