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Re: Rock dust and biochar in a commercial compost product #compost #rockdust

Anand Karve
 

There is nothing special about basalt dust. The presence of green and healthy natural flora all over the world shows that all soils have all the minerals that plants need. But, being insoluble in water, the plants cannot get them. The soil microbes can take up the minerals directly from the soil. The plants kill the soil microbes, and absorb them. That is how the plants get the minerals. Since all living organisms have more or less the same minerals, it is immaterial from which microbes the plants get their minerals.
Yours
A.D.Karve

On Wed 22 Jul, 2020, 12:30 AM Stan Slaughter <stan@... wrote:
Basalt does not occur in Missouri, but we are customers of Rock Dust Local to provide the basalt for our Green Frontier super compost which has 15% biochar. We are getting extraordinarily postitive comments from our local gardeners and truck farmers. We believe lawn service companies may also be interested.


Stan Slaughter, M.A., Biology
US Composting Council Educator of the Year, 2000
Education and Garden Specialist-
Missouri Organic Recycling
www.missouriorganic.com
Cell- 816-560-5640



On Jul 21, 2020, at 1:13 PM, Valentine Nzengung <vnzengun@...> wrote:

Find attached the Nature Paper
In the Cameroons, I obtained the rock dust by grinding fines from a quarry and basaltic lava from a recent eruption of Mount Fako.
The final product increased the yield of bananas at a plantation scale.
The country is at war, so I do not have the complete field data.

Regards,
Valentine Nzengung


From: main@Biochar.groups.io <main@Biochar.groups.io> on behalf of Kim Chaffee via groups.io <kim.chaffee2@...>
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 1:54 PM
To: Biochar@groups.io <biochar@groups.io>; USBI Board Members <usbiochar@groups.io>
Cc: Rock Dust Local <stones32@...>
Subject: [Biochar] Potential for large-scale CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering with croplands: Nature
 
[EXTERNAL SENDER - PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY]

All,

This newly published research paper in Nature appears to open a new avenue for promoting the use of biochar.   We know that soluble minerals in the form of 'rock dust’ work synergistically with biochar to improve crop yield and nutritional value.  Now, it appears that the CO2 removal capabilities of the rock dust itself can also be a significant climate benefit.  Another synergy.

This article is behind a paywall, but the abstract also contains the figures, which are very informative.  It may be possible to obtain the 'rock dust’ from industrial silicate materials without having to do more mining.  Any thoughts?

Kim Chaffee 

From the abstract:

Enhanced silicate rock weathering (ERW), deployable with croplands, has potential use for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR), which is now necessary to mitigate anthropogenic climate change1. ERW also has possible co-benefits for improved food and soil security, and reduced ocean acidification2,3,4. 

<Biochar Rock Dust CO2 Removal.pdf>
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