permaculture

["Nancy Bracewell" <Cather39@bham.rr.com>]

I don't know if this is even relevant, but the Jack Daniels Distillery in
Lynchburg, Tennessee, makes a LOT of charcoal. I have no idea what they do
with it once it's used.
Incidentally, in that rocky and hilly county, there is more tilled soil than
tillable soil.

Nancy
           Cob is fire proof, but our society outlaws it. --Ray Cirino
 
http://people.tribe.net/raycirino/photos/3352a8b8-0373-47dc-8728-6feaf3716e3
c 

-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Vital Scherrer
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:08 AM
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Soil Carbonization - THE TREATMENT for
PERMANENTSoil Fertili

Brent,

Thanks for your reply!
This must be an excellent technology to produce charcoal as an energy 
source. There is a difference though, as "The technology developed by 
Pro-Natura is based on the utilisation of a reactor heated to around 550°C",

while in the essay it says: "The charcoal was produced in a low-temperature 
process, not heating it too excessively. It contained within its molecular 
structure, plant resins that were heat stabilized... a community of bacteria

exists in symbiosis with the root hairs of plants. The bacteria produce 
enzymes that release the mineral ions trapped by the heat stabilized plant 
resins in the charcoal and make it available to the root hairs of the plant 
as nutrients. In return, the plants secrete nourishment for the bacteria. 
Not only that, but the resins within the charcoal act like an ion exchange 
resin, adsorbing traces of mineral ions onto the charcoal particle surfaces 
from the rain water, and trapping it within the charcoal's molecular 
structure, where it can be held for centuries - until the soil bacteria 
associated with a root hair come along and secrete the enzymes necessary for

it to be released once again. So the trace minerals always present in 
rainwater actually act as a fertilizer - providing the nutrients needed by 
the crops, year after year...  heat up any solid biological product to a 
temperature of about 470 degrees Farenheit...". I wonder how much that would

be in degrees Celsius.
The content of this pdf is a bit too scientific for a layperson like myself,

though I guess the machinery could be operated at a lower temperature too.

Vital

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