[Stoves] don't burn the charcoal bury it

Mon Sep 27 04:37:15 CDT 2010

Dear Jeff,
well done and said in a very understanding way............

Otto
Still a TLUD fan...............

> From: Jeff Davis [jeff0124 at velocity.net]
> Sent: 2010-09-27 04:44:48 MEST
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves [Stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org]
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] don't burn the charcoal bury it
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> 
> Traditionally agriculture has been a theft based regime, possibly
> starting with slash and burn. This worked for the short term but after a
> few years it was time to move on to another site and repeat the process.
> At that point in history this would not be a problem and may have been
> beneficial, also the few indigenous groups remaining today are too few
> to be an issue. But in the present with 6 billion people it's rather
> dubious. Odd that biochar claims to be a long lasting solution when this
> only worked a few years. To date we carry on with this theft based
> regime with the indirect application of fossil fuels and the direct
> application of pesticides thus burning off the humus and adding more CO2
> into the atmosphere.
> 
> A vital factor to consider is the relationship between clay, humus and
> water. Humus is sticky and glues it's self to clay particles and absorbs
> water (this relationship also stores water somewhat like biochar) thus
> creating an electric circuit somewhat like a battery or you could say
> it's nature's version of an IC chip.  The clay-humus colloid's two
> players are the anion and the cation. This relationship is like poetry
> or music to the plants and I doubt that it exist with biochar. Healthy
> soil is a living creature, in a way, and we are an extension of this
> living creature.
> 
> Charcoal has earned the title as a filter. I have a charcoal filter in
> my face mask used for chores like painting. It absorbs harmful fumes and
> lucky for me that it doesn't decide to release them. This could help
> explain pictures of plant roots that had to work to penetrate the
> biochar in order to use what was absorbed. Some people soak their
> biochar in urine and I would assume that the biochar would be overloaded
> with this material and easily release the excess but I could more easily
> apply urine to the soil by spraying and it would naturally work it's way
> into the soil by it's self. I also add some sugar with my urine
> applications.
> 
> Humus has been aiding the soil from dry cracking for thousands of years
> much like the fibers in fiberglass composite materials. One possible
> example could be found at the end of my report on Fuelage. You can see
> first hand how strong a fermented grass can become. Of course I can not
> be certain that Fuelage is related to humus. The root cause of the soil
> cracking is a lack of humus not the lack of biochar in the soil and for
> that matter soil fertility. If we could work on the root causes (pun not
> intended) of our problems we would end up with rich soil, extra fuel
> whether in the form of wood or charcoal and healthy food.
> 
> In short. If you have healthy soil (humus) biochar can burn it out at an
> accelerated rate, you very well could see an increased yield for a short
> time then a decrease. If your soil is dead (burned out) biochar will
> help but why not use the real deal. 
> 
> Whether something works in a limited way, especially in a lab
> environment, or intrinsically works is like night and day so to speak.
> For example I have experimented with growing potatoes, pumpkins and
> squash in bales of weed. I could say that it works because, after all, I
> have the produce to prove it. But the real truth is that it's a needy
> regime with low yield.
> 
> Honestly I don't know anything about Africa's soil but I will not be the
> person to denies them access to all of their options.
> 
> The goal of this weed/grass-humus scheme is not to reduce the amount of
> chemical fertilizer but eliminate it. The goal is not to reduce the
> application of pesticides but to eliminate it. The goal is not to reduce
> irrigation but to eliminate it (in most cases). So what would this
> scheme look like? One possibility would be to pick a wet plot for
> growing your exotic [2] plants. This soil would be built up with humus
> produced from the surrounding grass/weed land. A variety of grasses and
> weeds would produce a healthier humus for the plants as apposed to a
> mono-crop. A wet plot would help to preserve the humus and become a
> water battery. The excess humus would make up for the heavy soil. The
> grass/weed land could be treated with urine, composted human-manure
> (maybe) and the tea from humus production. One other goal is to reduce
> the amount of natural composting by producing extra humus that
> sequesters carbon in the soil. The grass/weed portion of the land could
> also be used for growing alternative foods like Dandelions but you would
> need to skip the composted human-manure.
> 
> Biochar is the silver bullet that solves our soil/plant problems and
> global warming [1] also allowing us to continue burning all the fossil
> fuels we want in order to continue our present life styles. The
> scientist is content with working with a single variable, after all
> biochar adds carbon to the soil and helps to store water. Lucky is the
> Scientist that deals with the single variable but woe is the Grower that
> has to churn the equation.
> 
> See links below.
> 
> Unfortunately I've consumed my email time for rest of the year.
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> 
> Jeff
> 
> [1] Assuming man made global warming.
> 
> [2] An exotic plant is what most people think of as food for example
> pumpkin.
> 
> 
> 
> Humus and sugar:
> <http://www.aglabs.com/newletters/humus.html>
> 
> <http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/biocharbriefing.pdf>
> 
> Biochar 'Carbon Sequestration' Company Charged with Fraudulent ?Ponzi?
> Scheme Targeting Elderly
> <http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/23>
> 
> <http://www.greenworld.org.uk/page242/page242.html>
> 
> FoEA
> <http://www.foe.org.au/resources/publications/climate-justice/FoEA%
> 20Biochar%20Briefing.pdf>
> 
> Charcoal's green image blackened
> <http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080501/full/news.2008.791.html>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
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> 
> 
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