[Stoves] don't burn the charcoal bury it

Mon Sep 27 14:10:39 CDT 2010

Jeff,

Loong time since  my response to your last post apologies just get too wrapped up in doings here...I recall that you had mentioned a friend of yours there who ws getting into briqueting ... How is that going? 

On your post today re biochar, its a  very thoughtful piece. 
Thanks for it. 
I have sent it out to two emerging biochar briquetters out there as I am nto in favor if it myself but do not have the technical background to defend my position. I rather take a more utilitarian approach from the user perspective. 

On the biomass briquette side, it maks little snce to go to teh touble of making biochar...when we can use the 15 to 20% waste product that naturally acumilates on the sellers stall floor-- from their normal handling of the lump charcoal. Useing those fines (dust and crumbs) in a typical grass straw biomass briquette  will about double the sellers market reach, or conversely they can greatly reduce their charcoal supply, and still reach the same market...A typical grass and straw briquette which has been augmented by 15 - 20% charcoal dust cumbs (the briquette typically weighs 140 grams), will about greatly increase it heat output --in fact it typically provides the same heat ouput as 140 grams of lump charcoal.

And more important that anything the briquette begins to "look like charcoal" .

We hardly need to go to the cost and carbon footrpint and human energy expenditure of creating char for this purpose...

Richard Stanley

On Sep 26, 2010, at 7:44 PM, Jeff Davis wrote:

> 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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> 
> 
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