TEDxBerkeley - Lopa Brunjes - Biochar: An Ancient Solution to a Modern Problem

Lopa Brunjes is a biochar pioneer, passionate sustainability advocate, and visionary businesswoman. Lopa currently serves as Executive VP of Biochar Engineering Corp, a small Colorado company defining the leading edge of the burgeoning biochar industry.
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TEDxBerkeley 2011 - Engaging the World - took place on Saturday, February 19th, 2011 at UC Berkeley. Nearly 1400 attendees and 200,000 live-stream viewers enjoyed the day.
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[@npecom]

Great presentation. I would like to add that a common mistake is to add biochar without "charging" it first. Soak it in compost or manure tea or add it to your compost pile before putting it in the soil. Its ability to absorb nutrients can otherwise result in temporarily lowering the soil fertility.

[@mehrmeer6108]

+Jeff Flanigan Thanks, that makes sence

[@jvmor6275]

Yep.

[@nolanyoung8786]

Or feed or it your livestock to decrease methane production, put a bag in your run off stream, or just pee on it🤷🏻‍♂️ possibilities are endless

[@SantoshK.Mangalore]

Thank you Lopa for a lovely presentation. I am a biochar fan since 29Sep2020 when I accidentally came across some tutorial videos on making biochar. Since several years I have been burning weeds, twigs coconut waste and cut branches with a covering of equal volume of soil. I was out to make organic potash for the coconut grove. I had not heard of biochar then. Now I am happy to know about the benefits of biochar. Thank you 🙏

[@tracy9995]

Life changing.. Just made some biochar and wanted to know more. Being I love the planet, this is a game changer. Thank you!

[@AlongTheseLinesVideo]

Great introductory video on Biochar!

[@MaxTperson]

Exellent ! Thank You for doing this, explaining it so clearly and well :) This is something to spread to everyone... and *please* do it. After trying to push these ideas for years to governments and official organizations... I am getting convinced they live in outer space, and we have to do this ourselves, in our yards, gardens, villages.... luckily, this is easy and fun to do :)

[@AmandaRobertsKinesiologyYoga]

Congratulations Lopa, this really helped me understand the importance and coolness of biochar :)

[@vaggatillvagga]

Great presentation. Highly recommended!!

[@ccfm-hw4sp]

Lopa, thank you for your presentation. I was born in Java Island and working with Indonesian NGO, try to help them as much we could. You mentioned Lombok Island, at least you know that Indonesia's soil is very fertile due to abundant volcanoes ashes. By adding Biochar, will that help? East Java's (Ijen) river water and soil are Acidic, would charcoal help to reduce their Acidity?

[@danastrittmatter7905]

I am very interested in the making of char for the garden. While viewing a video on how to make it,.they spoke of the pure energy that is the resulting output of the making of char. I have been looking for an affordable way to heat my swimming pool in the winter. My question is if this is pure fuel with no gases, could I funnel that heat into the pool water. Could you guess if that would cause any problems

[@xyooj96]

what is the application rate, lbs per acre, that most beneficial?

[@MaxTperson]

How about... using non edible seaweeds ? 1. let rainwater wash the salt from their surfaces... 2. let sun dry them... 3. Pyrolysis... (and other half of seaweed haul into biodigestor... to become that nutrient component of terra preta... and biogas energy to power household engines and stoves...) and then.... No till, mycelial permacultruing food intensive gardening (and forest gardening) ?

[@iva4856]

Impossible to hear. Fix audio so it is AUDIBLE. Otherwise it's just a video of you talking on a stage.

[@6theseeker]

i thought salt is bad for the soil?

[@yinyiang6345]

7.5 years later and we still use unsustainable agricultural processes, with Biochar use being minimal... we are locked into our own tragic end.

[@Aaron16211]

Yes, of course you are right. But then again on the other hand Tesla is working on its 4th Gigafactory. AOC is actively ruffling feathers about the Green New Deal. Wind in the Midwest is ripping. Solar PV in the Southwest is roaring. For example, in Arizona APS just bought 1,000 MW (1GW) of Tesla Powerpack batteries along with 100 MW of new solar PV!

[@PolitiqueNonViolente]

Would you cut trees and turn it into biochar or it would be a nonsense?

[@andresamplonius315]

Fast growing trees like Gliciridia... It's planted for firewood... Perhaps bamboo...

[@ignacio3694]

Maybe hemp 🤷‍♂️

[@timothyblazer1749]

Interesting that that island, in the 11 years since this presentation, is still here and hasn't lost shoreline. Biochar is a great fertility tool. It's nothing to do with climate. And I really wish they'd stop with these claims, because it will ultimately slow the adoption of the method.

[@geomundi8333]

yeah, das new thing is hugelcultur; better carbon sink; why char ard release all that CO2. stop burning stuff, its faster but short sighted

[@seanmcgaffin8479]

+geo hick hugelcultur is worse as a carbon sink! In hugelcultur the wood decomposes in a matter of years to give labile carbon to the soil and CH4 escapes while decomposing. The biochar is not burned, but pyrolized in an anerobic environment so as not to oxidize and form CO2, CO. The gasses are combusted, they do not go into the atmosphere. Furthermore the carbon is "fixed" in a solid state for 1,000+ years. It is the opposite of short sighted.

[@dustystahn3855]

Sean please check your info it is wrong. geo mundi is right. Gasses do go into the atmosphere. One of them is phosphorus trioxide. The supply of rock phosphate used to make synthetic fertilizer is expected to be depleted in 50 years then those fertilizer companies can't make any more. BUT build huge charcoal plants and catch the phosphorus trioxide and they can keep on making synthetic fertilizer and keep on destroying the planet Plants convert carbon dioxide in the air to solid carbon. When plants rot underground the carbon stays there. When the soil is disturbed by plowing or other means it oxidizes and becomes carbon dioxide again. This big push for biochar is sponsored Petrochemical fertilizer companies for a renewable source of phosphorus.

[@miscellaneous5268]

Audio sucks