permaculture

[christopher nesbitt <christopher.nesbitt@mmrfbz.org>]

Lawrence,

Thats absolutely not true. Biochar is about making heat from pyrolysis, 
heating biomas to get the biomas to off gas, burning in a non oxygen 
environment. The heated gasses can then be burned, and the heat from that be 
used for things that we need heat for, cooking, space heating, water heating, 
running a sterling engine, etc. The "bad" gases are burned off, and what is 
left behind is the carbon, which has a lot of surface area for your soil 
bacteria and fungi. Its like an apartment building for mocrorganisms, and 
greatly aids in fertility. The carbon applied to the soil is very stable, and 
will be effectively removed from the atmosphere for a long time. 

We are working on developing a home stove at low cost for families who burn 
wood for cooking here in southern Belize. This is an alternative for rural 
people who cannot afford the natural gas/propane/butane/fossil fuel that 
people in more developed countries use. We have a design that uses a 55 
gallon drum and a welded old propane tank. Total cost? About USD75, less than 
the price of two full tanks of propane, and it gives heat for cooking, has 
fairly complete combustion, and leaves us with carbon to bury in the soil. 
This is not an industrial byproduct, or a way to make money. It is a way for 
small farmers to improve their soils while sequestering carbon (generated in 
natural gas/propane/butane/fossil fuel run stoves, for example), while 
getting the heat they need to do their cooking. 

Again, I suggest anyone considering the merits, or lack of, of biochar, to 
read Albert Bates book, "The Biochar Solution". That is one way to become an 
informed person on the subject.

Christopher



On Nov 14, 2011, at 11:01 PM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:

> On 11/14/2011 5:31 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
>> 
>> They don't yet know how it works? But they are already telling everybody 
>> how
>> to make it? Burning the planet to cool it?
>> If it were not for the very name which comes under the heading of
>> "new-speak" in Brave New World more people might wonder if it worked at all
>> as do I. Bio means life and char means coal and freedom is slavery and war
>> is peace.
> 
> Its all about using an industrial (probably wasteful and polluting 
> processes) byproduct to create another product to market for high dollar.
> 
> It does not make any sense to char biomass to make charcoal that then 
> must be pulverized and field spread (often using fossil fuel) when all 
> that needs to be done is to allow weeds to control weeds, crimp or roll 
> them to make a semi living mulch that controls weeds, adds seeds and 
> organic matter to soil to increase OM and eventually humus while 
> significantly building soil quality and productive capacity.
> 
> Thumbs up for notill agriculture (and minimum till).
> 
> LL
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_____________________________
Christopher Nesbitt

Maya Mountain Research Farm
San Pedro Columbia, Toledo
PO 153 Punta Gorda Town, Toledo
BELIZE, 
Central America

www.mmrfbz.org