<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Thanks for that Alex: <div><br></div><div>You are correct r: The manuals glosover the socio tech parts but they are still relevent in the techn end though... I just drew upon some of the "briquette carrying capacity" assessment tables in the theory and apps section for a assessmentof resources for forthcoming relief project up in Somaliland but you are right: the socio-tech treatment in these manuals far too light. </div><div><br></div><div>We just completed a marketing manual through a dutch consultant and it does indeed get much closer at lest to the delivery end of the process. My problem is that while I have a technical education, I also started out as a peace corpsman (sri lanka <i>matha '</i>67-9) so that the development worker side constantly tempers the inclination to pure technical fixes… Suspect that there are more than a few of us on this list of like minds in fact and that interface is what makes the list so compelling eh ? </div><div><br></div><div>Actually the briquette is being found to help your mentioned tree planter as well…..</div><div><br></div><div> take a look at Daly Brennan <<a href="mailto:brennan@forestsinternational.org">brennan@forestsinternational.org</a>>dalys work for New Brunswick based, Community Forests International's --on Pemba Island off Tanzania . They are producing the briquette not only for fuel but as a plastic bag-free, fertiliser-intense, slow-release, planting pod…(an original idea of the godfather of briquetting, the late Ben Bryant). The trainers for that project, Francis and Mary Kavita have been using them for the past 5 years in their own village based Miumbuni womens association nursery in Sultan Hamud, Kenya. Mary and Francis have trained all over Kenya, since we started them through the good assistance of the Wood family in 2001: They do not have email: They receive it in the form of week old hand written snail mail-posted letters --transcriptions--from their son who lives in Nairobi…They recently brought in samples of elephant dung briquettes from Voi Kenya…and they are soon to experiment with camel dung for another project and We will all, as ususal, be looking to all your insights, to collectively solidify the experiential side of it. </div><div><br></div><div>Planting pot briqettes : Courtesy of Communtiy forests International's, Brennan Daly </div><div><img height="240" width="320" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" id="dd01829d-f310-4cc8-9769-05bbae83a373" src="cid:5C4F2621-B48C-47C6-882C-139189B9057A"></div><div><br></div><div> The socio tech narrative: Sure, when we find the time but getting the hands-on contact with those living directly with</div><div>the consequences of their actions out here is the real "meat" (sorry vegetrians) of it all and well, personally, I can't find words for that. </div><div>If you Alex, or anybody wants to jump in, writing the social tech interface part, please do. (Joel was intersted in a comprehensive book of it all at one point Alex..)</div><div><br></div><div>Pressing on,</div><div><br></div><div>Richard Stanley</div><div> </div><div><div><div>On Dec 7, 2011, at 2:52 AM, Alex English wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Hi Richard,<br>Is it fair to say that the technology side of your ag briquette fuel paradigm has progressed to the point that recent improvements are small?<br>I am a tech guy who likes to here tales of "oh well, to bad, not this time". I can see that in the right hands and community its all good. Surely there are examples where it didn't just all fall into place.<br>I could be wrong, but I don't think the manuals you sell are about the cultural challenges or non mech-tech part the equation.<br>What holds this idea back.....tree planters:)<br><br>Alex<br><br>On 04/12/2011 4:11 PM, Richard Stanley wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite">Hi Alex,<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">The kind of variations you, Paal and others are experiencing in attempting to combust such as a bannana peel, reflect much of the fine tuning we have to do when selecting agro residues even those of a particular species in different bioregions.. Intersting eh ? The notion that one could waash out soloubles such as potassium to make the bananna skin more combustible is well practiced in many plants at the local level. Its in finding and incorporating technico-cultural practices like this, that the more clever biomass briquette maker thrives. Combined with an analytical assessment of the process its a powerful tool eh ?<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">But you are not alone on the western front either:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"> A one Joel Chaney has recently completed his PhD in Mechnical Engineering at Nottingham University. Prior to that asn erhaps as part of it, he had been working on banana briquettes for some time in Africa. ( His crowning demonstration of the feasability of using the peels was in the briquetting of them and cooking with them to make …Banana fritters…<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Less facetiously, Joel has done a wonderful technical analysis of the briquette combustion as a function of shape in the course of his studies…<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"> Here is his email contact: Joel Chaney<<a href="mailto:joel.chaney@gmail.com">joel.chaney@gmail.com</a>> But I see that Marc kindly sent you more specific referencesto Joels work and to a BBC piece on him while at Nottingham.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">At the same time a on Lee Hite, a professional engineer and woodworker, with Engineers without Borders in Ohio, US, has been working on technologies for processing agroresidues focussing on bananna bark --for briquetting. His efforts have culminated in new forms of simple hand operated presses, a chopper and grinder.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Lees site is;<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"> <a href="http://home.fuse.net/engineering/">http://home.fuse.net/engineering/</a><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Richard Stanley<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Dar es Salaam Tz.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">On Dec 4, 2011, at 3:10 PM, <a href="mailto:ajheggie@gmail.com">ajheggie@gmail.com</a> wrote:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">On Sunday 04 December 2011 13:31:11 Alex English wrote:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">The numbers here<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><a href="http://ejeafche.uvigo.es/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid">http://ejeafche.uvigo.es/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid</a>,<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">495 don't add up but other sources suggest peels are around 15% ash. 8%<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">potassium, a component of fire retardant, might be the reason. I think<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">they sub'd manganese for magnesium.<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Which seems to show they should be a good animal feed, I've never tried to<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">eat a banana and its peel but baana peel was the preferred titbit for our<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">dairy bull.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">You could try blending the peels with water which should remove a lot<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">of the soluble K and then after drying it, or even before, make a holy<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">briquette :)<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">When pelleting& briquetting has been discussed here I've often wondered<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">id pressure cooking, draining under pressure and then flashing the<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">residue would be a means of quickly leaching out soluble salts.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Thanks for finding the info Alex, I eat a banana most days so will try and<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">save a few skins for experiment.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">AJH<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">_______________________________________________<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Stoves mailing list<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">to Send a Message to the list, use the email address<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><a href="mailto:stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org">stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org</a><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web 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