[Stoves] corn cobs and char

Fri Aug 16 19:52:23 CDT 2013

Dear Ron,
corn (maize) is not grown on a large scale in the area where we live.  Many
farmers grow sweeet corn to be sold as whole cobs, which are sold in the
vegetable market in lots of 6 or 12 cobs. In that case, the shanks go to
the persons in town who just throw the shanks into the garbage. There are
of course farmers who grow corn for the grain. In a semi-arid country like
India, corn is generally irrigated. Since corn as grain is raised only to
be sold as chicken feed, the price is not as high as grain eaten by
humans. The corn growers use the shanks as domestic fuel. I do not know if
the shanks are used throughout the season as fuel. As far as I
know, firewood and dung cakes are regularly sold in the market, but I have
never come across shanks (without the grain) being sold as a commodity.
Yours
A.D.Karve
On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 6:56 AM, Ronal W. Larson
<rongretlarson at comcast.net>wrote:

>  AD, Art,  Tom  (not shown below) and list
>
>    Apologies for no-content message just sent by me.  I don't know how it
> got away  (still learning new Apple language)
>
>    Thanks again to all for more data.  I am getting less certain with time
> on the availability of corn cobs.  Must have a lot of regional variability.
>    Also we need to note there have been a lot of kernels burnt in the US
> instead of pellets - not very likely in Costa Rica or India.   So you would
> think cobs might have a place as well somewhere besides India.
>
>    To AD>  Are there places in India where cobs might be the "only" fuel
> throughout a year?  Anything on market value?
>
>   To Art>   AD.'s  question to you is important.  It wouldn't seem that
> the pigs and chickens would be getting much nutrition from a cob.  Might
> char from them be more important to a farmer in Costa Rico?
>
>    To Tom>  Thanks for the lead on the Anderson's book.  My library and
> google say no copies anywhere in Colorado.  If you or anyone think there is
> something important on char from cobs, I'll try harder on an interlibrary
> loan.
>
> Ron
>
>
>  On Aug 15, 2013, at 6:39 PM, Anand Karve <adkarve at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Dear Art Donelly,
> are the cobs fed to pigs whole cobs with the grain or the shanks left
> after removing the grain? Here in India we regularly use the empty shanks
> as fuel.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
>
>  On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 2:53 AM, Art Donnelly <art.donnelly at seachar.org>wrote:
>
>>   Hi all,
>> It has been a busy few days, so forgive me if someone has already made
>> these observations. We have used corn cobs with great success in the TLUDstyle
>> Estufa Finca stoves. I love showing people our little tiny corn cob
>> charcoal. We have also successfully made a lot of biochar from dried
>> corn stover in our version of the 55-gal drum TLUd style J-Ros. MIT has
>> also promoted both of these approaches in it's Field-to-fuel program in
>> Haiti and Nicaragua.
>>
>> But there is a problem with thinking of corn cobs as a stove fuel: most
>> cobs are used as animal feed (pigs/chickens) and needed for it. Applying a
>> hierarchy or best use: the pigs win! However pelleted or briquetted corn
>> stover mixed with paper waste seems like it has a lot of potential.
>>
>> Art
>>
>>
>>  On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 12:00 PM, <stoves-request at lists.bioenergylists
>> .org> wrote:
>>
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>>> Today's Topics:
>>>
>>>    1. Re: corn cobs and char? (Ronal W. Larson)
>>>    2. Re: LPG subsidy to be removed in Ecuador (Andrew C. Parker)
>>>    3. Re: corn cobs and char? (revjcsd at juno.com)
>>>    4. Re: corn cobs and char? (Crispin Pemberton-Pigott)
>>>    5. Re: corn cobs and char? (revjcsd at juno.com)
>>>    6. Re: corn cobs and char? (Ronal W. Larson)
>>>    7. Re: LPG subsidy to be removed in Ecuador (Anand Karve)
>>>    8. Re: LPG subsidy to be removed in Ecuador (Andrew C. Parker)
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 1
>>> Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 13:08:04 -0600
>>> From: "Ronal W. Larson" <rongretlarson at comcast.net>
>>> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>>>
>>>
>>
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-- 
***
Dr. A.D. Karve
Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
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