Some have been looking at my last thread on this subject, but I wonder if anyone has tried to Google it. Perrsonally I think it has a lot to offer for gardening in the future, and the whole of agriculture, The government are pushing giant windmills to try and cut down on global warming,Hopefully they might look into it. At least two universities in this country are researching it, and a lot more around the world. Several countries have started developing it.
I just thought it might give you something extra to think about which may have advantages for your gardening.
Thank you anyone who did bother to read it..
Bigal.

So Bigal, are you an agent for timeshare allotments in South America?

in a word "slash and burn technology".



On Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:07:57 +0100, Bigal
wrote:

snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Well thanks for the comments but it is so obvious that neither of the two commenters have even bothered to look up either Terra Preta or Biochar on the internet. Try Google and read what the rest of the world think about it. There are at least two universities researching it in this country - Swansea and Exeter. It is not just the benefits to horticulture and agriculture, it is also believed to reduce the carbon dioxide in the world to a negative. Naturally our Government are not taking any notice of it. None of governments have ever taken any notice, or encouraged any developments which could be promising to out country. Perhaps no one has offered them any way in which they could line their pockets.

I was about to say before I pressed the wrong button, I wonder why the Giant windmills are so well backed????
The rest of the world is looking at it for current and future development. The Yanks love it and the doesn't mean to say that it is a bad thing. Europe, Far East, China, New Zealand and Australia are all looking at it and have started developments. You can even buy Biochar fron Hawhai - you know where I mean - Pearl Harbour and all that.
AND YOU THINK I'M A CRACKPOT?????? Don't answer that.

I know the British do not like new ideas but I think that this is really worth looking at "properly".
Bigal

g'day bigal,

sorry to say my friend i have looked up t/p and bio-char and it still
is slash and burn technology just look behind the picture like we
should always, read between the lines, use common sense, on the common
sense scale it doesn't even make sense creating more pollution to make
it let alone chopping down our remaining forests(that do more to suck
up co2 than any charcoal ever could) to use something that could take
a thousand years to do anything. simply recycling garden and household
waste into the gardens doesn't cause immidiate visible smelly
pollution. take a look at my permacultuer essay i have their links
clearly showing the clear felling and pollution they cause. science is
dealing the world a gosamer suit read the emporers new clothes that
equates well to it.

if the gov isn't interested then for this one io say they have gotten
it right.

and those windmills will never deliver, you see wind is nature and you
cannot rely upon it being where you want it when you want it, and the
reason they are backed so heavily money, money money. saw something on
tv where like high tension power lines and mobile phones people who
live near them also suffer. in australia more would be gained in co2
control if they re-habilitated toe destroyed habitat where they are
putting these, so nothin windmills.

i don't think you or anyone is a crackpot just easily led by feel good
methods that won't deliver.

so maybe you may need to give this a hard critical look??

On Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:03:41 +0100, Bigal
wrote:

snipped

Thanks Len for your reply. I have read your blurb and have to admit that I disagree with your opinion because I am still inclined to believe the thousands of scientists who would also disagree with it. You remind me of a very close friend of mine with whom I used to play scrabble. He wouldn't believe three dictionaries on the spelling of a word saying "You can't believe everything you read in books". The reason I 'used' to, is that he now plays with either God or the Devil.
I make my own biochar because I haven't found any manufacturers in this country. I actually have more charcoal than ash, and the gasses given off in its manufacture I use to assist with the burning (charring). I usually burn sawdust from my wood work shop, but I have also included chicken bones, paper, cardboard, and weeds from tha garden that I have allowed to dry. I think that there is therefore a very good chance that the scientists are right when they say you can turn anything organic into biochar (Charcoal) . The bigger machinery used in a more commercial form of manufacturing can collect all the excess gasses produced, and for example, turn it into electricity production. Any Len, thanks for the arguement.
Bigal imabelieveitfree@tiscali dot.co.uk

Biochar is a concept that James Lovelock is strongly recommending. So it has some respected backers.

Calling it slash and burn is a bit like condemning a railway lines as being iron age. The high-tech version involves carefully charring crop remains (not native forest), in suitable conditions, so that more carbon goes into the ground than into the air. Then, over the crop cycle, carbon is sequestered. If the stubble were just ploughed in, it would rot and release methane.

that's the world bigal,

you can be blinded by the light for me i'd go a long way to believing
a dictionary or some other books than what i would what some scientist
says while they clutch at straws.and on this topic there are at least
as many see it this way need to come outside the square.

but anyway that is all our rite to our own opinion.

On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:52:29 +0100, Bigal
wrote:

snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

g'day echinosum,

yep of course they are highly respected if they weren't no one would
believe them, that's the smoke screen. are railways of the iron age??

sad to say that b/c and t/p across the worlds especially in sth
america is about chopping down trees and burning them, and it is about
gasses escaping as smoke or invisible it doesn't matter.

don't forget to factor in the collection of those materials and their
transportation to and handleing at the site then the reverse to
transport product to where they say we need it.



On Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:26:06 +0100, echinosum
wrote:

snipped



With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/