[Stoves] on ocean acidification

Fri Jul 5 21:00:02 CDT 2013

On ocean acidification, I would like to draw your attention to this film:
http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/acidification/aboutthefilm.asp
This is a very serious problem that we should all feel compelled to address.

Thanks.
Paul Olivier

On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 7:31 AM, Paul Olivier <paul.olivier at esrla.com> wrote:

> A stove that makes both syngas and biochar can be just as clean-burning as
> any other type of stove. Nothing is sacrificed in terms of human health if
> a stove makes biochar. But when biochar is made, there is a benefit that
> goes far beyond human health: CO2 is lock away in the soil for a very long
> time, and does not make its way into the air or oceans. Also we have
> demonstrated in over 20 experiments in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, how
> biochar greatly enhances plant growth, while reducing costly inputs of
> fertilizer and water in attaining similar levels of growth.
>
> The beautiful lake, which lies right at the center of the city of Dalat
> where I live, is always heavily polluted with agricultural run off. Huge
> areas of the lake are covered from time to time with dead fish. If biochar
> and compost were added to the soil surrounding this lake, most of this
> run-off could be curtailed. The Gulf of Mexico has a huge dead zone, mostly
> caused by agricultural run-off. See:
> http://science.time.com/2013/06/19/this-years-gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-could-be-the-biggest-on-record/?xid=newsletter-asia-weekly
>
> *The major factor driving the size of the dead zone—beyond changing
> flooding patterns—is the use and overuse of fertilizers in America’s rich
> Midwestern corn belt. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that 153,000
> metric tons of nutrients flowed down the swollen Mississippi and
> Atchafalaya rivers during May—a 16% increase over the nutrient load average
> seen during the past 34 years. And as James Greiff of Bloomberg points
> out in a recent piece<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-06-14/gulf-of-mexico-s-extinction-by-ethanol.html>,
> those nutrients are used disproportionately to feed one particular crop:
> corn. What’s more, 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is devoted to making
> ethanol, which fuel companies must blend with gasoline under a
> congressional mandate. The Gulf dead zone is yet another reason for
> Congress to kill that mandate.*
>
> A TLUD that makes biochar and then burns it is not ideal for two reasons:
> 1) the burning of the biochar takes place at a considerable distance from
> the pot and is inefficient, and 2) there is no biochar that gets
> incorporated into the soil.
>
> Once again, when we go about designing TLUDs, if possible, we should
> utilize waste biomass, not fossil fuels, and we should make biochar and
> incorporate it into the soil. Our focus should not be exclusively on human
> health. If poor people could afford fossil fuel gas, the health issue would
> be fully addressed. Does this mean that we would no longer have to design
> stoves for them?
>
> And finally, should we not be using in our own kitchens the stoves that we
> design? Why is it OK for us to go on using fossil fuels to cook our food?
> Why do we conveniently shift the burden of sustainability onto poor people?
>
> Thanks.
> Paul Olivier
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 3:38 AM, Dean Still <deankstill at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> In recent discussions making stoves that reduce climate change as well as
>> health problems has been a focus.  I'm not an expert but to me that means
>> investigating how stoves can burn as cleanly as possible. Making as close
>> to zero amounts of CO and PM while cooking food as effectively as possible:
>> making cooks happy as well. If the stove makes charcoal that will be buried
>> it should be super clean when burning/cooking.
>>
>> We're getting closer. Stoves with chimneys can help a lot to protect
>> health as long as the outside air stays below WHO guidelines but adding
>> climate change means that we want to see only carbon neutral CO2 coming out
>> of the chimney.
>>
>> I think that in the next few years biomass stoves that get close to this
>> degree of clean burning will be for sale, available in the millions and at
>> market prices. It's great that the Global Alliance is pushing this '
>> technological revolution'. And as a concerned Earthling, I want to
>> sincerely thank all of the inventors and all concerned who are helping the
>> plants and animals, the humans, on our planet.
>>
>> Thanks to Jacob, Tom, N. Nurhuda, Ron, Fred, Peter, Ben, Paul, Tom,
>> Larry, Ranyee, Leslie, John, Crispin, and everyone.
>>
>> THANK YOU!!!,
>>
>> Dean
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 5, 2013 at 10:29 AM, Frank Shields <frank at compostlab.com>wrote:
>>
>>> This is a very good topic and related to Stoves to the point of noting
>>> the
>>> difference of a measure of Biochar pH value and alkalinity value. The pH
>>> is
>>> really not that important as many think it is. It's the alkalinity that
>>> is
>>> important. Having a water with a pH of 8.3 takes little acid to lower
>>> the pH
>>> but toss in a chunk of lime and the pH is still 8.3 but you will need to
>>> add
>>> acid until all the lime is dissolved before the pH goes down. So pH is
>>> just
>>> a reading. Alkalinity (or neutralizing value) is a measure of the amount
>>> of
>>> buffering holding that pH. We report this as CaCO3 equivalent units so it
>>> can be compared to adding limestone to a soil. We boil a Biochar sample
>>> in
>>> 100 mls of 0.5N HCl to dissolve all the carbonates and oxides in the
>>> sample
>>> then back titrate using NaOH to determine the amount buffering (or
>>> neutralizing value) the sample has.  Much more useful.
>>>
>>> Frank
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Frank Shields
>>>
>>> BioChar Division
>>> Control Laboratories, Inc.
>>> 42 Hangar Way
>>> Watsonville, CE  95076
>>>
>>> (831) 724-5422 tel
>>> (81) 724-3188 fax
>>> frank at biocharlab.com
>>> www.controllabs.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf
>>> Of
>>> ajheggie at gmail.com
>>> Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2013 11:47 PM
>>> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>>> Subject: Re: [Stoves] on ocean acidification
>>>
>>> On Thu, 04 Jul 2013 23:21:20 -0600,Mark Bigland-Pritchard / Low Energy
>>> Design Ltd <mark at lowenergydesign.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> >I wouldn't normally want to post off-topic, but I think it is necessary
>>> >that an error be corrected before this thread is put to sleep.
>>>
>>> Mark I'm happy with your correction explaining pH. As we generally do
>>> use pH
>>> to denote acidity rather than hydrogen ions I think it is misleading to
>>> then
>>> say a 30% increase in hydrogen ion activity equates to a 30% change in
>>> acidity.
>>>
>>> I think change in ocean ecology due to this small change in pH is a very
>>> serious concern but please all of you take the discussion elsewhere and
>>> stick to stove issues.
>>>
>>> AJH
>>>
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>>
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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/
>

-- 
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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