[Stoves] planting trees ( the way I'd do it 1, 000, 000, 000 years from n...

[Carefreeland at aol.com]

Hi Ron, It's been a while, 
    So we both agree there seems to be some  conservative estimates of 
POTENTIAL Biomass production even when we are watching  and recording it happen. 
Well, yes. 
    Did we measure the 6 years of leaves left to  compost on the ground, or 
the increase in root volume in the stump?  
    Just burning only the small stumps and stray roots,  following clearing 
my farm lot will add maybe up to 5% of my biomass harvest.  Since I am 
burning most of the smaller brush off having friendly bonefire  gatherings, 
there is no need to cut the bigger stumps up and get dirt on the  chainsaw 
blade. They keep the brush fire going. I am amazed how hard the scrub  dogwood 
char is. 
    I have a 300 gallon oil tank on its side, on a  skid, with the top 2/3 
cut open to manage brush burning, Maybe something  interesting will evolve 
from this. I use it to contain ash. I can move it around  the lot where ever 
I need to bring it near the pile being managed. Right now I  collect ash for 
the lawn and garden. In the future I may collect char as well.  Maybe I can 
make a lid that reduces the air intake and use the lid as soon as  the 
brush burns down into the container. Right now I put whole saplings in there  
and burn them from the brush end in.The stem and even the stump hang out the  
side. 
     I also have been planning on using larger  stumps as reinforcement on 
the banks of manmade Bobcat creek. In managing forest  ar farm lands I 
cannot make a strong enough point about erosion control. Dirty  stumps, can be 
dumped into washouts. then just add some dirty soil with the  toughest weeds 
you can find in it. By the time it settles, it is as good as rock  in fence 
wire boxes. On my lot I will use the Hedge Apple stumps for this as  they are 
slower to rot. 
    If you do have to cut up stumps, let them sit in  the rain and rotate 
them till all the dirt washes off. Then use a chain or blade  you don't mind 
to sharpen soon.on your saw ;-) 
    
    Dan Dimiduk 
    . 
 
 
In a message dated 11/15/2013 1:21:40 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
rongretlarson at comcast.net writes:

Dan and list:


1.  This is partly picking up on your ”Is this correct”  question below.  
The answer is yes.


2.   I think you were making your calculations from p  23 of the 
recommended report, which said:



A six-year cycle was recommended to ensure maturity.  Harvesting 
started in 2008 and it emerged that 6-year old acacia trees produce  
heavier charcoal than 4-year old 
acacia trees. Under ideal conditions and efficient conversion, it has  been 
estimated that an acre of land 
should produce about 300 bags (40 kg) of  charcoal. 



Using metric, your 7.3 tons biomass/acre converts to about  
7.3*(2/2.2)*2.47 = 16.4 tonnes biomass/ha-yr  = 1.64 kg  biomass/sqm-yr = 0.8 kg C/sqm-yr 
(assuming biomass is about half carbon)  And these are bone dry tones.  Can 
maybe double for wet  tonnes.


Or, sticking with metric, the harvest is 300 * 40 = 12,000 kg = 12  tonnes 
char per acre per harvest, or 2 tonnes char /acre-yr.  Same as  about 5 
tonnes char/ha-yr or 4 tonnes C/ha-yr  (assuming char is 80%  carbon).   Using 
your conversion efficiency of 0.3 (w char to w biomass),  this is about 5/.3 
= 16.7 tonnes biomass/ha-yr - which is  essentially  the same that you 
obtained in English units.    But also 30% is  awfully good in any kiln.  If they 
were only to get 25% conversion, they  would have needed to start with an 
NPP of 5/.25 = 20 tonnes biomass/ha-yr or  about 10 tonnes C/ha-yr = 1 kg 
C/sqm-yr


One reason for going through this is to compare to global  NPP averages 
which is about 60 Gt C/yr divided by about 12 Gha = 5 tC/ha-yr.  Kenya being 
twice as large as the global average sounds OK.  I’ll  bet they can do 
appreciably better in those parts of Kenya with enough  rainfall.


3.  My main reason, however,  for following up is  to note that this 2010 
study by Practical Action nowhere talks about  char-making stoves.  It also 
is full of talk about the illegality of most  char making.  In the above 
example, there is mention only of a six year  cycle - no pollarding (like 
coppicing) apparently - chopping down the whole  tree every six years?   I think 
they can do a lot more cooking (have  faster regrowth of the forests) than 
with the assumption of producing char  with no use of the pyrolysis gases 
(which are presumably not even flared).  So I hope for another study by 
Practical Action which includes the  option of switching from jikos to char-making 
stoves.  That is - moving  wood - not char.  It was disheartening to read 
about the illegal taxes  that hurt the producers.  I wonder if there is also 
illegal taxing of  wood?


4.   Not really pertinent here, but when I lived in  Sudan, the chief 
forester for the country confessed he was (illegally -  prohibitions against 
introducing exotics) throwing out mesquite seeds at every  opportunity.  The 
seeds of the acacia don’t make it through the local  animals (goats, etc), but 
mesquite seeds do.  He was pleased with his  success.


Ron




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