<Will biofuels always be hopeless? The Oil Drum DrumBeat: May 27, 2006>

97 comments on More on biofuels

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porsena on May 26, 2006 - 12:35pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The soil depletion issue is on my mind as well, and for the same reason. Using biomass for fuels removes more than nutrients from the system. The basic soil structure is at risk from the removal of carbon, which ends up in the atmosphere, where the feedback from warming contributes further to the loss of carbon from soils, as I posted here.
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Engineer-Poet on May 27, 2006 - 9:39am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
From what I've read, biomass left on the surface decays quickly and contributes relatively little to soil tilth.  Matter left inches to feet below the surface and undisturbed by tilling tends to remain.  That matter consists of plant roots, not stalks and stems.

This points toward using zero-till, leaving an optimum amount of organic matter on the surface and returning all nutrients either as liquid effluent or ash.  If some of the carbon can be returned as charcoal (inorganic) and tilled in every ten years or so, the nutrient-holding capacity of the soil could be substantially increased at the same time as carbon is sequestered for millennia.

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tochigi on May 29, 2006 - 10:38pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
EP,

You are absolutely right!
(I don't often find myself agrreeing with you so wholeheartedly ;-)
No-till, leave as much as possible in place or return everything you don't use.
These principles are the essence of the Masanobu Fukuoka philosophy of natural farming. I believe such principles can be applied in varying situations with positive long-term results.
i.e. lower external inputs (energy, materials) and healthy soil.
Mr. Fukuoka has been analysing energy inputs versus energy outputs of farming since the 1930s.
Blinded by the "Green Revolution", most people dismissed his valid concerns about the disaster being created by "modern" farming methods.

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97 comments on More on biofuels

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