DEFENDING OUR WATERWAYS!
Some notes from my R4R message
at the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact Summit event.
Dear Louis Aguirre, Anastasia Brenman, and Channel 10,
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to both of you for the incredible opportunity to be part of your “Don’t Trash Our Treasures” series on such a crucial topic—“Is it Safe to Go in the Water?” The health of our waterways is something we all care deeply about, and it was an honor to contribute to this important conversation.
Louis, your insightful questions and unwavering commitment to raising awareness on this critical issue means so much. I’m also incredibly grateful for the shout-out you gave to Residents for Resilience (R4R). Thanks to your support, we’ve welcomed many new members who are eager to join us in our mission to restore and protect our precious waterways. Their involvement will certainly help us work toward making our waters safe and, hopefully, swimmable again!
I truly look forward to collaborating more in the future. Thank you both for your hard work and dedication!
Best,
Suzee
AND EXCERPT FROM A FORBES ARTICLE FROM JUNE 2021
A Renewable Solution For Polluted Waters: Biochar Explained
Contributor
I write about low emission technologies and decarbonization solutions
Updated Jun 28, 2021, 12:08pm EDT
Eutrophication is the result of overloaded nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen into water bodies like rivers and lakes. Eutrophication can reduce the oxygen in the water and increase aquatic plants’ growths that causes structural changes to the ecosystem, particularly enhancing algae and marine plants’ growth and threatening the survival of fish species. Eutrophication can decrease water quality and lead to changes in the levels of pH, oxygen, phosphorus, nitrogen, sediment, and water temperature.
Luckily, scientific advances in renewable materials and biomass-based products, such as biochar from organic materials like forest harvest residues, agricultural wastes and leftovers, and animal manure, can offer a more sustainable alternative.
What is biochar?
Most people think that burning wood results in ashes, but there are other ways to apply heat to organic materials, such as heating in the absence of oxygen (pyrolysis), in which the material does not combust, but the chemical compounds thermally decompose into pyrolysis char, oil, and gases, also known as biochar, bio-oil, and syngas. These renewable products have various applications in addressing sustainability issues.
Biochar has been shown as a sustainable solution for addressing different challenges across food-energy-water systems, such as improving soil-plant health, treating water, and mitigating carbon emissions, as well as eutrophication control and waste management. Over 1,000 studies conducted in the past 20 years confirm that biochar can remove solid and liquid pollutants, such as nutrients, algae, parasites, pathogens, drugs, fish feces, uneaten fish food, and other chemicals that can pose environmental problems and negatively impact surface and groundwater.
How biochar works...
Biochar has the ability to adsorb—the process of holding tiny particles (adsorbates) on the surface of larger solid materials (adsorbents)—pollutants and organic substances present in water because of its carbon-rich particles and textual features. Biochar’s adsorption abilities depend on properties like its surface area, architecture, and porosity, for removing or immobilizing nutrient contaminants from water. Once used for water treatment, biochar can then find applications in agriculture again, as it becomes a slow-release, nutrient-rich fertilizer for returning nutrients and minerals to the soil and increasing the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients.
This is where the Biden administration’s plan to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” can have a significant impact to better protect the nation’s water resources and support key economic sectors. In addition, to fully promote socio-economic resilience and ecological integrity of regional food-energy-water resources, the Biden administration and Turkey President Erdogan should consider the latest scientific advances in the field of renewable and sustainable materials, such as biochar from biomass feedstocks.
BIOCHAR SLEEVES
