[Stoves] Embers from Three Stone as Biochar - Who has done this?

[K McLean]

Stoves list, biochar list, cc Ron Larson


Have any of you actually used embers/char from an open-fire cookstove (eg
3-stone) or campfire as biochar (soil amendment)?  Did it work?

African women can get plenty of char from three stone while cooking.  But
will the char work as biochar?

Ron and I have been discussing this with others.  We all have ideas on why
it should or should not work.  But we cannot find anyone who has actually
tried it.

We want to train women on smallholder farms to collect, quench and crush
embers and then charge the char and apply it to their fields.  I think this
training can happen at scale with relatively little expense.  With hundreds
of millions of families cooking over open fires, the potential is enormous.

Using tongs to remove embers, women can make 300-800g of char daily.
Because they've reported that firewood usage does not increase, SNV did a
simplified WBT
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/10aUtzXfo_y9AlmCBr5zMo-tLZbQ8qq48/view?usp=sharing>
and, counterintuitively, SNV found only an insignificant increase in fuel
usage.

But will the char be effective?  Who has tried char made this way as
biochar?



*Kevin McLean, President*

*Sun24*

*https://sun24.solar <https://sun24.solar> Embers from Three Stone
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NBJwnqQToaNJlYu-NajiFh8KQQEqiQJW-jHX29wQuQo/edit>*
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NBJwnqQToaNJlYu-NajiFh8KQQEqiQJW-jHX29wQuQo/edit>
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