I read the article “Could Chicken Manure Help Curb Climate Change” by Brian Winter which is about how chicken manure when incinerated can produce a byproduct called biochar to help reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. This biochar represents a cheap and affordable way to deal with greenhouse gases and is environmental friendly. The biochar helps to reduce greenhouse gases by trapping carbon emissions in the ground for up to 1000 years and taking out CO2 from the air. Biochar acts as an excellent organic fertilizer which helps produce healthier plants that take out even more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. In addition to chicken manure, biochar can be produced from wood and switch grass too. The machine that incinerates the chicken manure can produce up to 9000 pounds of biochar a day and, “can sell high-quality biochar for $1 a pound” (Winter). When incinerated, the machine produces no smell and smoke while using a very little oxygen. This possesses a potential way for farmers to be very productive and creates a whole market demand for biochar.
I think the use of biochar is a great step in helping to reduce greenhouse gases. It is an environmental friendly way of going about trying to lower the amount of CO2 we put into the air. Although this is a step forward I still think we should still try and relay less on gasoline because it produces a large amount of the CO2 in the air. This machine producing biochar seems too good to be true. Actually doing something with the chicken manure ensures that the poop will not be dumped into local ecosystems that end up harming them. I think biochar is a smart way of going about reducing the greenhouse emissions and a great way to produce better crops for consumption.
--Steven Grigsby
