The sheriff called in his two most trusted deputies. “Boys,” he said, “we’ve got ourselves a situation.” Deputy Forrest Tree pulled up a chair as Deputy Aggie Culture sidled up against a filing cabinet. Sheriff C. Questor* continued, ”You boys know I like to run a balanced program, but ever since the dawn of the Industrial Age we’ve been porking-up on CO2 in the atmosphere. Now we’ve got over 40% more than has been the norm for tens of thousands of years. Our system’s out of whack and causing problems.
“You know we’ve been working hard to reduce the INPUT of more carbon into the atmosphere with ingenious ways to produce energy without burning carbon-releasing fossil fuels. That’s great, but it’s not enough to get us back in balance. Yup, you got it. It’s round-up time. We’ve got to round-up that excess carbon and pull it back OUT of the atmosphere. And you’re just the team to do it!”
The sheriff first huddled with Deputy Forrest Tree. They made a list of priorities including: expanding reforestation of cleared areas, proper management of existing forests, expanding urban reforestation and proper fire management.
Then he turned to Deputy Aggie Culture. First, he reminded Aggie that some “industrial-ag” practices such as excessive use of chemical fertilizers are actually depleting carbon in the soil and sending into the atmosphere. Fortunately, there are ways to turn that around. Aggie’s list of priorities includes: reducing and reversing grassland conversion to tillage, use of cover crops, and better nutrient and manure management.
But the champion practice for putting carbon into the soil is the use of BIOCHAR. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic waste material in a special process. It then becomes a stable form of carbon that can’t easily escape into the atmosphere. Also, the heat energy created during the process can be captured and used as a form of clean energy. Adding biochar to the soil increases water retention, improves soil structure, decreases acidity, improves porosity, regulates nitrogen leaching, and improves microbial activity. It’s a soil supplement powerhouse!
Sheriff C. Questor walked his deputies to the door. “It a big job, but we’ve got the tools to do it. We’re counting on you because this ranch is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Carbon Sequestration = Removing Carbon (in the form of CO2) from the atmosphere
“You know we’ve been working hard to reduce the INPUT of more carbon into the atmosphere with ingenious ways to produce energy without burning carbon-releasing fossil fuels. That’s great, but it’s not enough to get us back in balance. Yup, you got it. It’s round-up time. We’ve got to round-up that excess carbon and pull it back OUT of the atmosphere. And you’re just the team to do it!”
The sheriff first huddled with Deputy Forrest Tree. They made a list of priorities including: expanding reforestation of cleared areas, proper management of existing forests, expanding urban reforestation and proper fire management.
Then he turned to Deputy Aggie Culture. First, he reminded Aggie that some “industrial-ag” practices such as excessive use of chemical fertilizers are actually depleting carbon in the soil and sending into the atmosphere. Fortunately, there are ways to turn that around. Aggie’s list of priorities includes: reducing and reversing grassland conversion to tillage, use of cover crops, and better nutrient and manure management.
But the champion practice for putting carbon into the soil is the use of BIOCHAR. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic waste material in a special process. It then becomes a stable form of carbon that can’t easily escape into the atmosphere. Also, the heat energy created during the process can be captured and used as a form of clean energy. Adding biochar to the soil increases water retention, improves soil structure, decreases acidity, improves porosity, regulates nitrogen leaching, and improves microbial activity. It’s a soil supplement powerhouse!
Sheriff C. Questor walked his deputies to the door. “It a big job, but we’ve got the tools to do it. We’re counting on you because this ranch is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Carbon Sequestration = Removing Carbon (in the form of CO2) from the atmosphere
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