<div dir="ltr"><div>Dear Ron, Paul, and stovers;</div><div><br></div><div>Upon finding out that I was involved with the Bangladesh Biochar Initiative, and that Bangladesh was a tad short of biomass, Ron wrote the following:</div>
<div><br></div><div>------- [START of RON] --------- </div><div><br></div><div>Julien, Paul, and lists:<br><br> Tough problem. <br><br> At first I was discouraged at the lack of sufficient Bangladesh input biomass. But this could be a perfect opportunity, if we can show through a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), that biochar can solve, not exacerbate, the local biomass supply problem.<br>
<br> Suppose that some donated biochar can be placed on some very degraded land, and is “guaranteed” to produce a first biomass supply dedicated only to char-making apparatus - perhaps mostly stoves. The char from those first pyrolysis operations (with a valuable energy output for cooking or whatever) can in turn be guaranteed to go to similar land. Soon there should be no doubt that biochar is solving the biomass insufficiency problem - through exponential, not linear, growth.<br>
My guess is that such an investment will work, and that donors can be found.<br><br> One other thought is that there could well be some fast-growing species especially suited to Bangladesh conditions and biochar production, that would swing the balance in favor of biochar. Bamboo? Miscanthus? Sugar cane probably already there.<br>
<br> Last is that mangrove (re?-)introduction might be well received, as rising oceans make problems worse. Mangrove plantings might even create some land. Makes good char, and presumably smart management can give both annual yield and increasing carbon stocks. This to be done using geoengineering (CDR) funds.<br>
<br> There could be some valuable resource improvement data out of Haiti, which has a similar supply problem.<br><br>Ron<br></div><div><br></div><div>---------- [END RON] ------------</div><div><br></div><div>Ron, you have largely assessed the situation as it is seen by the Bangladesh Biochar Initiative team (<a href="http://www.biochar-bangladesh.org">www.biochar-bangladesh.org</a> [under construction]). </div>
<div><br></div><div>The argument for cookstove biochar looks something like this: </div><div><br></div><div>1) Bangladesh's ca. 155,000,000 people have one of the highest population densities on the planet at just over 1000 people per square kilometer.</div>
<div>2) Bangladesh is also one of the countries most likely to feel the brunt of climate change, because of increased extremes of weather (cyclones and droughts), and the potential loss of one third of its land to rising sea level rise (salinization and inundation). </div>
<div>3) Therefore it is critically important to improve food security.</div><div>4) Biochar can help to improve food production in a number or ways, especially though organic waste management, plant nutrient management, and building soil organic matter.</div>
<div>5) However, applying biochar to agricultural fields would take extraordinary quantities of biochar, therefore it is best to start using the biochar where it has most impact. </div><div>6) Homestead gardens play an extremely important role in providing food, spices, medicines, fibre, building materials, and fuel. They are a centuries old component of local culture; 'permaculture' is the default option.</div>
<div>7) Therefore the most efficient way of using biochar is to improve food security is by improving the productivity of homestead gardens.</div><div>8) Unfortunately, owing to its high population density, Banglasesh has no spare biomass with which to make biochar. Forest cover is roughly 17% of the land area, and most of it is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sundarbans. That is not where most of the people live. Also, the <span dir="auto">Sundarbans</span> are a Biosphere Reserve, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts are over exploited. As it turns out, most forestry GDP comes from homestead trees. </div>
<div>9) Despite the scarcity of forest, ca. 90% (I am estimating without checking my references) of the rural population cooks with biomass, and across Bangladesh, about 25,000,000 households cook with biomass. Part of the reason for this that inexpensive alternative fuels are not readily available. The country doesn't have much fossil fuel (some natural gas and a little coal), and almost no capacity for hydro-electric energy, because of flat topography. (It is likely that inexpensive solar photovoltaic energy will be a game changer, but that is expected to be used for lighting, fans, radios, TV, computers; not for cooking.) </div>
<div>10) Most (I don't know the exact proportion) of the cooking is done on traditional clay stoves (chulas) with an typical energy efficiency of 10%. There is plenty of room for improvement.</div><div>11) It is however, a measure of the scarcity of biomass that wood accounts for only ca. 45% (without checking my references) of biomass fuel, with the rest coming from lower quality fuel comprising cow dung, leaves, and crop residues (mostly rice straw). In some regions, harvesting of crop residues for fuel, and the lack of cow dung returning to the land has resulted in decreasing soil organic matter levels to a low as 1% (w/w).</div>
<div>12) Since there is no spare biomass in the landscape which could be used to make biochar for its own sake, biochar has to be a byproduct of current usage, or from biomass that is waste. </div><div>13) There is little waste biomass in the countryside. The sugar cane industry produces bagasse, but most of that is used to fuel the sugar mills. The sugar industry is in decline. (There is the sewage from towns and cities like Dhaka, but IF that can be used, it would need a huge investment in industrial technology, such as pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization.)</div>
<div><br></div><div>14) AH HA!! FINALLY, WE'RE GETTING TO THE POINT!! Since biomass energy plays such a vital role in cooking, and since the traditional cookstoves are inefficient, if we can improve the efficiency of cooking and make biochar-quality charcoal at the same time, we could have a sustainable way of making biochar in a energy-stressed landscape.</div>
<div>15) Furthermore, if biochar was made in the home, it could be used in the homestead. Biochar would not need to be transported. It would used where is made and have the fastest impact on food security.</div><div><br>
</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>TLUD mongers rejoice!!! --- well, maybe, but not so fast. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>There are some challenges (not unique to Bangladesh, as many readers know):</div>
<div><br></div><div>1) In Bangladesh, as the over the rest of the World, it is well documented that it not that easy to get people to change their methods of cooking. Some dedicated scientists and rural extension workers in Bangladesh have been working on that for several decades.</div>
<div>2) The rural people don't have a lot of money, so there is a lot of competition for their cash, and a traditional stove is free. They can't afford to pay much over $10 for a stove. They would also like to get fuel for free.</div>
<div>3) There is not much metal available to make stoves, so it would have to be imported. The current improved stoves are made out of cement by small businesses.</div><div>4) A large proportion of the biomass currently used for fuel is low density and unsuitable for TLUDs, so a TLUD can only be expected to be used part of the time.</div>
<div>5) Pellet fuel may be too expensive to buy. The common rice residues may be too high is silica and abrasive for pelleting machinery.</div><div>6) Given the high population density and intensity of land use, there is limited opportunity to grow biomass crops. <span>Vetiver grass may be an option.</span></div>
<div><span>7) Reforestation has been a priority since the 1994 Forestry Policy, but it has made slow progress against illegal logging and other issues.</span></div><div><br></div><div>All those are not challenges to chase us off, but challenges to be overcome.</div>
<div><br></div><div>As you have pointed out, Ron, there does seem to be a good case for demonstrating the synergy between increasing home food production, and introducing a special type of improved cookstove. The "Cookstove / Homegarden Ecosystem". The TLUD produces a valuable good, as well as cooks. That good can be used at home, or sold to get disposable income. Whether the biochar is used for as biochar, or as fuel charcoal, matters not so much: it is all beneficial. There could be a potential, here, to overcome the long-standing resistance to the adoption of an improved cookstove. </div>
<div><br></div><div>This narrative is not unique to Bangladesh. It is close to the "Garden Cities of the Amazon" paradigm, and.I have seen it appear on the "Stoves" listserv before, especially from SE Asia. However, a successful demonstration in Bangladesh could have a Global influence. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Enthusiasm for TLUDs and biochar is growing amongst those who are joining on to the Bangladesh Biochar Initiative (BBI). The BBI is sponsored by a long-standing (since 1973) Bangladeshi NGO, The Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (<a href="http://www.ccdb-bd.org/index.php">http://www.ccdb-bd.org/index.php</a>). (Despite the name, many of the staff are Muslim.) It specializes in rural development and poverty reduction, and has offices across the country. It is also has good connections with various government and academic institutions. A couple of applied physicists working for the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research are presently trying to get permission to focus their research on developing micro gasifies for local conditions. One or two chemists and a sociologist are interested. There will be more to come. What I am doing, it trying to expand the above argument into a literature review to improve the project's credentials. As I have said before, it is a lot of fun, and a fair modicum of worthwhile.</div>
<div><br></div><div>All the best,</div><div>Julien.</div><div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br></div><div dir="ltr">Julien Winter<br>Cobourg, ON, CANADA<br></div>
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