Your shorthand about "burying carbon dioxide" is a little misleading. The charcoal being buried is not CO2, but the fertilized soil can in turn sequester more CO2 from the atmosphere.

We have a huge potential for improving the air while improving the soil. No-till agriculture and cellulose biofuel crops are just two of the promising techniques.

Making good dirt is apparently a lost art for mankind. I've become cautiously optimistic that we can become a more sustainable society by getting smart about dirt.

Alden- Your quibble is right, the article should really say "bury carbon" sans the dioxide part. Charcoal is mostly C...

Finally- Sawadogo is an all-star who deserves our support. I've had great luck with Kiva- can we get this man a 20k "micro" loan? Or can 2000 people send him $10? Give me an address (Paypal, URL, mail, whatever) and I'm good for $20, at least. This guy is a hero!

I'm putting in some raised veggie beds this weekend. Not I'm thinking of grinding up some charchol to add with the dolomite and compost. Pacific Northwest soils have the same problem as most tropical soils, too much rainfall, so no nutrients. This may help with clay soil, too.

Seriously, I second that motion. If there's anyway to help Sawadogo out, please make it known.

Over the past year I've learned a lot about the life of the soil. There probably is more life going on in our topsoil (by far) than above the surface (and when reading most work of "journalists," I'm tempted to say more intelligent life). My partner and I have a 10-acre cut-rose operation, where we grow roses outdoors (not under glass), and use no chemicals whatsoever. We've been very pleased with how our roses have done!

I used to wonder why it seemed like diseases were more rampant with plants now than how it must have been in earlier times. I wondered how in the world they were able to grow anything without everything being eaten up by pests and diseases, considering the conventional wisdom of what it takes to grow veggies and fruit. The answer is that with a balanced soil system, you don't have all these problems, and no need for chemicals. The chemicals and strong fertilizers (anything over 10-10-10 destroys the soil cultures) are what's damaged our ecosystem probably more than any other factor, making the soils and nature unable to recover because the organisms that do the recovering are dead. For anyone curious, our rose site is linked to my sig.

--Ron Robertson

There's an article in Wikipedia about Terra Preta. For those, like me, who are considering trying to create their own black earth, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta

This paragraph is important:

It is important to note that the fresh charcoal must first be “charged” before it can function as a biotope. Several experiments demonstrate that uncharged charcoal can bring a provisional depletion of available nutrients when first put into the soil - until its pores fill up with nutrients. This is overcome by soaking the charcoal for a few weeks (2 to 4 weeks) in any liquid nutrient (urine, plant tea. ...).

In other words, grind up some good wood charchol, piss on it and leave it for a couple of weeks before using it as a soil ammendment. This sounds really similar to the Humanure technology and may work the in much the same way.

because we soil ecologists are such a picky lot (as are all soil scientists) it isn't about dirt, but it is about soil. Soil is a living thing. It also brings up a different image in people's minds than does "dirt".

Like climatologists who use the term "global climate change" as opposed to global warming, how you think of things makes a difference, and it expands your horizons.

Sorry to be such a nerd nitpicker.

Dirt sucks. Though my boys seem to like spreading it about our house quite a bit.

Tyler Cohen is actually Tyler Cowen

You guys beat me to it. If we can get Sawadogo on Kiva or whatever, I am definitely in.