[Stoves] sustainable offtake of biomass : The tendency at the micro entrepreneur level

Tue Apr 23 12:08:39 CDT 2013

On the sustainable off-take issue--as it affects and is implemented by the micro-entrepreneur…. 

Interesting theory about stages of use,  but as far as wet processing goes few at the micro-entrepreneur/community enterprise level –the level at which we work for the most part– will bother to gather ag-residues from the field. They will instead gather them from wind blown deposits along roadside drainage ditches and up against natural windbreaks fences / walls and other such wind trap areas…Thye'l do this not so much because they are aware of and sensitive to such as the 4 stages of residue use but because its far more efficient and labor saving to do so.  At least that what we are seeing over the past 16 years and 65 odd nations in which we are actively engaged we have been tracking it. 

Earlier, an unaware of these practical effects,  we had gone  through the exercise of preparing sustainable offtake calculations of such residues from several different land forms and land use patterns in 2003 -4 in Uganda with a Japanese agricultural project and the Ministry of Agriculture. but it proved unnecessary --again for the small producer at least.. If anybody is interested I could extract them from our Theory and Applications manual (on our website) and post them to you.

Of course if you get into large scale production activities, all that has been so well elucidated would  come into play… Its just not our own experience in the wet process micro-entrepreneur based briquetting world...

Kind regards,

Richard Stanley
www.legacyfound.org

On Apr 23, 2013, at 8:01 AM, Kevin wrote:

Dear Ron

In answer to your question "Anyone else like it? ", I am enormously impressed with Paul's slide show presentation!
It shows clearly the importance and advantages of "using wastes at their highest value level". His TLUD stove system fits in very well with his local Vietnam circumstances, where rice growing waste (straw and hulls) is in abundance. However, the important concepts should be adaptable to many other "agricultural situations" throughout the World. 

I think this is an excellent practical example of a way to implement the concepts of "Think Globally and Act Locally", and "Small is Beautiful." It outlines very low cost ways where a small farmer can utilize his wastes advantageously, to increase his net annual income.

These are excellent presentations, that should be read by anyone interested in Sustainability, and waste resource utilization.

Best wishes,

Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves ; Paul Olivier
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 3:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Solar City business model

Stove list:  (cc Paul)

   This is to strongly recommend Paul's PPt, identified below.  Don't think you can get through it in a few minutes, as it is 175 slides long.  But if you want a very full lesson on why biochar makes sense, the last half (?) is better than any other biochar PPt I recall seeing, save some from Johannes Lehmann, maybe.
   I fault it only in minor ways.  He fails to mention that his stove will undoubtedly rank very good in improving air quality.  He fails to mention that his fan power level control will save cooks a lot of time (which can translate into money).  He fails to mention enough on the horrors of charcoal making for charcoal-using stoves.
    The first part is not on either stoves nor biochar.  But still fascinating and most educational.

    I expect to similarly laud his paper tomorrow.  Now it is too late to have done more than skim it.

Paul - thank you for an amazing effort.  I next send this to the biochar list

Anyone else like it?

Ron

On Apr 22, 2013, at 5:23 PM, Paul Olivier <paul.olivier at esrla.com> wrote:

> Crispin,
> 
> You write:
> 
> I am not so sure how the broad translation of agriwastes into fuel is going
> to be viewed by the people who promote agriculture. The biodynamic and
> permaculture people would not like to see all the mulch and humus removed to
> be turned into cooked food - or char for that matter. I think they tend to
> see biogas as a way forward because they retain access to the minerals in a
> digestible form, as it were.
> 
> Please take a look at this paper:
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Food%20Crisis.pdf
> The same is summarized in a PowerPoint presentation:
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Presentations/Sustainable%20Agriculture.ppsx
> 
> In this paper I distinguish four type of waste in descending order of nutrient content.The first two types of waste are putrescent, the last two types of waste are non-putrescent. The main idea here is that each type of waste should be transformed and returned to agriculture by means of the most appropriate technology. This gives the highest economic return. Type 1 waste should not be processed as if it were type 2 waste, type 2 waste should not be processed as if it were type 3 or 4 waste, and type 3 waste should not be processed as if it were type 4 waste. 
> 
> In applying these technologies, we  produce vermi-compost, mesophilic compost, thermophilic compost and biochar. These different soil enhancers do not compete with one another. Instead they all complement one another in a powerful way. I was compelled to write this paper because I so often saw (and still see) funding agencies lining behind a particular technology in a very narrow manner. Look, for example, at all of the money poured into biogas plants. But does this make sense? I question the wisdom of making fuel out of pig waste (type 2 waste), since there are other technologies that allow us to derive far more income out of this type of waste. If its fuel we need, let us turn to type 4 waste.
> 
> Many thanks.
> Paul
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 8:24 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Andrew P
> 
> Good points. The stove community projects are not threatened by failure of
> the PV subsidies but they are certainly affected by the (looming?) collapse
> of the carbon trading market. A number of castles have been built in the
> air. Recent emphasis on the health aspects of smoke inhalation will probably
> provide a more grounded source of development revenue. The recent doubling
> of the estimated number of people who die from cooking fire smoke will
> probably enhance interest.
> 
> The programmatic problem I have encountered with this is that cleaning up
> indoor air can be done without improving the stoves at all - just piping it
> outside where 'dilution is the solution to pollution', to quote and EBRD
> consultant. Inventors want to create stoves, not just clean up the air.
> 
> The fuel saving aspect of stoves will always remain a strong contender in
> the funding cycle because it is an easy sell. Certainly easier than resource
> creation and management. Better to whine over how little there is than to
> create more.
> 
> I am not so sure how the broad translation of agriwastes into fuel is going
> to be viewed by the people who promote agriculture. The biodynamic and
> permaculture people would not like to see all the mulch and humus removed to
> be turned into cooked food - or char for that matter. I think they tend to
> see biogas as a way forward because they retain access to the minerals in a
> digestible form, as it were.
> 
> Economically viable solutions are going to dominate, no matter what the
> flavor of the month.
> 
> Regards
> Crispin
> 
> ++++++++
> Paul,
> 
> Solar City does not exactly provide solar installation for free.  They
> provide an option in which they will install a complete system with no money
> down, but it involves a long-term contract (purchase option after 5
> years) in which the customer buys the electricity generated by the panels at
> a set price (I am guessing that option requires the existence, beyond
> federal subsidies, of state, local and utility subsidies for solar panel
> installation and solar generated electricity).
> 
> I am not poo-pooing the idea.  It is a sound model.  It would be sounder if
> it did not rely on subsidies.
> 
> Where there is a strong market for rice husk char and ash, I agree that such
> a model could be used to market char-producing stoves to provide energy to
> the customer in exchange for char and ash, and a fee, if needed.  I truly
> hope you can convince someone to invest.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Paul A. Olivier PhD
> 26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
> Dalat
> Vietnam
> 
> Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
> Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
> Skype address: Xpolivier
> http://www.esrla.com/
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