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

[Paul Anderson]

Julien,

I raise only one variation about what you wrote:
> We can't use more wood or bamboo, because it doesn't exist. 
My comment was ONLY in regard to getting wood for the 100 initial stoves 
so that there is not a shutdown of biochar production for 6 months, and 
a stopping of use of the stoves.   I am not advocating deforestation.   
Just the obtaining of wood fuel for the initial stoves.

Analogous example:  Researchers on pot-trials of  biochar (or many 
agricultural small scale experiments) in cold-winter climates continue 
their plant growing in heated greenhouses.  Shutting down for 6 months 
is not a good use of human and infrastructure resources.  And your very 
few Akha TLUD stoves need research about longevity and many other 
issues, as well as the need for more biochar.   Using those few stoves 
all year round would seem justified.

Paul

Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
Skype:   paultlud    Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.com

On 3/8/2017 10:41 AM, Julien Winter wrote:
> Thanks to Paul for the suggestions;
>
> They are wise.
>
> We can't use more wood or bamboo, because it doesn't exist.  The last 
> number I saw was that the forest cover in Bangladesh is 15-17%.  Most 
> of the forest is not were the people live, but in the coastal areas, 
> especially the protected Sunderbans, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in 
> the S.E.   The Government of Bangladesh has been putting a big effort 
> into reforestation for decades, but fights an uphill battle with the 
> demand for wood for building and fuel.  Interestingly, the most 
> productive forests are in peoples homesteads and farms.
>
> We are exploring the possibility of commercial pelleted fuel. Although 
> commercial fuels like LPG are expensive, nobody has made biochar from 
> LPG. The benefits from biochar will make a big difference to the 
> affordability of commercial fuel pellets.  Where pellets are 
> economically viable, they will make a huge difference to women's 
> lives, by removing most of the drudgery from cooking, and exposure to 
> smoke.  Women will have much more free time.  LPG is not Planet-friendly.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion for donations.  That would be helpful, if an 
> account could be set up in Bangladesh to cover the cost of 
> experimental materials.  At the initial stages of the Akha TLUD 
> Biochar Project, funding for research on TLUD and fuels would be very 
> helpful. The project has funding for an exploratory deployment of Akha 
> stoves, but there is no funding for exploratory research into other 
> options.  What might work well is to identify an innovation that 
> should be investigated, then see if some donations can be found to buy 
> the necessary materials.
>
> Does anyone have experience with bitcoins?  There is a problem of 
> getting money into the hands of people in distant countries without 
> banks and governments taking a cut.  Usually it is about 20% of the 
> transferred cash.  The last time I transferred $CND to Taka, the money 
> had to be converted to $USD first, and was handled by three different 
> banks, all taking a slice of the pie.  In addition, authorities in 
> Bangladesh had to be convinced that the money was not being used to 
> fund terrorism (a handful of religious extremists are causing some 
> misery for a few atheists bloggers and secular academics).
>
> The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project has three years funding from 
> ICCO-Netherlands given to the Christian Commission for Development in 
> Bangladesh (Dhaka) for exploratory deployment of the Akha and biochar. 
> This may get as many as 200 Akhas into homes.  We are gathering data 
> on user acceptance of the technologies.  This data will be crucial 
> evidence to justify the expansion of the project.  If we observe and 
> document an enthusiastic reception of biochar, we can make a case for 
> carbon-credit financing. Also, we must not forget that the scientists 
> and policy makers in the Government of Bangladesh must be convinced 
> that TLUDs and biochar are beneficial and not harmful.
>
> At the moment, I am writing applications to the Canadian Government to 
> fund research.  In the past I have been unsuccessful, but in the last 
> year, we have changed from a Conservative to a Liberal government, and 
> the attitude towards international development is now more favorable.  
> We are also in a stronger position now that the Akha is beginning to 
> demonstrate its viability.
>
> If I am successful at getting funding from the Canadian Government, 
> then private donations would be better sent to other needy cookstove 
> development programs.  I have argued before on "Stoves" that there 
> should be an investment in building up the capability of regional 
> stove developers around the World.  Give them training on the 
> fundamentals of combustion, some basic measurement tools, and funding 
> for supplies.  Adapting technology to local conditions will help to 
> maintain regional self-sufficiency in the basic human activity of 
> cooking.  That would be a really good investment.
>
> Where we could use volunteer effort for stove programs in setting-up 
> and managing crowd-source funding.
>
> Thanks again for all the suggestions.
>
> ========
> Just a side note:  Listening to CBC Radio this morning, I heard that 
> local involvement vs. corporate imposition of technology makes a big 
> difference to public acceptance.  Windmills to generate electricity 
> are unpopular in Ontario where they are owned by large companies, but 
> in Nova Scotia, windmills are popular because the local population has 
> the opportunity to become share-holders.  More information can be 
> found hear:
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-ontario-wind-farms-1.4010653
> http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/news/2017/public_opinion_wind_energy_project.html
>
> In my neighborhood we have a community solar power corporation that 
> installs solar panels on local buildings.
>
> The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project has similarities, in trying to develop 
> a stove that maximizes local livelihoods. The closer one can get to 
> having a stove made by a householder the better; then it would become 
> a new 'traditional stove'.   However, a village stove-maker would be 
> good enough.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Julien.
>
>
> -- 
> Julien Winter
> Cobourg, ON, CANADA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Stoves mailing list
>
> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
> stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
>
> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org
>
> for more Biomass Cooking Stoves,  News and Information see our web site:
> http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20170308/a313969e/attachment.html>