Roger,
Thank you for the link about PhytOC as it is very informative. Always a
nice day when your thinking about something you think you know about
goes off into another direction.
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/palaeo/Parr%26Sullivan.pdf
Is another good paper I just Googled.
I see them as 'chips of glass' all very clear with mostly smooth
surfaces. The light does not seem to be distorted when passing through
the 45 to 35 um size samples making me think they are made of a very
pure silica material without much carbon occluded within. This under
400X microscope fitted with several toys to play with. I digest the
leaves in low temperature (~60 deg C) nitric acid with some HCl as I
find a higher temperature changes the texture of their surface.Scroll
down to sheet 6 (page 122 in the report) to see the beautiful pictures I
also find and look at.
The methods they use for determining the carbon content in phytoliths
seems to be a some what if-y procedure, complex and close to detection
limits. I am not convinced, based on this report, we have something to
get excited about. First concentrating by sieves for a narrow particle
range (45 to 35 um) to eliminate silt-clays and sands. Then dilute acid
wash to remove carbonates and some organic matter.. Then estimating the
concentration of phytoliths using a microscope. Then grind mortar and
pestle. Strong acid digest to remove all organic material not trapped
within minerals. Will leave many minerals in addition to phytoliths.
Then Leco to determine the carbon content trapped within (if it works
for this) and calculate as if it all came from the percent phytoliths
previously estimated to be in the sample. I think that is how they must
have done it (at least that is how I would do it).
Another test to add to my long list !
Thanks much (eyes opened)
Frank
Roger Samson wrote:
Frank
Here is a really nice power point on phytoliths, grasses and soil organic
matter formation. I think this is brilliant work they are doing in Australia
on forming soils while growing energy crops
and one of the best practical means to produce loads of bioenergy from
farmland while creating great soils.
http://www.plantstone.com.au/NSC%20Adelaide.pdf
I simply don't think you can develop a more efficient system of producing
energy and soils in the same field.
Its time to bury terra preta thinking and move on to a more efficient ways
of using the land to produce energy while building soils.
Roger
-----Original Message-----
From: frank [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:00 PM
To: [email protected]; Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
Cc: Roger Samson
Subject: Re: [Stoves] The Biochar myth..another stovers myth
Roger, Crispin, and Stovers,
Just a few comments below:
<snip>
"Saving of trees" happens when we "stop cutting the trees".
Personally, I am very much against unreasonable cutting of trees.
I do not necessarily agree with this. Farming biomass such as trees for an
energy source or carbon sequestering (and making money doing it) will
encourage more land being used for growing biomass. I think this should be
the goal. There are lots of land in the US along rivers, creeks and in the
mountains that are owned by lumber companies, open to the public and
protected from development. If we stopped using lumber because we replaced
it with a different product I wonder how long it would take the loggers to
realize it is not worth hanging on to the land for another 50 years. Of
course there need be control over harvesting the present day biomass so the
future is in mind.
<snip>
Phytoliths in grasses are also an important carbon source for
forming soils.
Phytoliths are made of silica. They are isotropic meaning like glass, a
melt. Light bounces back and force to go straight through and not like
quartz that is a crystal bending light in a fixed direction. They look like
fragments of glass under the scope with many amazing shapes. I believe they
from from soluble silica in water taken up into the plant and solidify in
the veins in places where there is branching making the shapes. I have found
them in roots, stock, leaves, flowers etc all parts of the plant.
I'm thinking they may cause more problems than a benefit for us as I think
they may form a hard to remove crust in places we don't want - but I have
yet to see a deposit in burners that is traced back to phytoliths in the
fuel.
To my knowledge, carbon from biochar remains in the soil as carbon for
much longer time - compared to carbon present in compost ( which gets
converted into CO2 ). Please correct me if I am wrong.
Best Regards,
Rajan
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Frank Shields
Soil Control Lab
42 Hangar way
Watsonville, CA 95076
(831) 724-5422 tel
(831) 724-3188 fax
[email protected]
www.compostlab.com
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