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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'><div>Hi Paul and Crispin,</div><div><br></div>Paul, I am sorry if my site was misleading, We are making progress but I have not yet made any vetiver grass pellets.<div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">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.</span></div><div><br></div><div>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. <span style="font-size: 12pt;">By putting the biochar from vetiver pellets back in the soil it</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> will make gardens even quicker. </span></div><div><font size="3">This program will work because every poor country needs vetiver hedgerows and vetiver grows in the tropics world wide</font><font size="3">. </font></div><div><br></div><div>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. </div><div><br></div><div>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. </div><div> </div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>The only way any pellet substance project will work is if the pellets are as cheap a fuel as the charcoal they already use.</div><div>We feel the only way to make pellets enough to accomplish this is to cut the cost of diesel fuel.</div><div>The mobile pellet mill we make must generate the gas from a portion of the pellets it produces for its only fuel source.</div><div>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? </div><div><br></div><div>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. <br><br><span style="color:rgb(68, 68, 68);font-size:15px;line-height:21px;">Michael E. Mahowald</span><div style="line-height:21px;color:rgb(68, 68, 68);font-size:15px;">President<br><div><a href="http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/" target="_blank" style="font-weight:inherit;color:rgb(0, 104, 207);cursor:pointer;"><font size="2" style="line-height:normal;">Haiti Reconstruction International</font></a></div><div><span style="line-height:18px;font-size:10pt;">952-220-6814</span></div></div><br><br><div><hr id="stopSpelling">From: crispinpigott@outlook.com<br>To: stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org<br>Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 16:17:45 -0500<br>Subject: Re: [Stoves] Vetiver grass-pellets Re: The wood and char and fuel "debate"<br><br><style><!--
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--></style><div class="ecxWordSection1"><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">Dear Mike</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">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.</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">Mike: from your webpage: </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">“</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#663300;">The people in the mountains who have made money making charcoal will now be paid for selling grass cuttings for pellets.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#663300;"></span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#663300;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">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. </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">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.</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">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.</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">With wise policies and diverse activities, we can turn any country into a vernal paradise. </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">Regards</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;">Crispin</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;"> </span></p><blockquote style=""><div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">You are absolutely correct Paul !</p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">Deforestation happens all over the world with the lack of fire wood.</p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">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.</p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">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.</p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">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.</p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">When we perfect this it will be capable to work everywhere in the world that needs clean cook stoves. </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">If you want to see what we are doing check out </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><a href="http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/grass-energy" target="_blank">http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/grass-energy</a></p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal">and <a href="http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/sustainable-path-on-how-to" target="_blank">http://haitireconstruction.ning.com/page/sustainable-path-on-how-to</a></p></div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"> </p></div><div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><br><span style="font-size:11.5pt;">Michael E. Mahowald</span> </p><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal" style="line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;">President</span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br>_______________________________________________
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