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Comment 32 for Natural and Working Lands Joint Agency Workshop (nat-workinglands-ws) - 1st Workshop.
First Name: Raymond
Last Name: Baltar
Email Address: rbaltar@sonic.net
Affiliation: California Biochar Association
Subject: Biochar production and use in land restoration activities should be a Best Practice
Comment:
The production and use of biochar, a form of recalcitrant carbon with a number of important benefits for agricultural production and land restoration activities, should absolutely be viewed as an integral part of any natural and working lands climate change implementation plan. The production and use of biochar can help address the following challenges facing California: Millions of tons of surplus agricultural biomass generated in the State each year, not to mention over 125 million dead or dying trees in the Sierras caused by the changing climate, or the millions of tons of forest slash produced during fuels reduction work around the state, could be turned into a valuable soil amendment to help reduce water use by farmers in the Central Valley or to help restore degraded landscapes. A huge side benefit of storing biochar in soils is the carbon sequestration value of the practice. A significant amount of research is ongoing around the world to quantify which types of biochars will persist for the longest time in soils, but existing research indicates the time scale for most biochars are in the century or millennia time frames. Some forms of production can produce a renewable form of energy that can contribute baseload power to the grid that could replace fossil fuel plants, and in fact much of the biochar produced and sold in California currently comes from Co-Gen plants that have been adapted to produce a high-carbon by-product. We should be modernizing or building more efficient biomass energy plants, not simply closing down older plants. The value of biochar production and use for enhancing forestry restoration activities specifically has been championed by Oregon-based, US Forest Service Biomass Manager James Archuleta and others. Even the NRCS has warmed up to biochar use and now includes biochar production from forest slash as an acceptable Conservation Activity as part of their Conservation Stewardship Program. We strongly suggest that ANY California Natural and Working Lands Climate Change Implementation Plan include biochar production and use as part of its recommendations. Raymond Baltar Director California Biochar Association
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2018-06-15 22:22:03
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