生物炭是什么?

生物炭是什么?

Though you may not have heard of biochar, it's a good bet you'd recognize it if you saw it.

虽然你可能没听说过生物炭，但如果你看到它，肯定能认出来。

Biochar might be the answer to climate change. (Photo: K.salo.85 [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

Biochar is just charcoal. It's created when organic matter like wood chips, rice stalks or even manure is heated up in the absence of oxygen. Think of a sealed metal drum full of wood chips over a fire. It's simple, can be produced anywhere and could just end up saving the world.

生物炭就是木炭。当木屑、稻秆甚至粪肥等有机物在缺氧条件下被加热时，就会产生这种细菌。想象一个密封的金属桶，里面装满了木屑。它很简单，可以在任何地方生产，最终可以拯救世界。

When organic matter is turned into biochar, the CO2 contained within the plant is converted into solid carbon. Plowing biochar into soil sequesters the carbon for a long time — biochar fields have been found in South America dating back thousands of years and still full of their carbon solids. Soils augmented with biochar retain nutrients better as the tiny, sponge-like structure of the carbon solids sucks up and holds the fertilizer, reducing the amount needed. The same structure holds water better and has been shown to decrease the emissions of nitrous oxide and methane into the air from the soil.

当有机物转化为生物炭时，植物体内的二氧化碳转化为固体碳。在土壤中耕作生物炭可以长期封存碳——在南美洲发现的生物炭田可以追溯到几千年前，而且仍然充满了它们的碳固体。添加生物炭的土壤能更好地保留营养物质，因为微小的海绵状的碳固体结构能吸收并保持肥料，从而减少所需的量。同样的结构可以更好地蓄水，而且已经证明可以减少土壤向空气中排放的一氧化二氮和甲烷。

An easy sell

一个简单的销售

Wood waste can be converted into biochar, which can be added to soil to improve its health. (Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture [CC0]/Flickr)

When organic matter is heated up in the absence of oxygen, it releases hot gases that can be captured and burned in power generators, or also refined into bio-oil and synthetic gas, both which can be further refined into effective gasoline and diesel substitutes. If the gases are burned right away, the process of creating biochar — called pyrolysis — is energy-positive, returning six to nine times as much energy as necessary to run and maintain it.

当有机物在没有氧气的情况下被加热时，它会释放出热气体，这些热气体可以被捕获并在发电机中燃烧，也可以被提炼成生物油和合成气体，这两种气体都可以被进一步提炼成有效的汽油和柴油替代品。如果这些气体被立即燃烧，那么产生生物炭的过程——即所谓的热解——就会产生正能量，所产生的能量是运行和维持生物炭所需能量的6至9倍。

Biochar is an easy sell. Everyone involved in the process wins. Poor farmers get more food for their work and are able to settle on one plot of ever-productive soil. Rich farmers and corporate agriculture save a lot of money on fertilizer and also see the same boost in production. The environment benefits because of the reduction in fertilizer runoff and the removal of CO2 from the air. Big business wins because of the profits generated from the production and distribution of biochar. Politicians get to take credit for implementing a pragmatic, job-creating solution to global warming. Workers get jobs. Governments get tax revenue.

生物炭很容易销售。参与这个过程的每个人都是赢家。贫穷的农民可以得到更多的粮食，并且能够在一块肥沃的土地上定居下来。富裕的农民和企业农业节省了大量的化肥，也看到了同样的增产。环境受益于减少化肥径流和去除空气中的二氧化碳。由于生物炭的生产和销售所产生的利润，大企业获胜。政治家们因实施了一个务实的、创造就业的全球变暖解决方案而受到称赞。工人找到工作。政府获得税收。

Researchers recently found that using biochar is an inexpensive and effective method to help tree seedlings survive during reforestation attempts in the Amazon rainforest. In areas mined for gold, the soil and the trees are harmed, making it difficult to regrow and nurture new trees to replace those that are lost.

研究人员最近发现，使用生物炭是一种廉价而有效的方法，可以帮助树木幼苗在亚马逊雨林的造林尝试中存活下来。在开采黄金的地区，土壤和树木都受到了损害，很难重新生长和培育新的树木来取代那些失去的树木。

The study, which was published in the journal Forests, was based on research conducted in an Amazon region called Madre de Dios, the center of illegal gold mining trade in Peru.

这项发表在《森林》(forest)杂志上的研究，是基于亚马逊地区马德雷德迪奥斯(Madre de Dios)的一项研究。马德雷德迪奥斯是秘鲁非法采金交易的中心。

“These are the kinds of landscapes we have to recover, and we are still trying to determine how to grow plants in them,” Silman said. “This soil is extremely limiting for natural regrowth, but treating them with biochar turns it into something that plants can grow in. That’s good for biodiversity and good for the people that have to make a living from the land.”

“这些是我们必须修复的景观类型，我们仍在试图确定如何在其中种植植物，”西尔曼说。“这种土壤对自然再生非常有限，但用生物炭处理后，它变成了植物可以生长的东西。这有利于生物多样性，也有利于那些以土地为生的人们。”