permaculture

[Koreen Brennan <koreenbrennan@gmail.com>]

The Lucia stove apparently makes biochar from things like cantaloupe rind,
paper, whatever will burn, by using a super efficient vortex burn. I first
heard about it in Haiti and tried to acquire one, but couldn't locate one.
Anybody else used one or is familiar with this? Also called World Stove.

K

On Thu, Jul 7, 2016 at 5:51 PM, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 1:12 AM, Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
> wrote:
>
> > It’s important to generate it as a by product, and not cut down trees or
> > other biomass simply to turn it into biochar.
>
>
> Without cutting down trees just to make biochar, production of this
> valuable soil amendment would ideally be a standard industrial process
> using existing
> equipment and skilled operators. Take a look at the charcoal briquet (or
> natural charred wood pieces, i.e. natural, no additives) industry. In
> addition to making grill fuel they could divert raw materials to make
> biochar and do so without adding any special ingredients, just the wood
> byproduct they use for briquets. It could be part of the briquet making
> process in that waste heat could jumpstart the biochar production followed
> by wood gas fueling the kiln. With well designed machinery this could be a
> really eficient process making a superior produce. The biochar could be
> pulverized and bagged. Biochar powder would be easier to package with bags
> less prone to damage. Powdered biochar would be an order of magnitude
> better than lump biochar. Gardeners could then make their own blends for a
> variety of uses, seed starting, nursery potting soil (less irrigation of
> stock needed in drought = less plant losses). mix with rock dust + compost
> + manure  + rock phosphate, greensand, azomite and if needed aragonite/high
> calcium lime/pulverized seashells/oyster shell/dolomitic lime.
> I would imagine there is plenty of wood byproduct feeding the charcoal
> briquet industry. Diverting some of that would mean having a product to
> sell that would generate significant profit for them. What if they made a
> deal with local rock quarries for some of their rock dust to add to their
> biochar for a mineral rich soil amendment. I bet it would quickly become a
> big seller for garden centers, box stores, farm supply chains and local
> vendors plus farmers buying it in tractor trailer sized qualtities. I would
> imagine organic fertilizer manufacturers like Fertrell and Espoma and
> others might want to add biochar to some of their fertilizer mixes.
> What an opportunity for everyone, win-win.
>
> LL
>
>
> --
> Lawrence F. London
> lfljvenaura@gmail.com
> https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared/
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-- 
Koreen Brennan
http://www.growpermaculture.com
http://www.permacultureintl.com
http://northamericanpermaculture.org