Lovelock on biochar

Dr. Lovelock has endorsed biochar as a means of mitigating the effects of climate change resulting from excessive emissions of climate gases. The article behind the link also takes issue with the attack on biochar by George Monbiot from the Guardian. His outburst has derailed a productive debate that needs to continue. However, we must keep the debate in perspective.

Here is a quote from the article:

But if we could also extract CO2 we "might" have a shot. And the approach with the most potential, said Lovelock, is to turn organic material into "biochar" and bury it. Lovelock endorsed the approach during his May 26 meeting in Toronto. "I've written before about biochar, or agrichar, or charcoal, or just plain char – it's all pretty much the same. Take biomass, such as wood or municipal organic waste, and bake it at over 300 degrees C in the absence of oxygen. The process is called pyrolysis, and what it does is lock in about 60 per cent of the carbon in the charred biomass."

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/654444

Biochar Workshop

Biochar will take centre stage in Oslo on Friday 26th during a workshop arranged by yours truly and Arvid Solheim of the Norwegian Development Fund.

The objective is to direct focus at this very exciting substance that can contribute to carbon sequestration, soil enrichment and increased productivity as well as serve as a means to build value chains.

Biochar is the subject of many lively debates, but I encourage people to keep their eye on the ball - the the big one - Earth. Photosynthesis harvests CO2 from the atmosphere and produces biomass. Normally the CO2 is released back into the atmosphere when biomass burns or rots. The plan is to take "waste" biomass and use pyrolysis to convert it to biochar, an inert substance that remains stable in the earth for thousands of years. Biochar is porous and hence can act as a "sponge" for water as well as being an excellent habitat for micro-organisms that help produce nutrients that benefit the soil. It also acts as a slow release mechanism for nutrients and moisture.

The plan is not to create giant monoculture plantations, but to use biochar judiciously to improve soil quality and extract CO2 from the atmosphere.

Mobile Phone + Computer = Mobile Computer

Moore's law and convergence are reaching an interesting inflection point.

Would you like a full blown Windows PC that would fit in your inside pocket? With a proper keyboard?

That is also a full-blown smart phone as well? 2 gig memory and 100 gig disk? High resolution screen?

With the Intel Atom processor and new high quality bluetooth handsfree earplugs.

With this, you could travel and attend meetings with everything you need in your inside pocket.

Identity Big Bang

In the beginning, we started out as just one unique physical entity.

Then, the digital big bang occurred, and increasing numbers of digital fragments of ourselves were flung far and wide into the digital universe. Cyberspace is teeming with ill-intentioned aliens. They feed on and abuse orphan digital identities.

Can we save ourselves from this mounting danger? How can we create our own inalienable digital entity that is protected from attack and misuse?

Interesting thought, no?

Identity and Security

Those are two immensely important and valuable words in the Internet vocabulary.

Identity theft and Internet crime are spreading like a virulent pandemic, attacking our identity and wallets.

Reliable strong authentication is one of the remaining unconquered frontiers of computing.

Watch this space!

Biochar - a top 10 candidate to reduce CO2

These two videos explain why biochar can play a key role in sequestering CO2, reducing rainforest destruction, producing net energy in the form of biofuels and improving agricultural productivity - all at the same time!

Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-hSl59ET2A
Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6EPKYp5UgI

Enjoy - and then think about the implicaitons!

Gore and Obama

Here is an excellent summary of the Gore prescription and some of the remedies prescribed by Obama:

http://eternalhope.blog-city.com/al_gore_on_climate_change__where_are_we_now.htm