'Biochar' goes industrial with giant microwaves to lock carbon in charcoal


	'Biochar' goes industrial with giant microwaves to lock carbon in charcoal

JICWyllie

3-13-2009 4:48 PM

165 views

tags:

environment, forests, charcoal, i-climate change, i-opportunities

JICWyllie says:

Microwave uses electricity. Burning charcoal in the traditional way produces heat energy which could be used to produce electricity.

Add a Comment

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

Today's Top Clips

visit the Top Clips page

View the Top Clips from March 13, 2009

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/38fe3aab-eaa9-4ddb-b572-011a805d46dd/2FFEAD32-19B9-4878-AF97-09EE91AB1C2C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon" style="font-size: 11px;">www.guardian.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon">Turney has built a 5m-long prototype of his microwave, which  produces a tonne of CO<SUB>2</SUB> for $65. He plans to launch his company, <A title="" href="http://carbonscape.com/">Carbonscape</A>, in the UK this month to build the next generation of the machine</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon">Chris Turney, a professor of geography at the University of Exeter, said that by burying the charcoal produced from microwaved wood, the carbon dioxide absorbed by a tree as it grows can remain safely locked away for thousands of years.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon">He is not alone in touting the benefits of this type of charcoal, known as <A title="" href="http://www.biochar-international.org/">biochar</A> or biocharcoal. The Gaia theorist, <A title="" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange">James Lovelock,</A> and Nasa's <A title="" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/hansen">James Hansen</A> have both been outspoken about the potential benefits of biochar, </blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon">Hansen calculated that producing biocharcoal by current methods of burning waste organic materials could reduce global carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere by 8ppm (parts per million) over the next 50 years.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon">Turney said biochar was the closest thing scientists had to a silver-bullet solution to climate change.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/charcoal-carbon"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.guardian.co.uk/img/A06B2426-789B-4D78-929C-E17BCC45CDF9" alt="Burning Charcoal" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/2FFEAD32-19B9-4878-AF97-09EE91AB1C2C/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

New from the makers of Clipmarks: Amplify.com - Don't just share the news...Amplify it!

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Today's Top Clips