soil, heat and carbon

• part of pirates of cyber states course on off grid living in cyberia

• published on x.com

• Intro

  • fire can destroy life — or create it

  • key promise: how heat transforms waste into fertility and energy simultaneously

• Terra Pretta

  • the amazonians: pre-columbian people building “dark earths” along the amazon basin
  • archaeological context: fertile patches surrounded by poor lateritic soil
  • composition: charcoal fragments, pottery shards, bones, plant residues
  • lasting fertility: stable carbon, microbial richness, nutrient retention for milenia (8000 years - 500 years ago)
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  • mystery solved: char as the foundation — the biochar effect
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• Science of Biochar

  • basics of pyrolysis
    • input: biomas
    • drying is important
    • pyrolysis: 200c - 400c + no oxygen → devolatilization → carbonization
    • activation + inoculation
    • output: heat, biogas + bio-oil, biochar
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  • difference between ash, charcoal and biochar
    • the balance between carbon yield and energy recovery
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    • charcoal is carbon made for fire
    • biochar is carbon made for life
  • in the soil
    • physical structure: porous carbon matrix as habitat for microbes
    • chemical role: cation exchange, pH buffering, nutrient storage
    • biological synergy: microbe housing + water retention + reduced leaching
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• How to produce?

  • fast start: kontiki kiln
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    • no smoke:
  • how much I need?
    • 370 000 m2 ⇒ top 30 cm
    • $1 - $20 per kg
    • current bioavailable carbon: 3%
    • target for chernozem level: 12%
    • 370000000 kg of soil * 0.09 * 0.5 = ~20 mil kg

    • ⇒ $20M - $200M

  • scaled: too big - requires >10 km2 of forest to feed
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  • quite good designs, but does optimized for biochar only (not heat energy)
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  • we need a two purpose stove: biochar + heat
    • foundation: https://batchrocket.eu/en/
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    • the problem is still unsolved!

• Carbon negativity

  • biochar is the only technology to slow down

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  • reforestation is amazing, but it is too slow

  • biochar have positive feedback loop

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  • biochar - the tech we missed

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  • biochar fusion is the future! ;-)

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• Changing the culture

  • http://burn.city

  • global alternative to burning man every niepi on Bali
  • the culture of burning not ashes, but to biochar
  • next 1 week before 19 march

• Connect

  • t.me/cybervalleyland

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  • x.com/@mastercyb

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