Carbon Negative PowerPoint

A CO2 Negative SolutionA Presentation by Dick Stein, UMass (Amherst)

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A Problem

• Carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is increasing.

• This is primarily a result of burning fossil fuel (coal, oil, gas, gasoline).

• Many think this serves as a “greenhouse gas” and leads to global warming.

The Greenhouse Effect

Predicted effect of CO2 concentration on temperature





Possible Consequences

• Heat waves

• Rising sea levels

• Changing weather patterns

• Changing insect population

• Fresh water shortages

• Ocean acidification Loss of coral habitats Mollusk and crustation shells dissolving

• Agriculture and marine life

changes

Sea-level rise in Florida

What to do?

• Decrease use of fossil fuel -

Alternative fuels?

• Decentralize power generation.

• Get rid of CO2 generated - liquefy, bury, burn,

sequester?

BETTER

• Remove CO2 from atmosphere

Carbon Dioxide Negative

How to remove CO2?

• LIQUEFY FROM CONCENTRATED SOURCES & PUMP UNDERGROUND PROBLEM: Availability & stability

• SEQUESTER - Chemicaly bind the CO2

PROBLEM: Technology & cost

• PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY PLANT’S CONVERSION TO CONVENIENT FUELS

Nature’s way involved burial of plant parts before they disintegrated to eventually make coal, oil It took millions of years - Too slow!



Conversion of Organic Wastes to Biochar and Clean Energy-

If bio-media are converted to “biochar”, a material, mostly carbon, like charcoal (plus other compounds, possibly of value)

(C6H10O5)n- + heat 6n C + 5n H2O

__ biochar

The biochar may be incorporated into soil and remains inert for an indefinite amount of time with very beneficial affects on soil productivity.

Thus, CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and

converted to an inert solid which does not return to the atmosphere in forseeable times.

The Energy Balance -

Some external energy is required to produce

heat for start-up. After that, the heat for the

process can be provided by burning producer

gas (H2 + CO) that can be generated from a

portion of the biomedia. This produces some

CO2, but the amount is less than the amount

of the CO2 that gets removed from the

atmosphere. If desired, some of this producer

gas can be used to supply energy for other

use.

Energy Details -

• About 40% of the energy content of the

biomedia is used in processing to

produce biochar.

• The gases evolved in the process (H2,

CO, CH4) represent about half of the

biomedia energy content.

• Thus, the process is energy self-sufficient

with some excess energy available for

use.

Is there enough biomass?

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US

Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that by

2030, the US could sustainably produce 1.3 billion metric

tons of dry biomass/year consisting of cellulosic biomass.

This amount of biomass has the energy content of 3.8

billion BOE (barrels of oil energy equivalent), and the US

consumes 7 billion barrels of oil/year. In the US it has been

estimated that the cost of cellulosic biomass is $5 to

$15/BOE, which is significantly below the current cost of

crude oil of $56/bbl (average cost in 2005).

Another Advantage - An aid to agriculture

Black Gold of the Amazon Fertile, charred soil created by pre-Columbian peoples sustained surprisingly large settlements in the rain forest. Secrets of that ancient “dark earth” could help solve the Amazon’s ecological problems today.

by Michael Tennesen published online April 30, 2007, Discover Magazine

From the article -As thrilling as this evidence is to archaeologists, it may also have very practical importance as a modern weapon against some of our most urgent ecological problems. Soil scientist Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University believes that the mysterious dark earth holds clues to creating sustainable farming practices and even to combating global warming. Tiny pores in the charcoal, along with changes in its chemistry, provide more surfaces for nutrients to adhere to, which in turn encourages microorganisms to colonize the soil. “With a handful of biochar you can keep many more nutrients in the soil than with a handful of mulch or compost. It is like mopping up nutrients with a magnet that looks like a sponge—that is, it has high surface area like a sponge but can attract a thin layer of material like a magnet,” Lehmann says. The late Wim Sombroek—a legendary soil scientist whose long interest in terra preta earned him the epithet “the godfather of dark earth”—began to wonder if dark earth could be used to sequester carbon. Lehmann’s studies have shown that it can: Fifty percent of the original carbon in plants and trees used to make biochar remains in the terra preta soils after the conversion.

A Good Approach!

• It removes CO2 from the atmosphere and converts it to

an inert form of solid carbon.

• This carbon, “Biochar”, can be used by farmers to aid in

the growth of their crops. It’s use may decrease the amount of fertilizer needed by ~75%. This reduces the energy needed to produce fertilizer or allows

more area to be treated with the same amount of fertilizer.

• The procedure is clean, it is a net energy

producer, and would serve as a local energy

source.