<div dir="ltr">Kevin,<div>Excellent feedback from the users.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Francesco</div><div><br></div><div><div><font face="Comic Sans MS" size="2">We know more about the stars overhead than the soil underfoot.</font></div><div><font face="Comic Sans MS" size="2">Leonardo Da Vinci</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Oct 12, 2021 at 10:14 AM K McLean <<a href="mailto:kmclean56@gmail.com">kmclean56@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Here are reports from two quick surveys of a total of 31 women trained to burn maize stalks in holes in three stone cookstoves. Notably, almost all are using maize stalks for all meals. And, of those, all state they will never cook with wood again.</div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/11aJkpedFAaehelMCKB-1Yl7dJSE5OBBgLNudjsBG1kw/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Malawi report</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OqFybrUeG-su6C7C_Egz_oZ1TO6ccYUJ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112234683056230543280&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_blank">Uganda report</a></div></blockquote></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Oct 8, 2021 at 2:12 PM K McLean <<a href="mailto:kmclean56@gmail.com" target="_blank">kmclean56@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><div class="gmail_default">Here is a new training video that we have started disseminating in Africa: <a href="https://youtu.be/DmzQFCp2kNI" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/DmzQFCp2kNI</a></div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">It shows how to cook using crop waste as fuel while making biochar using the new AgWa (Agriculture Waste) cookstove. Dig a 25x25x25 cm hole in the middle of a three-stone cookstove. Cut maize stalks and layer them in the hole with each layer facing a different direction (criss crossed layers). The pile should continue above ground about 10 cm. Light the pile on the top. It will slowly burn down to the bottom.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">The fire burns hot and clean without tending for 30-45 minutes. If the embers are quenched with a little water, biochar is made. The advantages of this method over the traditional use of wood are many:</div><div class="gmail_default"> 1. Less firewood collection. Women and children spend many hours a week collecting firewood, wasting time and subjecting themselves to assault and animal attacks. This allows them to collect their fuel from their farms.</div><div class="gmail_default"> 2. Less deforestation.</div><div class="gmail_default"> 3. Less time tending the fire. Open fire cooking with wood requires almost constant tending. This batch-fed method can be lit and ignored so women can attend to other matters. Importantly, they and their children can get away from a smokey fire.</div><div class="gmail_default"> 4. Less climate damage. Crop waste is renewable. Less smoke probably means less black carbon. And many farmers burn their crop waste in the field in ways that are very smokey. If they use the biochar as a soil amendment, they will sequester carbon.</div><div class="gmail_default"> 5. Less indoor and outdoor air pollution.</div><div class="gmail_default"> 6. Improved crop production.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">The training video also demonstrates how to burn crop waste in the field in a cleaner way that makes biochar. Many farmers burn their crop waste by making large piles and lighting the piles on the side. The crop waste is allowed to burn to ash in a cloud of smoke. By lighting the piles on top, the fire is much cleaner. And if the embers are quenched (dirt or water), biochar is made.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">The training video then demonstrates how to charge biochar with human urine and apply it in the field.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">We left out rice straw because we have not been able to fully test it. Our tests are consistent that the top-down burn method in the field works with rice straw. I am less sure about rice straw in the AgWa cookstove.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">I hope some of you can test these methods since crop waste is available now in much of the world.</div><div class="gmail_default"><br></div><div class="gmail_default">Kevin McLean</div><div class="gmail_default">Sun24</div><div class="gmail_default"><a href="mailto:kevin@sun24.org" target="_blank">kevin@sun24.org</a></div><div class="gmail_default">+1 813 505 3340<br></div></div></div>
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