[Stoves] Solar City business model

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Paul O

 

I completely agree with your characterisation of the resources and the
sensible application of them within the local paradigm.

 

It is holistic approaches that underlie all good economics.

 

Thanks

Crispin

 

 

 

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.p
df

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

 

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