James Lovelock Says Biochar Our Only Hope

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Saturday January 24, 2009 · 2:18 PM PST

2009/01/24 · 14:18

Dr. James Lovelock, the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis - the idea of the Earth as a self-regulating organism - said in an interview with NewScientist that he believes that humanity's only chance to save itself from the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and global warming lies in biochar, and its ability to draw carbon down from the atmosphere and sequester it permanently.

Visceral

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Friday November 14, 2008 · 7:11 PM PST

2008/11/14 · 19:11

I found this first on FireDogLake: the International Energy Agency (IEA), an appendage of OECD and considered an authority on energy and climate issues up there with the IPCC, has revised its predictions for the extent of global warming upwards ... FAR upwards. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at their present rate, they expect the global average temperature to rise by SIX degrees Celsius by 2100.

For perspective: the projections considered most probably anticipate only 3 degrees C of temperature increase over the same time period. The only precedent for such a radical change in the Earth's climate is the Permian mass extinction that killed 95% of all species of life ... and it took tens of thousands of years for temperatures to rise that high. We're on track to do the same in less than a hundred

Visceral

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Friday June 27, 2008 · 5:28 PM PDT

2008/06/27 · 17:28

Hydrogen is often put forward in ignorance as an alternative to fossil fuels because when burned, the byproduct is water instead of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur dioxides. Hydrogen is viewed as a potential replacement for diesel fuel and gasoline because it can be used in applications - most notably motor vehicles - where electricity alone cannot easily provide a similar level of functionality with existing technology.

Unfortunately, the process of producing hydrogen as currently performed requires large amounts of energy - usually obtained from burning fossil fuels, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide. The most common feedstock for hydrogen production is also fossil fuels - usually natural gas - and that particular manufacturing process also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide independently of energy production.

However, there exists a method of producing hydrogen that need not involve fossil fuels at any point. The needed energy is obtained from the Sun, and the feedstock is water. And unlike in conventional hydrogen fuel cells, the reaction allows the water byproduct of burning hydrogen to be used to create hydrogen again - almost perfect recycling.

What's the secret ingredient? It's algae.

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James Lovelock Says Biochar Our Only Hope

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