Read about the efforts of Robert Flanagan, who has committed himself to transforming international scientific research on soil, agriculture, and renewable energy into a practical and sustainable system, first, for farmers in China, and then, the world. For thousands of years, civilizations residing in the Amazon basin practised a long-held technique of burying charcoal in the soil, a tradition which, despite its disappearance some five hundred years ago, continues to yield crops whose growth is nearly three times that of crops grown in soils where the practice was not utilized. The reasons for this immense growth involve charcoal’s effectiveness in not only retaining those nutrients most essential to plant growth, but in holding onto these nutrients for longer than any other soil amendment around.
What does this have to do with household energy? Quite simply, by vastly expanding the environmental and economic benefits of the production of bio-energy, the associated fuels of which are increasingly showing great potential for use in a household setting. The link between the two - energy production from modern biomass and soil amendment with charcoal - is pyrolysis, a technique in which both bio-energy crops as well as agricultural waste are heated in a sealed vessel to yield both energy, primarily in the form of hydrogen, and charcoal. The hydrogen can be used to make fuels such as ethanol, methanol, and gas-to-liquid bio-diesel, or used directly in a fuel cell to make electricity; the charcoal can be added to the soil as an amendment, replacing the more common ammonia-based fertilizers produced with natural gas, a process which releases one molecule of CO2 for each molecule of ammonia generated. Amazingly, the entire process places almost all of the carbon removed from the air by the biomass back into the soil in a stable form, effectively removing net CO2 from the air. (1)
Yet, as we all know, there is a gap between science and its corresponding practical application able to be adapted by the masses. This is where Robert Flanagan - President of S.A.F.F.E (Sustainable Agricultural Food and Fuel Enterprises) Ltd, a joint partnership between soil scientists, pharmaceuticals and engineers, and the first bio-energy company to register in China - comes in. With a mission of seeing this environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable practice being accessible to, and used by all, Mr. Flanagan has been working steadfastly to eliminate the gap. Currently operating in China, he has been working in conjunction with international scientists in Indonesia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the United States to trial the technique with various feedstocks, most recently jatrohpa, and will finalize within the next three months a technology which farmers can use themselves to convert their feedstock into non-condensable gas for energy, charcoal, plant nutrients, and speciality chemicals. While economically sustainable in and of itself, Robert Flanagan will also assist farmers in acquiring carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism, a source of additional income. The outcomes in China will form the basis of a platform and business model able to be used by others around the world, with the hope that widespread dissemination accelerates joint efforts in creating a business solution to climate change.
However, the work does not stop here, and rather extends to collaborating with others around the world to set-up a non-profit organization charged with supporting long-term safe carbon sequestration projects. With the belief that education of young people about their decisions and the environment are one of the best investments to be made in the future, a key output of this non-profit will be an educational kit aimed at young children, and which encourages the uptake of science while creating awareness about renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, global warming, the carbon cycle, greenhouse effect, emissions reduction, carbon sequestration (with a focus on charcoal as a means to amend the soil and sequester CO2) and climate change. The kit revolves around school kids carrying out a 'science project' in which a bio-energy feedstock appropriate to the location is grown; three 'controls' are planted in local soil and three are planted with the addition of the charcoal. The children then measure and track the growth of each group, feeding their results at the local level into a website, which would also provide information, teaching/educational resources, links to appropriate websites, and results from schools around the world. While still under development, the intent is, in a few years time, to have an international network set-up linking children around the world who can share their experiences (sound familiar?) on the sustainable process of growing the bio-energy feedstocks which can then be converted into renewable fuels and a charcoal fertilizer. Thus, sustainable across so many levels, the efforts of Robert Flanagan will revolutionize the way bio-fuels are supplied, ensuring a process which enriches the soil in an environmentally sustainable manner, provides a long-term source of income for farmers of bio-energy crops even before potential CDM credits are collected, removes net CO2 from the atmosphere, enhances the already favourable aspects of bio-fuels, and ensures such issues will stay at the fore-front for generations to come via education to school-age children.
For more information, please contact Robert Flanagan at:
saffebiz@... SAFFE.BIZ (Coming soon)
In addition to that provided by Robert Flanagan, information was obtained from www.eprida.com.
Notes: (1) New research also show great promise in utilizing the resultant charcoal to lower the emissions of electricity generation from coal, with the process scrubbing 60% of the CO2 out of the flue gases from a power plant, as well as all of the SOX and NOX; these are all combined into a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer.
|
