[Stoves] Fuel production, biochar, and feeding the stove in 2040

[Anand Karve]

Dear Crispin,
my daughter has a Ph. D. in physics. I am the biologist in the family.
I have been thinking about a possible way in which charcoal applied to
the soil might be beneficial to plants. Water is a universal solvent.
Even quartz and silicate minerals like bauxite dissolve in water to
yield a silica solution of 5 to 10 PPM concentration. A crop of wheat
or rice removes annually 250 kg silica from an area of 1 hectare.
The fact that even the so called insoluble minerals like quartz and
opal dissolve in water, suggests that charcoal buried in the soil
might also be dissolved in water and absorbed by plants and microbes.
There are no records of molecular carbon being metabolized by living
organismas, but this line of thinking needs to be followed up and
investigated.
Yours
A.D.Karve


On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 10:50 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
<crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Alex.
>
> Dr AD:
>
> This is on the page: " When growers still growing in soil incorporate or
> surface apply animal manure or other organic materials, such as straw,
> levels of CO2 in the greenhouse will be increased during the breakdown
> process. The amount of CO2 produced depends on the stability of the mulch
> and the activity of the microorganisms, which convert the organic material
> into CO2. Production of CO2 from rotting manure will only be significant for
> about one month following incorporation. In some cases organic growing media
> such as coconut coir will increase the CO2 level in the greenhouse to 1,200
> ppm during the night. This is usually not a problem, as the levels will drop
> quite rapidly at daylight."
>
> So it seems your shielded walls can be supplemented by putting coconut coir
> and manure on the ground to generate CO2 during the night and as it notes,
> the uptake is greatest early in the day anyway, so the benefit is not lost.
>
> If people are going to apply a mulch, it should be coconut coir when
> available. No doubt your daughter can tell us what microorganisms are needed
> to break it down during the night!
>
> Regards
> Crispin
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Stoves mailing list
>
> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
> stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>
> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org
>
> for more Biomass Cooking Stoves,  News and Information see our web site:
> http://www.bioenergylists.org/
>
>



-- 
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)

*Please change my email address in your records to: adkarve at gmail.com *