U.N. Climate Change Conference Considers Ancient Soil Replenishment Technique in Battle against Global Warming

Former inhabitants of the Amazon Basin enriched their fields with charred organic materials-biochar-and transformed one of the earth's most infertile soils into one of the most productive. These early conservationists disappeared 500 years ago, but centuries later, their soil is still rich in organic matter and nutrients. Now, scientists, environmental groups and policymakers forging the next world climate agreement see biochar not only as an important tool for replenishing soils, but as a powerful tool for combating global warming.

Christoph Steiner, a University of Georgia research scientist in the Faculty of Engineering, was a major contributor to the biochar proposal that was submitted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification last week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference meeting in Poland. The new climate change agreement will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

"The potential of biochar lies in its ability to sequester-capture and store-huge amounts of carbon while also displacing fossil fuel energy, effectively doubling its carbon impact," said Steiner, a soil scientist whose research in the Amazon Basin originally focused on the use of biochar as a soil amendment. At UGA's Biorefinery and Carbon Cycling Program, he now investigates the global potential of biochar to sequester carbon. He also serves as a consultant to the UNCCD, a sister program to the climate change convention.

Steiner explained that almost any kind of organic material-peanut shells, pine chips and even poultry litter-can be burned in air-tight conditions, a process called pyrolysis. The byproducts are biochar, a highly porous charcoal that helps soil retain nutrients and water, and gases and heat that can be used as energy.

But because the carbon in biochar so effectively resists degradation, it also can sequester carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years, effectively making it a permanent "sink"-a natural system that soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Soils containing biochar made by ancient Amazon people still contain up to 70 times more carbon than surrounding soils and have a higher nutrient content. Steiner said scientists estimate biochar from agriculture and forestry residues can potentially sequester billions of tons of carbon in the world's soils.

Biochar also avoids the disadvantages of other bioenergy technologies that deplete soil organic matter, said Steiner.

"Removing crop residues for bioenergy production reduces the organic matter accumulating on agricultural fields and thus the soil organic carbon pool, which depends on constant input of decomposing plant material. In contrast, pyrolysis with biochar carbon sequestration produces renewable energy, sequesters CO2 and cycles nutrients back into agricultural fields."

"This unique system ideally utilizes waste biomass, and thus does not compete with food production," said Steiner. Currently most waste biomass decomposes or is burned in the field. Both processes release carbon dioxide stored in the plant biomass-for no other use than getting rid of it. Biochar can capture up to 50 percent of the carbon stored in biomass and establishes a significant carbon sink, as long as renewable resources are used and biochar is used as a soil amendment.

To address our world's climate change dilemma, said Steiner, "We need a carbon sink in addition to greater energy efficiency and renewable energy. Acceptance of the UNCCD proposal in Poland is a first step to make carbon trading based on biochar a reality.

"This has not only consequences for mitigating climate change, but also for agricultural sustainability, and could provide a strong incentive to reduce deforestation, especially in the tropics."

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Bolton to Speak at Executive Forum in Macon and Atlanta on Oct. 7

Former U. S. Ambassador to United Nations John Bolton will be the featured speaker at Mercer University's Executive Forum, presented by BB&T, on Tuesday, Oct. 7. Bolton will give a lunch presentation in Atlanta at The Capital City Club, 7 Harris Street, and a dinner presentation at 6:30 p.m. at The University Center on Mercer’s Macon campus.

Bolton served as United States permanent representative to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006. At the U.N., Bolton was an outspoken advocate of U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, push Syria out of Lebanon and bring African peacekeepers into Somalia. Bolton helped shepherd a major sanction resolution against North Korea through the U.N. Security Council within days of Pyongyang's Oct. 9, 2006, nuclear test. Bolton and France's ambassador led the Security Council to approve a unanimous resolution to end the summer 2006 Hezbollah war on Israel. During his tenure at the United Nations, Bolton was an advocate for human rights. He arranged the Security Council's first deliberations on Burma's human rights abuses. Bolton invited actor George Clooney and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel to brief the Security Council in September 2006 on Arab mass-murder of non-Arabs in Darfur, Sudan. He engineered the Security Council's approval of 22,500 U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur. Bolton pressured Sudan's government to accept these personnel atop the 7,000 African Union soldiers already on site.

Bolton is the author of “Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the U.N. and Abroad,” published in 2007.

Prior to his appointment at the U.N., Bolton served as under secretary of state for Arms Control and International Security from May 2001 to May 2005. Previously, Bolton was senior vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit public policy center. Bolton has spent many years of his career in public service. His previous positions in government include: assistant secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Department of State; assistant attorney general, Department of Justice; assistant administrator for Program and Policy Coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development; and general counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development. Bolton is also an attorney. Currently, he is a senior advisor for Kirkland & Ellis LLC with a focus on counseling clients on domestic and international issues in complex corporate litigation.

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Governor and Mrs. Perdue Host U.N. Secretary-General at State Luncheon

Today (May 8, 2008) Governor Sonny Perdue and First Lady Mary Perdue welcomed United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to a State Luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion. A diverse collection of distinguished Georgians gathered at the Mansion to honor the Secretary-General.

“Mary and I are proud to welcome the Secretary-General to Georgia and thank him for his leadership on important issues that affect the global community that is the United Nations,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “Secretary-General Ban’s visit reminds us that Georgians have an ever increasingly important role in the world. From innovations in healthcare to programs to conserve our natural resources, we are proud to work with our neighbors, at home and abroad, for the greater good.”

Secretary-General Ban joined the Governor as part of an official two-day visit to Atlanta focusing on global health care. Secretary-General Ban, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, brings to his post 37 years of service both in government and on the global stage. Previously, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for his native country, the Republic of Korea.

During today’s event Governor Perdue and Secretary General Ban focused on Georgia’s global outreach and the increasing need to conserve the world’s natural resources.

“Governor Perdue, your Conserve Georgia campaign is a major step forward and I commend you for it. You’ve said that Georgia’s drought is a sign that we need to conserve natural resources. I think this is true not just here but all over the world,” said U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “I travel the world trying to make this point: that we have a responsibility to care for our planet for future generations. I applaud your State’s efforts to conserve water, save energy, safeguard lands, prevent litter and promote recycling. I’m going to share what I’ve learned here in Georgia with leaders and communities around the world.”

Approximately 130 distinguished Georgians, leaders from the fields of government, the military, education and religion from across Georgia attended the luncheon. Cultural figures from entertainment and sports also dined with the Governor and the Secretary-General.

“We look forward to welcoming the Secretary-General back to Georgia whenever his busy schedule will allow,” said Governor Perdue. “I think he has found, as all visitors to our state do, that Georgians are more than happy to share our distinct blend of global understanding and southern hospitality.”