raymon wrote:
the important problem of agriculture is the ratio of carbon to nitrogen, inputs and exports.
Can I correct you a bit without getting drunk?
Le
investigation report C / N is for composting! There, it is a question of balanced feeding of bacteria so that it bumps quickly and "heats" the heap, without flow of juice and without anaerobic fermentation generating methane (powerful greenhouse gas if it is not not collected).
Agriculture is
cycles to talk about:
- nitrogen cycle, with inputs into the "field" system: fertilizers, compots, plant remains and nettles: plant samples (part exported from the field); the enrichment of a cycle impoverished by losses can be done by: a) fertilizer; b) horizontal transfers (BRF); c) legumes that capture nitrogen from the air and fix it
- carbon cycle: it is much simpler; the source = CO² from the air, available in quantity! Photosynthetic plants "type" in this reserve; when the biomass decomposes aerobically (compost, burns, digestion + respiration), CO² is released again; hence the argument that heating with biomass is CO² neutral; Ditto for "feeding" on biomass; at the end the CO² "borrowed from the air" is found in the form of CO² in the air! And when we burn wood, we use solar energy stored by plants. When we run too!
The C, in this story, is like batteries: alone or associated with the H in the biomass, it is "recharged" in energy; oxidized, in the form of CO² it is waste without energy; chlorophyll acts as a charger for these batteries!