[Greenbuilding] Biochar Bricks for Green Buildings

[Erin Rasmussen]

If  you're curious about industrial biochar makers, I've been keeping an incomplete list of biochar making technologies here:
http://biochar.bioenergylists.org/company

The  International Biochar Initiative http://www.biochar-international.org/ also has a nice list of projects. 

There is a lot of detail here, and to oversimplify a couple of different methods. Either you use some of the energy released in making the char to power the rest of the conversion of the wood or the 'waste' to  char, or you use the energy to make electricity (or cook food) and have the char as a by product. Sometimes you use the process of making char as a way of turning a 'waste' product into a source of energy and soil amendment. (The poultry litter projects often work in that third way). 

I'll stop there before I ramble too much. :-) It's a neat set of technologies with a lot of potential. Like anything you've got to make the product in the right way, keep it local to the point of use, and then use it appropriately.  

Erin 

-----Original Message-----
From: "Corwyn" [corwyn at midcoast.com]
Date: 03/01/2012 05:38 PM
To: greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Biochar Bricks for Green Buildings

On 3/1/2012 7:25 PM, RT wrote:

> Does the "biochar" production process not involve a long, smouldering
> fire (ie inefficient burning) to convert the material to charcoal ?

I spoke with a purveyor of biochar furnaces a few years ago.  He claimed 
that the process he used was a high temperature burn, and the burning 
was remarkably clean.  I have no confirmation of that but he certainly 
wasn't using a charcoal mound.

I remain hopefull that biochar could well be the saving of the 
rainforests.  A simple change from slash and burn agriculture to slash 
and char could be HUGE.

Thank you kindly,

Corwyn

-- 
Topher Belknap
Green Fret Consulting
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
topher at greenfret.com
(207) 882-7652

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