[Stoves] Vetiver grass-pellets Re: The wood and char and fuel "debate"

Thu Feb 27 01:00:53 CST 2014

Dear Micheal,

While I fully support integrating as many sources of feedstock as possible
for domestic bioenergy supply, I do also feel that for a variety of
reasons, (i.e. cooks generally prefer to use it more, trees typically
provide larger environmental ecosystem services then grasses, multiple uses
of trees, shade, food, fuel, fodder and timber etc..) tree sourced lumpwood
charcoal will continue to be a excellent source of renewable energy for
cooking (esp. when only the branches are harvested) and perhaps thus should
not be so easily discarded but combined with new sources of energy, such as
vetiver.

Kind regards

Teddy

*Cookswell Jikos*
www.cookswell.co.ke
www.facebook.com/CookswellJikos
www.kenyacharcoal.blogspot.com
Mobile: +254 700 380 009
Mobile: +254 700 905 913
P.O. Box 1433, Nairobi 00606, Kenya

On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 1:48 AM, Michael Mahowald <memahowald at hotmail.com>wrote:

> Hi Paul and Crispin,
>
> Paul, I am sorry if my site was misleading, We are making progress but I
> have not yet made any vetiver grass pellets.
> As you know Joel's project was never funded by World Bank.  I am not sure
> why, I am afraid he over extended himself and lost some equipment also.
>
> Crispin I know you keep promoting fast growing trees for charcoal.  But
> you must realize the problem is WAY larger than just deforestation!   The
> Soil is so important!  I know many areas trees will not even grow without
> extensive watering in dry periods. This is why hundreds of reforestation
> projects have failed in Haiti already.  The Soil no longer holds moisture.
>  The world would heal itself but it would take many centuries if no one
> would disturb it.  By planting vetiver Grass it can be accomplished within
> a decade. By putting the biochar from vetiver pellets back in the soil it will
> make gardens even quicker.
> This program will work because every poor country needs vetiver hedgerows
> and vetiver grows in the tropics world wide.
>
> We at HRI felt we need to be able to use vetiver for energy in order to
> interest the people who cut the trees for charcoal.  I have never found a
> person who wants to do this they seem to thing they have no alternative.
>
> Today I was just called to authorize shipment for a friend from Vetiver
> International is sending 3 large boxes of vetiver grass from Alabama to
> Hudson Valley Grass Energy in Hew York for making into pellets and testing.
>
>
> I know the vetiver pellets will work as pellets in the TLUD stoves.  I
> have used a lot of switch grass pellets and these actually work better than
> wood pellets and also better than any other fuel I have used in the stoves.
>  I believe pellet same density and consistency makes it the easiest to tune
> in the stove also.
>
> The only way any pellet substance project will work is if the pellets are
> as cheap a fuel as the charcoal they already use.
> We feel the only way to make pellets enough to accomplish this is to cut
> the cost of diesel fuel.
> The mobile pellet mill we make must generate the gas from a portion of the
> pellets it produces for its only fuel source.
> I know it will be possible to make a clean enough syngas to run the
> generator from vetiver pellets. But until then I guess we should not
> promote it too much?
>
> I have talked to people from Cornell who specialize in grass energy and
> Berkley who specialize in gasification.  They are worried about the amount
> of ass and phosphorous and not sure if they will work in the Gek.  I am
> hoping they will be able to perfect the downdraft gasifier to handle any
> excess ash and make it for continual operation to run the generators.
>
>
> Michael E. Mahowald
> President
> Haiti Reconstruction International <http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/>
> 952-220-6814
>
>
> ------------------------------
> From: crispinpigott at outlook.com
> To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
> Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:17:45 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] Vetiver grass-pellets Re: The wood and char and fuel
> "debate"
>
>
> Dear Mike
>
>
>
> This is great progress and I agree completely with you and Paul about this
> matter. I will have to defer comments of substance for a while. Paul, let's
> talk about how to get this into mainstream stove projects. It requires
> doing some convincing at government policy level.
>
>
>
> Mike: from your webpage: "The people in the mountains who have made money
> making charcoal will now be paid for selling grass cuttings for pellets."
>
>
>
> I think it is worth mentioning that in Haiti it is now legal to grow your
> own trees and make charcoal out of them if the price merits the work. There
> are listed three ways char can be produced in the legislation, as I recall.
> Illegal logging is obviously out of the question however we should not
> forget that in several countries where deforestation is a problem, the
> stable long term solution it to put a value on trees like any drop and let
> people choose how to create income. In Lesotho trees are planted and
> treated like any asset.  They are sold individually.  Grasses are perfectly
> suited to some places and trees to others - Haiti needing both.
>
>
>
> Rwanda has done a great job on two fronts: first turning charcoal from a
> destructive industry into a productive one for farmers and also with
> respect to the generation of small scale hydro-electricity. There are now
> many small hydro plants in Rwanda, all privately owned and they are making
> real money.
>
>
>
> The lessons are many on the policy level. One of the key people designing
> these projects is Robert van der Plas who I see has just been promoted to
> be Managing Director of Marge, the consulting company that has done so much
> to change the energy situation in Rwanda.
>
>
>
> With wise policies and diverse activities, we can turn any country into a
> vernal paradise.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> Crispin
>
>
>
>
>
> You are absolutely correct Paul !
>
>
>
> Deforestation happens all over the world with the lack of fire wood.
>
>
>
> There simply is not enough dry sources of trees or waste from them even
> for TLUD's to keep even poor consumers interested in them.
>
>
>
> We know vetiver grass has the highest photosynthetic activity of any
> plant, making it the most renewable energy source on the planet.   We just
> have to densify the grass into pellets at a cost that people can afford.
>  The only way we can do this is to eliminate the cost of diesel fuel to run
> the generator to make the pellets.
>
>
>
> We are planning on using a downdraft gasifier for gas to accomplish this.
>  We just have to perfect this process and size it for a portable pelleting
> plant that can be taken to the fields they grow it.
>
>
>
> When we perfect this it will be capable to work everywhere in the world
> that needs clean cook stoves.
>
>
>
> If you want to see what we are doing check out
>
>
>
> http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/grass-energy
>
>
>
> and http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/sustainable-path-on-how-to
>
>
>
>
> Michael E. Mahowald
>
> President
>
>
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