[Stoves] The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project in Bangladesh.

[Ronal W. Larson]

Julien:  cc list and others

	Nice work.  Thanks for your involvement.

	There may be an opportunity to use ocean biomass for your cook stoves.  Michael Hayes (cc’d) has a long analytical history on combining ocean biomass and biochar.  Bangladesh could be the ideal lead country in this aspect of shortages for both biomass stoves and biochar.

	See few inserts below.


> On Mar 6, 2017, at 9:49 AM, Julien Winter <winter.julien at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Folks;
> 
> Thanks for all your comments.
> 
> Bangladesh has some challenges with its population density, and pending sea-level rise.  
> 
> However, it is great place for making collegial partnerships.  People tend to work and cooperate together much more than they do in North America.  This applies to the university educated professionals in the cities, and farmers in the countryside.  If you have a GOOD IDEA, people are please to listen, and get involved.  There are leading farmers who are eager to experiment with biochar.  If you want to help them adapt and develop it, great.  You do have to be on guard for unscrupulous business people.
> 
> What does exist in the countryside is something called "NGO fatigue."   Outside people coming in with an ill suited idea that they try to impose.  Then they go away.  Villagers see what they can get for free from foreign NGOs, so you may be greeted with enthusiasm, but you may not be taken seriously.  
>  
> I am fortunate, because a local NGO, called the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), took an early interest in biochar, and invited me to explain it in 2013.  Out of that was born the Bangladesh Biochar Initiative.    
> 
> CCDB was founded in 1972, and has a network of compounds ("campuses") across the country.  They have a very competent staff specializing in extension education, micro businesses, and rural development.  I helped one of their staff, Mahbubul Islam, design the Akha stove, we developed the TLUD-biochar ecology viewpoint, and proposed the Users Groups methodology for deployment.  When CCDB got funding from ICCO - Netherlands, CCDB staff made it happen.  They knew precisely what to do.  Research partnerships are being formed with agronomists in universities to experiment with biochar.
> 
> Because of my place in time, it happened to be me that introduced the idea of TLUDs and biochar to Bangladesh.  However, as the ideas take root, they are taking over.  They have big dreams for developing biochar technologies.  
> 
> At this point, we need to look into densifying biomass.  Methods of various degrees of sophistication could be found.  Compressing wet biomass into briquettes is likely a good fit for the countryside. 
	[RWL:  A few years ago I experimented with hand-compression of wet soggy material into a “turdlike” shape, at the end an Aprovecho event.  Art Donnelly (being cc’d) reported they pyrolyzed well.  All the Bangladeshi stove users (or husbands) need is a pail;  no need for a press - which I felt was slower.  I found starting each “turd” with the left hand and finishing with the right hand - allowed quite a few each minute.  I got into a rhythm (can’t now describe it) and recall that handling each large “pellet” twice seemed to get a more dense final product.
	I hope Richard Stanley (c’d - on this list from the beginning) can chime in.  Much knowledge on how to get the biomass ready for compression.


> We should see if it is feasible to developing pellets as a renewable, commercial fuel.  There is lots of rice straw.  Rice straw has been pelleted in other parts of Asia.  I am searching the research literature to see if the high mineral content (ca. 20%) has posed a problem for abrasion of equipment, lower heating value, and ash in the stove.
	RWL:  I am cc’ing Paul Olivier who I believe should have had considerable abrasion experience in Viet Nam on both rice straw and rice husks (with TLUDs).

> 
> Co-firing leaves and wood in TLUDs may extend the TLUD season.  The Biochar Users Groups should experiment with that.  I expect that the leaves will burn to ash before the center of wood pieces has pyrolyzed.
	[RWL:   I’ll bet the other way.  Groups all over the world can (and should) do this experiment (if the data is not already available).  Anyone have it?

Ron


> Thanks again for all your comments.
> 
> Cheers,
> Julien.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Julien Winter
> Cobourg, ON, CANADA
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