生物炭是什么?

生物炭是什么?

Though you may not have heard of biochar, it's a good bet you'd recognize it if you saw it.

雖然你可能沒聽說過生物炭，但如果你看到它，肯定能認出來。

Biochar might be the answer to climate change. (Photo: K.salo.85 [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

Biochar is just charcoal. It's created when organic matter like wood chips, rice stalks or even manure is heated up in the absence of oxygen. Think of a sealed metal drum full of wood chips over a fire. It's simple, can be produced anywhere and could just end up saving the world.

生物炭就是木炭。當木屑、稻稈甚至糞肥等有機物在缺氧條件下被加熱時，就會產(chǎn)生這種細菌。想象一個密封的金屬桶，里面裝滿了木屑。它很簡單，可以在任何地方生產(chǎn)，最終可以拯救世界。

When organic matter is turned into biochar, the CO2 contained within the plant is converted into solid carbon. Plowing biochar into soil sequesters the carbon for a long time — biochar fields have been found in South America dating back thousands of years and still full of their carbon solids. Soils augmented with biochar retain nutrients better as the tiny, sponge-like structure of the carbon solids sucks up and holds the fertilizer, reducing the amount needed. The same structure holds water better and has been shown to decrease the emissions of nitrous oxide and methane into the air from the soil.

當有機物轉(zhuǎn)化為生物炭時，植物體內(nèi)的二氧化碳轉(zhuǎn)化為固體碳。在土壤中耕作生物炭可以長期封存碳——在南美洲發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物炭田可以追溯到幾千年前，而且仍然充滿了它們的碳固體。添加生物炭的土壤能更好地保留營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)，因為微小的海綿狀的碳固體結(jié)構(gòu)能吸收并保持肥料，從而減少所需的量。同樣的結(jié)構(gòu)可以更好地蓄水，而且已經(jīng)證明可以減少土壤向空氣中排放的一氧化二氮和甲烷。

An easy sell

一個簡單的銷售

Wood waste can be converted into biochar, which can be added to soil to improve its health. (Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture [CC0]/Flickr)

When organic matter is heated up in the absence of oxygen, it releases hot gases that can be captured and burned in power generators, or also refined into bio-oil and synthetic gas, both which can be further refined into effective gasoline and diesel substitutes. If the gases are burned right away, the process of creating biochar — called pyrolysis — is energy-positive, returning six to nine times as much energy as necessary to run and maintain it.

當有機物在沒有氧氣的情況下被加熱時，它會釋放出熱氣體，這些熱氣體可以被捕獲并在發(fā)電機中燃燒，也可以被提煉成生物油和合成氣體，這兩種氣體都可以被進一步提煉成有效的汽油和柴油替代品。如果這些氣體被立即燃燒，那么產(chǎn)生生物炭的過程——即所謂的熱解——就會產(chǎn)生正能量，所產(chǎn)生的能量是運行和維持生物炭所需能量的6至9倍。

Biochar is an easy sell. Everyone involved in the process wins. Poor farmers get more food for their work and are able to settle on one plot of ever-productive soil. Rich farmers and corporate agriculture save a lot of money on fertilizer and also see the same boost in production. The environment benefits because of the reduction in fertilizer runoff and the removal of CO2 from the air. Big business wins because of the profits generated from the production and distribution of biochar. Politicians get to take credit for implementing a pragmatic, job-creating solution to global warming. Workers get jobs. Governments get tax revenue.

生物炭很容易銷售。參與這個過程的每個人都是贏家。貧窮的農(nóng)民可以得到更多的糧食，并且能夠在一塊肥沃的土地上定居下來。富裕的農(nóng)民和企業(yè)農(nóng)業(yè)節(jié)省了大量的化肥，也看到了同樣的增產(chǎn)。環(huán)境受益于減少化肥徑流和去除空氣中的二氧化碳。由于生物炭的生產(chǎn)和銷售所產(chǎn)生的利潤，大企業(yè)獲勝。政治家們因?qū)嵤┝艘粋€務(wù)實的、創(chuàng)造就業(yè)的全球變暖解決方案而受到稱贊。工人找到工作。政府獲得稅收。

Researchers recently found that using biochar is an inexpensive and effective method to help tree seedlings survive during reforestation attempts in the Amazon rainforest. In areas mined for gold, the soil and the trees are harmed, making it difficult to regrow and nurture new trees to replace those that are lost.

研究人員最近發(fā)現(xiàn)，使用生物炭是一種廉價而有效的方法，可以幫助樹木幼苗在亞馬遜雨林的造林嘗試中存活下來。在開采黃金的地區(qū)，土壤和樹木都受到了損害，很難重新生長和培育新的樹木來取代那些失去的樹木。

The study, which was published in the journal Forests, was based on research conducted in an Amazon region called Madre de Dios, the center of illegal gold mining trade in Peru.

這項發(fā)表在《森林》(forest)雜志上的研究，是基于亞馬遜地區(qū)馬德雷德迪奧斯(Madre de Dios)的一項研究。馬德雷德迪奧斯是秘魯非法采金交易的中心。

“These are the kinds of landscapes we have to recover, and we are still trying to determine how to grow plants in them,” Silman said. “This soil is extremely limiting for natural regrowth, but treating them with biochar turns it into something that plants can grow in. That’s good for biodiversity and good for the people that have to make a living from the land.”

“這些是我們必須修復(fù)的景觀類型，我們?nèi)栽谠噲D確定如何在其中種植植物，”西爾曼說。“這種土壤對自然再生非常有限，但用生物炭處理后，它變成了植物可以生長的東西。這有利于生物多樣性，也有利于那些以土地為生的人們。”