Soil
From BioenergyWiki
(Redirected from Soils)
Bioenergy > Environmental issues > Agriculture > Soil
| This page needs work! | ||
| You can help us by editing this page: add information, links, images or make other changes! This is your wiki, too! | ||
Contents |
[edit]
Issues
[edit]
Soil amendments
- Charcoal (char) can be used as a soil amendment to enhance soil fertility.
- Remineralization, the introduction of powered rock and minerals, can enhance soil fertility.
[edit]
Soil carbon sequestration
- Soil is the second largest sink for carbon (after the oceans)
- News:
- A dirty way to fight climate change - 29 November 2007 by Steven I. Apfelbaum and John Kimble on Yahoo News: The authors recommend the sequestration of carbon in soils, which they describe as "one of the most overlooked yet most effective and inexpensive strategies available." They also advise that trees should not be planted where they may reduce the volume of carbon stored in the soil, such as lands that formerly were prairies or wetlands; "deep-rooted grassland or wetland plants, which sequester carbon more effectively than trees do" should be planted instead. Soil carbon can also be enhanced through "no-till" farming.
- The authors conclude that "Scientific analyses show that recapturing atmospheric carbon into soil and plant communities is the easiest and least expensive method for mitigating climate change and that it provides many other economic, cultural, and ecological benefits. Restoring soils in currently farmed land can rein in 10 to 15 percent of the annual carbon emissions Americans create. Replanting native grasslands and restoring drained wetlands can reduce up to another 20 percent....These techniques can also produce usable bioenergy crops, food, and fiber supplies. This enables energy, food, and commodities to be produced locally, thus reducing transportation and distribution costs and their associated carbon emissions."
- A dirty way to fight climate change - 29 November 2007 by Steven I. Apfelbaum and John Kimble on Yahoo News: The authors recommend the sequestration of carbon in soils, which they describe as "one of the most overlooked yet most effective and inexpensive strategies available." They also advise that trees should not be planted where they may reduce the volume of carbon stored in the soil, such as lands that formerly were prairies or wetlands; "deep-rooted grassland or wetland plants, which sequester carbon more effectively than trees do" should be planted instead. Soil carbon can also be enhanced through "no-till" farming.
- Organizations:
- Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (located at Colorado State University, Colorado) - "CASMGS is a consortium of nine universities and one National Laboratory assembled to investigate the potential of agricultural soils to mitigate greenhouse gases."[1]
- Soil Carbon Center at Kansas State University (Kansas)
- Events:
- 17-18 December 2007, Manhattan, Kansas: CASMGS Forum: Agriculture's Role in the New Carbon Economy
- Resources:
[edit]
Soil erosion
[edit]
Soil organic matter
News:
- Crop Residue May Be Too Valuable to Harvest for Biofuels, 15 July 2008 press release by Washington State University: "In the rush to develop renewable fuels from plants, converting crop residues into cellulosic ethanol would seem to be a slam dunk. However, that might not be such a good idea for farmers growing crops without irrigation in regions receiving less than 25 inches of precipitation annually, says Ann Kennedy, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service soil scientist".
- "If residue were harvested, she said, soil fertility would drop and farmers would have to find other ways to increase the amount of organic matter in their soils."
- "'We need to constantly replenish organic matter—so removing valuable residue, especially in areas with low rainfall, may not be the best practice.'"[2]
[edit]
Publications
[edit]
Scientific papers
- The Environmental Benefits of Cellulosic Energy Crops at a Landscape Scale, 3 May 1996, by Robin L. Graham, et al, finds that "growing biomass energy crops can enhance soil fertility or degrade it."[3]. The particular contribution to soil fertility depends on a number of related factors.
| Soil | edit | |
| Soil carbon (Biochar) | Terra preta | ||
| Types of bioenergy | edit | |
|
Gases: Biopropane | Biogas | Synthetic natural gas | Syngas | ||
