[GWSG] Positive tipping points; waste biochar; bagasse biochar; biochar?; Equatic's commercial plant; propagandized?

[Tilley, Al]

1. The conversion of the transportation system to electric energy is not proceeding smoothly but seems to have reached a tipping point beyond which conversion speeds up greatly. Realistic assessment of the course of climate mitigation might not look so bleak if we include the possibility of positive tipping points—for example, a tipping point in the conversion to a plant-based diet. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-method-positive-climate-action.html
2. An article in PNAS finds that biochar from human waste could cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide a major new source of fertilizer, forming a feature of a circular economy. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/aug/11/biochar-from-human-waste-could-solve-global-fertiliser-shortages-study-finds
3. Biochar from sugarcane bagasse can reduce nitrogen run-off from growing cotton by 87% by acting to fix the nitrogen. Biochar also conserves water.  https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/biochar-yields-triple-win-for-cotton-healthier-soil-less-water-and-87-less-nitrogen-runoff/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=biochar-yields-triple-win-for-cotton-healthier-soil-less-water-and-87-less-nitrogen-runoff
4. Biochar increases the fertility of land by acting as a hotel for the bacteria which render soil fertile. It will continue in this role as long as it remains in the soil. It also sequesters its carbon for that period, which can run to thousands of years. Any organic waste can be made into biochar if burned with restricted flow of oxygen. Excessive use or unsuitable feedstock can have negative effects.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar
5. I have promised to keep track of Equatic, which builds plants to remove carbon through seawater electrolysis. Green H is a byproduct. They recently received $11.6 million to help finance a commercial plant in Canada. Pilot projects have been successful in Singapore and Los Angeles. The process was developed at UCLA. https://www.eco-business.com/press-releases/equatic-secures-us116-million-series-a-funding-to-advance-permanent-carbon-removal-green-hydrogen-production/
6. I take it that the common wisdom on removal and storage of atmospheric carbon has been propagandized to the point that we think primarily of direct air capture or removal of carbon from the exhaust stream of a fossil fuel plant. Neither holds much promise. When we get serious enough to put a global price on carbon, biochar and seawater electrolysis, among other technologies, stand ready to sequester carbon at scale and efficiently.

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