SSU lecture explores biochar as a solution to climate change

What if it were possible to help reverse climate change while disposing of a diseased vineyard or vineyard pruning canes, dead trees or invasive plants?

At the same time, suppose one could also improve the ability to absorb water of plants in vineyards, agricultural lands and open space? And what if this could all be done very simply, and relatively quickly and inexpensively?

Award-winning astrophysicist Frank Shu of UC San Diego will explain how all of this is possible in a Monday lecture at Sonoma State University.

His talk, part of the “What Physicists Do” series, is titled “The Future of Energy” and focuses on the production of a material called “biochar.”

Biochar is a type of charcoal, an alternative to burning fossil fuels that can also be used as a soil amendment. It is created by burning biomass, which may consist of diseased grapevines or vineyard prunings, dead trees, invasive species and other plant materials that would otherwise degrade to produce greenhouse gases, contributing to the problem of climate change.

When transformed to biochar and buried in the ground, the plant material is prevented from releasing greenhouse gases, it has carbon sequestration pr as it degrades. It also can amend the soil, significantly improving its water and nutrient retention.

Shu is concerned that if the most pessimistic projections for climate change become reality, they have the potential “to disrupt civilization.”

“I believe climate change is one of the most serious long-term problems facing society,” he said, explaining his decision to devote his attention and considerable scientific acumen to the issue.

He and his team are working to develop a transportable module that can efficiently and cleanly create biochar in just minutes, using a molten-salt technique. He hopes to eventually supply this module to commercial enterprises, power companies and perhaps large vineyard growers and others in the agricultural community.

Author and climate activist Bill McKibben describes biochar as able to “start sucking some of the carbon … back in the ground, ... taking pieces of the Earth and leaving them better than we found them.”

Shu will describe his biochar at 4 p.m. Monday in Darwin 103 at Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave.