Wednesday, 11 June 2014
What Is the Connection between Rice Straw, Charcoal and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
..."Another option is to turn the rice straw into charcoal by burning it while restricting the amount of oxygen so the carbon in the straw does not turn into CO2. The charcoal is then returned to the rice field. Therefore, instead of rice farming being a source of carbon emissions, it could actually store carbon, what is better known as carbon sequestration. It is still early days and researchers are busy understanding the wonders of turning straw into charcoal which they call biochar. However, an organization called the Philippine Biochar Association is already promoting biochar use with Philippine rice farmers. What they are doing is paying the farmers to turn their rice straw into biochar instead of burning it in the field. This is funded by local companies who want to offset their carbon footprint. If you are interested to learn more about the Philippine Biochar Association, click on the following link http://philippinebiocharassociation.com/ ."