Comments on: A Path Towards Low Carbon Agriculture http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/799 Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:20:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Erich J. Knight http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/799/comment-page-1#comment-6318 Erich J. Knight Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:04:04 +0000 http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/?p=799#comment-6318 You are reading my mind, this week after the conference, my focus ,thoughts and actions have been about the common bond of building Soil Carbon. Agriculture allowed our cultural accent and Agriculture will now prevent our descent. Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it. If pre-Colombian Kayopo Indians could produce these soils up to 6 feet deep over 15% of the Amazon basin using "Slash & CHAR" verses "Slash & Burn", it seems that our energy and agricultural industries could also product them at scale. It's ironic a pre-Columbian agriculture practice, lost to western disease, could be the savior of the industrial world. Harnessing the work of this vast number of microbes and fungi changes the whole equation of energy return over energy input (EROEI) for food and Bio fuels. I see this as the only sustainable agricultural strategy if we no longer have cheap fossil fuels for fertilizer. We need this super community of wee beasties to work in concert with us by populating them into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos. You are reading my mind, this week after the conference, my focus ,thoughts and actions have been about the common bond of building Soil Carbon.

Agriculture allowed our cultural accent and Agriculture will now prevent our descent.

Carbon to the Soil, the only ubiquitous and economic place to put it.

If pre-Colombian Kayopo Indians could produce these soils up to 6 feet deep over 15% of the Amazon basin using “Slash & CHAR” verses “Slash & Burn”, it seems that our energy and agricultural industries could also product them at scale. It’s ironic a pre-Columbian agriculture practice, lost to western disease, could be the savior of the industrial world.

Harnessing the work of this vast number of microbes and fungi changes the whole equation of energy return over energy input (EROEI) for food and Bio fuels. I see this as the only sustainable agricultural strategy if we no longer have cheap fossil fuels for fertilizer.

We need this super community of wee beasties to work in concert with us by populating them into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos.

]]> By: Jock Gill http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/archives/799/comment-page-1#comment-6198 Jock Gill Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:45:35 +0000 http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/?p=799#comment-6198 As a sixth policy point, I would suggest that any new construction that is designed to include a heating system that is carbon positive be required to pay a significant CO2 tax indexed to the CO2 it is expected to release over its full life cycle. The policy goal is to encourage and reward the use of Carbon Negative thermal energy solutions. This single policy change would greatly encourage the shift to Near Zero Net Energy construction, with no furnaces at all, that use only carbon negative supplemental heaters. It is imperative that we minimize as far as possible the burning of polluting fossil fuels, or finite renewable resources, for space conditioning in at least residential and small business construction. As a sixth policy point, I would suggest that any new construction that is designed to include a heating system that is carbon positive be required to pay a significant CO2 tax indexed to the CO2 it is expected to release over its full life cycle. The policy goal is to encourage and reward the use of Carbon Negative thermal energy solutions.

This single policy change would greatly encourage the shift to Near Zero Net Energy construction, with no furnaces at all, that use only carbon negative supplemental heaters. It is imperative that we minimize as far as possible the burning of polluting fossil fuels, or finite renewable resources, for space conditioning in at least residential and small business construction.

]]>