[Stoves] Biochar Projects for Science Students

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Wise words, Jeff. 

It would be interesting to know if the terra preta soils were artificially
created or were the consequence of cyclical burning in a rotation (slash and
burn).

It is hard to know if the roots will burn well. When I lived in Nigeria one
of the things people had difficulty understanding was this idea of a forest
burning - inconceivable!

If the roots burn underground for some distance like they do in Canada, then
there is a lot of char produced by slash-and-burn agriculture. That does not
require premeditation and intent, even if the consequences were beneficial.

It is well known that the fertility in the jungle is in the biomass above
the ground. That means just about any available fertility is not below the
ground, or it will have been absorbed and turned into plant material.

The question is: will a biome with most of its fertility below the ground
benefit from biochar? This is a really interesting question. The answer is
bound to be complex. The char produced by stoves will have to be
characterised to see how it compares with that added as amendments. Nothing
I have seen written so far attempts to look at that so I guess it is
relatively unexplored.

Frank can you do any assessments of the contents of the char you are
producing in your tiny tube retort? Is there any reason to believe stove
char is a) variable, b) different, c) homogeneous?

Regards
Crispin