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| 7/1/2009 9:56:00 AM Email this article • Print this article |
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Cornell scientist Johannes Lehmann shows off examples of biochar. (Photo by Rachel Philipson) |
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Cornell research focusing on improving soil
Taryn Thompson
Reporter
Johannes Lehmann lived and worked in the Amazon rainforest for three years before coming to Cornell University in the early 1990s.
His research? It was dedicated to the improvement of degraded soils in the Amazon basin - where rich terra preta soils are native and formerly unlimited.
Now, Lehmann is focused on recreating the sought-after components of this type of soil here in the United States.
"My research found that terra preta soils still maintain high carbon levels and fertility," Lehmann said. "These soils are very high in biochar."
Thanks to modern bioenergy systems, the production of biochar has become a feasible approach to answering many environmental and ecological questions.
A stable charcoal product, biochar greatly enhances crop yields when applied to agricultural fields, and reduces the environmental impact on croplands.
"It turned out this char not only generates fertile soil but is highly persistent soil," Lehmann said, "and that provided [another] incentive to look at biochar as a carbon sink for climate change mitigation."
Lehmann added that he'll be looking at different opportunities to produce biochar.
"We're interested in waste management and looking at different feedstocks" that might produce biochar, he said.
"We're looking at using food waste from Cornell, and old pallets, brush, and yard clippings, to use as feedstock for biochar production," Lehmann said. "We're looking at all kinds of maneuvers that would otherwise constitute an environmental liability in terms of its phosphorous transport into aquifers."
Lehmann and other Cornell scientists aim to quantify biochar's potential as a tool to fight climate change. The multidisciplinary faculty group won a highly competitive Academic Venture Fund award through the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future to launch a new and innovative collaborative research program.
According to the center, their integrated economic, energy, and life-cycle data analysis will provide a framework for further research to establish biochar as a major option within the dominant and emerging bioenergy technologies - one that provides carbon-negative energy.
"During production of biochar, half of the carbon mass and 60 percent of the energy contained in [its] biomass can be captured as a liquid or gaseous component," Lehmann said. "[We] can capture that to produce a variety of energy sources, like electric, hydrogen, and liquid oil for powering simple combustion engines, or simply to provide energy for space heating."
Lehmann said that he and fellow scientists are also interested in looking at biochar as a way to improve soil health and fertility.
"The soils provided an incentive to give a very close look at using biochar amendments to generate fertile soil," Lehmann said. "It also can decrease leeching, which improves environmental quality and lowers off-site pollution."
He and his team will also be testing the hypothesis that overall fertilizer consumption can be reduced, considering biochar's ability make fertilizer more efficient in producing crop yield.
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Suicide has recently come to Ithaca in a very public, and at times controversial, way. This past academic year, after three years with no suicides, Cornell experienced what is known in the scientific community as a "suicide cluster." OK, so maybe you're like me and you thought this whole JetBlue flight attendant story was good for maybe one news cycle.  |
