Support Biochar
Using biochar can increase crop yields, help reclaim marginal soils, reduce water pollution, lessen irrigation requirements and reduce the need for fertilizers. At the same time it sequesters carbon, which can help prevent further global warming. Biochar can be produced cheaply in backyard kilns.
Q1: What can increase food production, reduce pollution, improve soil quality, save money on fertilizer costs, while sequestering carbon to stop global warming?
Idea Description
Biochar is simply finely ground charcoal, added to soil. It is not a fertilizer, so on poor soils it should be added with fertilizer -- ideally organic compost. It increases crop yields, so it can reduce food cost and help prevent famine. Biochar makes any fertilizer more effective, so over the long-term, less is needed. It also reduces leaching (washing-out) of fertilizing chemicals from soil, which reduces the pollution in our lakes and rivers. Combined with organic fertilizer, it will help reclaim unproductive soils. It retains water, so less irrigation is needed. Biochar is the only economically attractive means of reducing atmospheric CO2 -- large scale use could stop global warming.
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
I'm not eligible for the prize as I live outside the USA, but I'd love to see the money go towards increasing awareness of biochar's benefits.
Vote for it now.
Charcoal may have the listed benefits for some crops in some types of soil. But it is harmful in other agricultural situations. Also, creating charcoal is done by partially burning materials, so CO2 is released into the air. Only part of the carbon is sequester. I seem to remember that charcoal breaks down in the soil and thusly releases its minerals to the plants. They soon breakdown and release CO2, methane, and water.