Areas of Expertise:
Carbon Capture and SequestrationAdditional Areas of Expertise:
Biochar, Biochar Soil Technology
Erich Knight has spent the last 7 years advocating for thermal conversion of biomass. He has been directly involved in several projects concerning soil carbon at James Madison University, as well as conference planing & presentations at ISU and CU Boulder, the 2012 USBI Sonoma State Biochar conference, and presently serves as the Policy Chairman for the UMass conference in October.
Erich has been working to integrate the many applications of Biochar for enteric health as a feedstuff in animal husbandry, for mine scarred lands as an in situ bioremediation for a host of toxic agents and pesticides, in addition to carbon negative energy and transportation fuels, and networked and collaborated with a host of organizations across the globe. The goal is total symbiotic integration of nutrients, carbon and energy by the husbandry of whole new orders and kingdoms of life. To recruit the Wee-Beasties from numerous biomes allows nature to do the heavy lifting and solve many dilemmas in our macro world. There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom and Biochar has provided the tools to explore this vast realm.
Erich's networking efforts have lead to collaborative field trials with the Rodale Institute , DuPont & ORNL for brownfield remediation trials, and dissemination of char practices to academic & grass-roots organizations. Additionally Erich has provided editorial assistance on topical articles and the leading books; "The Biochar Solution" & "The Biochar Revolution".
Policy & research lobbying efforts with the USDA, USGS, DOE, NOAA, NASA and EPA lead to a briefing of the EPA chiefs of North America at the 2011 Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
In 2013, Erich received accolades from Sec. Vilsack, Dr. Rattan Lal, at OSU, the most cited soil scientist, and has been collaborating with Dr. Jim Hansen since his retirement from NASA. Furthermore, Erich provided additional citations for the CO2e reduction potential of Biochar systems at scale, for Dr. Hansen's new "The Scientific Case for Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change."
Recent Comments by Erich Knight
- "Reverse-Geo-Engineering is what is needed,
10K years of liberating Carbon from soils & forest just needs to be reversed. A"
Climate Engineering: Solution or Problem? - "Yes, certainly a can-o-worms, or more like a half can. As with soil-C loss, Borlaug enabled big Ag (with NPK), to serve our 7 billions at the cost of "
Government as Innovator: Not so Fast - "If it weren't for Borlaug, (Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom & Congressional Gold Medal, National Youth Administration enabled enr"
Government as Innovator: Not so Fast - "Fee & Dividend is also Dr. Jim Hansen's Rx for climate;
Full post at
http://csas.ei.columbia.edu/2014/12/23/assuring-real-progress-on-climate/
I "
Government as Innovator: Not so Fast - "Government R&D also paves the way for policy changes.
CO2 must become a fungible commodity. Like oil. Oil cost more here or cost less there but"
Government as Innovator: Not so Fast - "Given new findings about Carbonaceous aerosols ("
Solar Radiation Management–An Evolving Climate Policy Option - " CO2 Removal, CDR, is less risky and essentially a form of Reverse-Geo-Engineering, lower in cost, treating the cause not the s"
Solar Radiation Management–An Evolving Climate Policy Option