Amazonians' Black Magic Has Multiple Benefits

摘要

Biochar, similar to the charcoal used by Amazonian cultures to invigorate their crops, is receiving attention as a potential solution for sequestration of significant amounts of carbon. Employing it in agriculture may also increase crop production and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other potent greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide. So what is this stuff?rnIn the search for ways to generate green energy from renewable sources, researchers have been perfecting the heating of biomass - ideally waste biomass (woody, cellulosic material) - in closed, oxygen-free conditions (known as pyrolysis) to make an efficient, gaseous fuel. The resulting bioenergy, or synthesis gas ('syn-gas'), is rich in hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide, and can in turn produce useful heat and power, or be further converted to liquid fuels.