如果我们要从温室效应和气候激变中挽救自己的地球，我们要大幅度改变人类的生活模式：从消耗煤炭转换成储藏、重新植树和保育珊瑚、拯救鲸鱼、将温室气流往下移动等等。
 
基本上，人类会需要一个时光机去将碳素循环逆转。但是这个时光机不一定是电影里高科技的机器，而是一样意想不到的原料：生物碳。
 
数千年前，亚马逊族人开始使用生物碳— 这种碳意外地可以将荒土培育成为可再生能源和养分的肥土，甚至可以清净河流以及海洋。
 
《燃烧地球》一书深入研究热解生物碳的好处。作者为了此书到访世界各地使用生物碳科技的农地，包括中国的秦峰乡和尼泊尔的山区农村，更在英国和印度等地实验生物碳的技术。不只农业，生物碳也能够在建築公路与摩天大楼的过程中净化环境，甚至用於日常生活用品当中。
 
但是为什麽生物碳还没普及呢？我们要如何为下一代去推进保育地球的科技与知识呢？这些燃眉的问题作者都在《燃烧地球》里一一解答。
 
 
关於作者：
Albert Bates 是生态村运动的其中一名创办人。他是一名律师、科学家和老师，曾经於60多个国家讲授关於永久性农业的设计和技术。他的作品包括：Climate in Crisis 、The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook 、The Biochar Solution 和The Paris Agreement.
 
Kathleen Draper 多年来致力於生物碳的研究和发展。身为国际生物碳计划的委员，她一直跟世界各地的生物碳专家合作，并於多个国家进行生物碳顾问和教授的工作。

 
本书好评：
“We’re in a climate emergency, and we need to be using an awful lot of different approaches—here’s one that definitely deserves to be explored in full.”—Bill McKibben, author of Falter

 “For anyone interested in solutions to climate change, this book is absolutely essential reading. It represents the latest, most innovative thinking and experimentation on removing carbon from the atmosphere. What’s delightfully startling is the authors’ detailed, example-laden argument that we can use carbon to regenerate landscapes while also producing an astounding array of products—from concrete to plastics to batteries to paper—that function better by incorporating the universe’s most versatile element. Written in a clear, entertaining style, Burn is an incendiary contribution.”—Richard Heinberg, senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute

“I cannot recommend this book highly enough for going deep into the science of a potentially revolutionary technology that could be capable of stopping dangerous climate change in its tracks. For anyone who wants to know how societies can transform the very fabric of how we run our industries so that we protect and enhance our environment, not destroy it—while contributing to thriving economies—this is literally the manual. It is, in short, a window into the future we could build together. So read it, and start building.”—Dr. Nafeez Ahmed, system shift columnist, Motherboard; editor-in-chief, INSURGE Intelligence; research fellow, The Schumacher Institute

“What if we could make carbon our ally, instead of our enemy, in preserving this planet? This deeply detailed book is about far more than the ancient, carbon-fixing Amazonian soil technology called terra preta. Practically everything humans do, Burn shows, could reimburse the Earth for the carbon we’ve exhumed, leaving civilization far cleaner and healthier—and with a chance for a future.”—Alan Weisman, author of Countdown, The World Without Us, and Gaviotas

“Carbon, the most promiscuous of elements, can be our ruination or by better management, our salvation. Burn is a clear, accessible, and luminescent blueprint for the latter. It really is a must-read.”—David Orr, author of Dangerous Years

 “Reading Albert Bates is always a delight. He challenges us in his humorous, outside-the-box style with deep, practical, and original carbon insights based on years of experience as one of the world’s leading permaculture experts. His solutions are low-cost, scalable, and doable—right on.”—Ross Jackson, chair of Gaia Trust, Denmark; author of Occupy World Street

“This book is a big deal. It argues persuasively that carbon has been vilified for far too long. Biochar, a hard, crystal-like form of carbon, can reanimate tired soils and help to mop up vast amounts of CO₂ from the atmosphere. The authors speak as seasoned scientists as well as practitioners, and their arsenal of arguments offers more than a glimpse of hope in a world threatened with climate doom. If there is a way out, here is a bunch of keys to the door at the end of the tunnel.”—Herbert Girardet, cofounder, World Future Council; executive council member, Club of Rome