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A professor of mine first exposed me to biochar and its usage in creating Terra Preta[1]. It's fascinating. I think you are definitely correct in the 'woo-woo'
by jnwr 6y ago
A professor of mine first exposed me to biochar and its usage in creating Terra Preta[1]. It's fascinating. I think you are definitely correct in the 'woo-woo' assessment. But I know if people can get past that, talking about this is worthwhile. From what I know, biochar is a big component in making this terra preta soil, and you don't see it mentioned much outside certain circles. So I'm excited to see mention of it on HN.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
- klyrs 6y agoI've always wondered why this hasn't caught on (presuming it isn't all woo) -- it can't be that expensive to run a few large-scale tests at, say, an ag school's farms. Would modern farming practices defeat the purpose somehow?
- danielheath 6y agoOne big limitation is that you can only capture the value created on your own farm, but not the downstream effects. There are lots of “prisoners dilemma” food production methods where everyone is better off if nobody exploits (eg: salmon runs are not owned by anyone in particular, so maintaining them is a matter for underfunded parks departments, but properly maintained they produce astonishing amounts of delicious food).