Making Charcoal

[davidgmills]

A copy of the email I just sent Cowboy Charcoal:

I just bought four bags of your Cowboy Charcoal. But not for barbecue. I bought it to make "terra preta".

What is terra preta you ask? Terra preta is Portuguese for dark earth. About ten per cent of the Amazon is very fertile (the terra preta) while the other 90% has some of the worst weathered soil on earth. It has been a scientific mystery. Why is a plot of terra preta some of the most fertile soil on earth, but less than ten feet from a terra preta plot, one finds some of the world's poorest soil? We now know why.

Scientists have recently discovered the secret to terra preta, a secret that was lost before the Spanish conquered the Amazon. The secret is charcoal.

Scientists believe the pre-Columbian aboriginal Amerindians used a slash and char technique rather than a slash and burn technique. Somehow, the slash and char technique was lost, probably due to the eradication of the people who knew the technique, by the spread of European diseases.

Scientists believe that the terra preta soils have been in existence now for a minimum of 500 years and many 2000 years or more. Some may be 6000 years old. The amazing thing is that terra preta can be farmed over and over without fertilizer and without depleting the soil. It is simply amazing what the addition of charcoal does to soil.

You can learn more about terra preta in this article of Nature:

Access to articles : Nature

If you cannot use this link because Nature requires you to have a subscription, (you might get to see it once or twice on a trial basis) you can read this article on terra preta instead:

Saving The Planet While Saving The Farm: How soil carbonization could save the planet while it makes farming profitable again

You can also look up terra preta on Wikipedia.

Whether you realize it or not, once people begin to understand the value of charcoal in their gardens, you will probably have a much bigger market in the gardening section of Lowe's than you will ever have in the barbecue section. And whether you realize it or not, you will have a much bigger impact on the planet.

Briquettes, which are coal based will not work. It takes real charcoal.

Some of the terra preta is six feet deep; on average it is about about a foot and a half , but by volume it is about 30% charcoal. That is a lot of charcoal for even a small garden. That is a huge market. My four bags barely made a dent in my 100 square foot plot. And we can't use slash and char techniques in the cities to make our own.

I have made my own charcoal. I know good charcoal when I see it and when I hear it -- it tinkles like wind chimes. Yours is very good charcoal. And I think it is perfect for terra preta.

Besides making an extremely fertile soil that does not need the continued addition of fertilizers, there is one more huge potential benefit to putting charcoal in the ground. It stores carbon for centuries. About 40% of the carbon in a piece of wood, if it is turned to charcoal, and put in the soil, will stay in the ground for centuries, probably for millenia before it breaks down. What that means, is that turning biomass to charcoal instead of burning it or letting it decompose, could be the first real solution to global warming.

Charcoaling biomass prevents as much as forty percent of the biomass turning into carbon dioxide; this in turn prevents the release of all that carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the cause of global warming. It is a win-win-win solution. Much better soil for crops, at a much lower cost (no cost of fertilizer after the initial start up), and reduces global warming CO2.

So please try your charcoal waste in your own gardens. Actually the waste is perfect, because the more pulverized the charcoal the better.

Maybe you can both educate the public by putting something about terra preta on your bags and at the same time market it for a dual purpose. Or put something about terra preta on your website or a link to terra preta.

I have as a personal goal to put one ton of charcoal in the ground before I die. If enough of us had that goal and achieved it, we might solve global warming and there might be bumper crops everywhere and maybe even the ability to use biomass for all our fuel needs.

While I would love to use your charcoal to barbecue with, it would be a waste to convert it to ash. Mine is in my garden where it will stay there for centuries. There will be many more bags to come. Maybe I will see something about terra preta on them soon.

David G. Mills
Memphis, Tn.

[davidgmills]

Chris Brandow:

I know that terra preta's charcoal is ground to smithereens. But was it done that way by the aboriginals? I have serious doubts about that. That seems like way too much work. It seems to me that most of this charcoal started out in good sized chunks and nature broke it down. How long did that take? I have no idea.

So I just dumped mine on the garden. A shovel will easily break these lumps into small pieces. As I continue to turn the soil, I break up the bigger pieces. Do I get them to dust? No. But I am basically experimenting to see how long it takes nature to do the job and how well this works even without small particles of charcoal. Obviously on large farm, if farmers make their own charcoal, they are going to have a problem turning the charcoal to dust. So I guess I am experiementing. On the epreda website, the eureka moment was when the owner was told large parsnips were growing in a charcoal pile. It seemed to me that there had been no attempt at all to particlize this charcoal. So that tells me the process works even without particlizing it.

[Michaelangelica]

QUOTE=davidgmills;151903]Chris Brandow:

I know that terra preta's charcoal is ground to smithereens. But was it done that way by the aboriginals?

I imagine it being done as grain is powdered. Have you seen pictures of Native peoples using a long thick tree pole and slamming it up and down into a big high walled container -a little like a huge mortar and pestle?

Our government (The Land of Oz) just gave $60M to Chevron Mobil to sequester CO2 gas underground! I read the UK is contemplating a similar scheme

I can't understand how anyone can contemplate this technology.
How do you know if the gas will stay there?
How would you know if it left?
Will it stay for a day, a month a year, a 100 years?
Charcoal in soil has been shown to be stable for thousands of years and make soil more fertile and productive.
(O yes, we get rid of waste, make bio-gas and electricty into the bargain).
What is the problem with governments?
Terra preta is the way to go. It is a 'No-brainer'
--
michael

PS
can anyone translate this and see if there is anything interesting?
terra preta

SOLOS DE TERRA PRETA PODEM SER SOLUÇÃO PARA A AGRICULTURA NA AMAZÔNIA

Pesquisadores de vários países correm contra o tempo para descobrir como se formou um dos solos mais férteis do mundo: a Terra Preta Arqueológica

[Michaelangelica]

A FEW LINKS ON MAKING CHARCOAL

Charcoal Retort

Discovery Online, The Skinny On ... Charcoal

Renewable Energy Generation » Making Charcoal from Sugar Cane Leaves - Renewable Energy News

Making Charcoal

Top Five Things to Do With Oil Barrels When There’s No More Oil To Fill Them - #1. Make Charcoal. » Transition Culture

Charcoal photos

English Charcoal, environment, history and woodmanship


Yet another link:-
ruminations from the distant hills: Terra Preta

[erich]

The following post I plan to submit to Slashdot and some other online news sites. I thought I would run it past you all for review first. Of course much of this is drawn from this forum and you have seen before.

I used the EngineerPoet's Carbon PPM numbers ,

"Just pulling the atmospheric CO2 level from today's 379 ppm down to 350 ppm (a level which would probably stabilize Greenland and Antarctica) requires the net capture of about 230 billion tons of carbon dioxide."

I was wondering if his source for this from IPCC?

The Ergosphere: Sustainability, energy independence and agricultural policy

His 230 ton carbon remediation number to stabilise the climate fits elegantly with this estimate from Dr. Bill Ruddiman at U. VA. , who's work is cited by Duane Pendergrass:
Energy, the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas management


"Best estimate is that the total loss of forest and soil carbon (combined
pre-industrial and industrial) has been about 200-240 billion tons. Of
that, the soils are estimated to account for about 1/3, and the vegetation
the other 2/3. Some estimates have said that 1/3 of the total was
pre-industrial and 2/3 industrial. I think it may have been more like
50/50.
Regards,
Bill Ruddiman"



Thanks for any editorial help
Erich




Time to Master the Carbon Cycle

Man has been controlling the carbon cycle , and there for the weather, since the invention of agriculture, all be it was as unintentional, as our current airliner contrails are in affecting global dimming. This unintentional warm stability in climate has over 10,000 years, allowed us to develop to the point that now we know what we did and that now we are over doing it.

The prehistoric and historic records gives a logical thrust for soil carbon sequestration.
I wonder what the soil biome carbon concentration was REALLY like before the cutting and burning of the world's virgin forest, my guess is that now we see a severely diminished community, and that only very recent Ag practices like no-till and reforestation have started to help rebuild it. It makes implementing Terra Preta soil technology like an act of penitence, a returning of the misplaced carbon.

Energy, the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas management
Energy, the carbon cycle and greenhouse gas management


On the Scale of CO2 remediation:

It is my understanding that atmospheric CO2 stands at 379 PPM, to stabilize the climate we need to reduce it to 350 PPM by the removal of 230 Billion tons.

The best estimates I've found are that the total loss of forest and soil carbon (combined
pre-industrial and industrial) has been about 200-240 billion tons. Of
that, the soils are estimated to account for about 1/3, and the vegetation
the other 2/3.

Since man controls 24 billion tons in his agriculture then it seems we have plenty to work with in sequestering our fossil fuel co2 emissions as charcoal.

As Dr. Lehmann at Cornell points out, "Closed-Loop Pyrolysis systems such as Day's are the only way to make a fuel that is actually carbon negative". and that " a strategy combining biochar with biofuels could ultimately offset 9.5 billion tons of carbon per year-an amount equal to the total current fossil fuel emissions! "
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/l...ochar_home.htm


Carbon Negative Bio fuels and Fertility Too

This new soil technology speaks to so many different interests and disciplines that it has not been embraced fully by any. I'm sure you will see both the potential of this system and the convergence needed for it's implementation.

The integrated energy strategy offered by Charcoal based Terra Preta Soil technology may
provide the only path to sustain our agricultural and fossil fueled power
structure without climate degradation, other than nuclear power.

The economics look good, and truly great if we had CO2 cap & trade in place:

These are processes where you can have your Bio-fuels, Carbon sequestration and fertility too.

'Terra Preta' soils I feel has great possibilities to revolutionize sustainable agriculture into a major CO2 sequestration strategy.
I thought, I first read about these soils in " Botany of Desire " or "Guns,Germs,&Steel" but I could not find reference to them. I finely found the reference in Charles Mann's "1491", but I did not realize their potential .

I have heard that National Geographic is preparing a big Terra Preta (TP) article.

Nature article: Putting the carbon backBlack is the new green: Access to articles : Nature (subscription needed)

Here's the Cornell page for an over view:
Biochar home

This Earth Science Forum thread on these soils contains further links, and has been viewed by 13,000 folks. ( I post everything I find on Amazon Dark Soils, ADS here):
http://hypography.com/forums/earth-s...rra-preta.html


The Georgia Inst. of Technology page:
http://www.energy.gatech.edu/presentations/dday.pdf

There is an ecology going on in these soils that is not completely understood, and if replicated and applied at scale would have multiple benefits for farmers and environmentalist.

Terra Preta creates a terrestrial carbon reef at a microscopic level. These nanoscale structures provide safe haven to the microbes and fungus that facilitate fertile soil creation, while sequestering carbon for many hundred if not thousands of years. The combination of these two forms of sequestration would also increase the growth rate and natural sequestration effort of growing plants.


Here is a great article that high lights this pyrolysis process , ( Research Home Page ) which could use existing infrastructure to provide Charcoal sustainable Agriculture , Syn-Fuels, and a variation of this process would also work as well for H2 , Charcoal-Fertilizer, while sequestering CO2 from Coal fired plants to build soils at large scales , be sure to read the "See an initial analysis NEW" link of this technology to clean up Coal fired power plants.
Soil erosion, energy scarcity, excess greenhouse gas all answered through regenerative carbon management Soil erosion, energy scarcity, excess greenhouse gas all answered through regenerative carbon management


All the Bio-Char Companies and equipment manufactures I've found:

Carbon Diversion
Carbon Diversion

Eprida: Sustainable Solutions for Global Concerns
Eprida: Sustainable Solutions for Global Concerns


BEST Pyrolysis, Inc. | Slow Pyrolysis - Biomass - Clean Energy - Renewable Ene
BEST Pyrolysis, Inc. | Slow Pyrolysis - Biomass - Clean Energy - Renewable Energy - Char - green coal - pelletized fuel - syngas for electrical generation - carbon credits - increases rural jobs and construction development

Dynamotive Energy Systems | The Evolution of Energy
Dynamotive Energy Systems | The Evolution of Energy


Ensyn - Environmentally Friendly Energy and Chemicals
Ensyn - Environmentally Friendly Energy and Chemicals


Agri-Therm, developing bio oils from agricultural waste
Agri-Therm, developing bio oils from agricultural waste


Advanced BioRefinery Inc.
Advanced BioRefinery Inc.


Technology Review: Turning Slash into Cash
Technology Review: Turning Slash into Cash

Korea:
International K&K Enterprise Others
International K&K Enterprise Others



The upcoming International Agrichar Initiative (IAI) conference to be held at Terrigal, NSW, Australia in 2007. ( International Agrichar Initiative 2007 Conference )
.

If pre-Columbian Indians could produce these soils up to 6 feet deep over 20% of the Amazon basin it seems that our energy and agricultural industries could also product them at scale.

Harnessing the work of this vast number of microbes and fungi changes the whole equation of EROEI for food and Bio fuels. I see this as the only sustainable agricultural strategy if we no longer have cheap fossil fuels for fertilizer.

We need this super community of wee beasties to work in concert with us by populating them into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos.

I feel Terra Preta soil technology is the greatest of Ironies.
That is: an invention of pre-Columbian American culture, destroyed by western disease, may well be the savior of industrial western society.

Thanks,
Erich

[RBlack]

Does anybody have any information on what temperatures oil drums make charcoal at? We know for Terra Pret soils we want low temperature charcoal and I can't find anything on what the temperatures are. Also the best site I have found for anything to do with simple at home charcoal making is the Food and Agriculture Orgainization of the United Nations (fao.org). Just go in and look for "Simple technologies for charcoal making" (fao.org/docrep/x5328e/x5328e00.htm). Sorry can't post links yet.
Thanks RB

[erich]

The most comprehensive Charcoal making site: REPP-CREST : DISCUSSION GROUPS.


They have migrated the Carbon pages to the Gasification Site on Bioenergylists.org
See: Carbon | Bioenergy Lists: Gasification

Of the 800 people on the REPP gasification discussion discussion list there are a number who are interested in renewable carbon.
See: Gasification Info Page and the Disucssion Archives at:
The Gasification Archives the archives are searchable via google or on the Gasification website:
Bioenergy Lists: Gasification | This page exists to help people involved in the development of GASIFICATION SYSTEMS.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by RBlack

Does anybody have any information on what temperatures oil drums make charcoal at?

No, but you need about- 450C +-50C
Depends a bit on what you are using to produce char.
Too high and you loose the plant resins.

Even more links
(Is this turning into aflood of information?
I for one, am having trouble keeping up!)

Making Charcoal from Sugar Cane Leaves
written by Reden and filed under Renewable Energy and Breakthrough Technology and Actual Cases | 11:03 pm | January 8, 2006

In developing countries, the Ashden Award is the greatest prize that exists for innovative work concerning the environment. One of the recent recipients of this award is Dr. AD Karne who has done considerable work on an integrated fuel-from-waste system . . .

Cane leaves have very little purpose after cane harvesting. The volume of this material available can be sizeable, from 10 to 20 metric tons depending on the variety of cane.

Renewable Energy Generation » Making Charcoal from Sugar Cane Leaves - Renewable Energy News

Not relevant? But making wind chimes from charcoal is quirky
from Wiki

Binchōtan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Bincho-tan)
Jump to: navigation, search
For the anime with the same pronunciation, see Binchō-tan (anime).
Binchō-tan
Binchō-tan

Binchō-tan or binchō-zumi (備長炭) is a traditional charcoal of Japan. It dates to the Edo period, when during the Genroku era, a craftsman named Bitchū-ya Chōzaemon (備中屋 長左衛門) began to produce it in Tanabe, Wakayama.
The raw material is ubame oak, Quercus phillyraeoides, now the official tree of Wakayama Prefecture.
Its fineness and high quality are attributed to steaming at high temperature. Because it burns hot, it is a favorite of unagi and yakitori cooks.
The name binchō-tan has come into broader use to designate white charcoal generally, and even products from outside Japan, as well as those made of other species, have come to use the name. Foreign products have become scarce following a 2004 export restriction promulgated for forest protection by the People's Republic of China.

Binchō-tan has found uses other than as a fuel. Bits can be added to rice during cooking to remove chalky flavor, placed in shoe-cabinets to absorb odors, and put in rooms to freshen the air.

Binchō-tan is harder than the usual black charcoal, and rings with a metallic sound when struck. Wind chimes and a musical instrument, the tankin ("charcoal-xylophone") have been made from it

Oxfam is making charcoal -for fuel most likely

Meeting simple needs
Sabina Lomekwi has been taking part in a sustainable charcoal production project that uses dead trees to make charcoal. New trees are also being planted in a tree nursery run by the community.

“It takes two weeks to make the charcoal… we all have a part to play, first we collect wood and clean and cut the branches. Then we place the wood inside the kiln, and light it. As it’s burning we close the kiln, and brush clay and water on the outside walls to reduce the heat. After one week, we open the kiln, and wait for the charcoal to cool down… This process makes the charcoal heavier, and burns for longer.

“We got 25 bags (90 kilos) of charcoal from the last batch and sold each bag for 250 Ksh. We made 3,570 ksh profit. Now, we are planning to register our village committee and open a bank account where we’ll keep all the money we make, and use it in our community later on

.

This is a link to lots of other links!
REPP-CREST : DISCUSSION GROUPS
In the following categories:-

RENEWABLE CARBON

Links from the Bioenergy Discussion Lists
Search Discussion Lists

CHARCOAL

PRODUCTS, PROPERTIES AND FEEDSTOCKS

KILNS AND EQUIPMENT

CHARCOAL COOKING STOVES

RURAL CHARCOAL INDUSTRY

ADVANCED PROCESSES

ACTIVATED CARBON

CHARCOAL AND WATER PURIFICATION

CHARCOAL AND THE ENVIRONMENT

PUBLICATIONS

HISTORY OF CHARCOAL PRODUCTION

The Dark Side of Charcoal
BBC NEWS | In pictures | Charcoal in Chad | Modern fuel

In pictures: Charcoal in Chad

Modern fuel

As part of the BBC series Fuelling the Future, we look at the environmental problems in Chad, stemming from the widespread use of charcoal.

Charcoal is the most popular type of fuel in Chad, and is seen as more modern than dry firewood.

It burns for longer than wood, so it is cheaper to use, and it produces less smoke. It is especially popular in big towns.

Unfortunately, charcoal is less efficient, so more trees must be cut down.

[Michaelangelica]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by malcolmf

"You want me to make charcoal AND THEN BURY IT??!!!" The counter to that would be economic benefits of greater value than char as fuel, and the only two I know are (a) the Eprida ECOSS process much discussed in this thread and (b) the value of reclaimed land to its owner including the discounted value of future increases in crop yields.
A return to wood building (also gets my vote because it very likely sequesters more carbon than TP). Biofuel production, which we know is a disaster from a carbon viewpoint but is the only thing that the motor and energy security people can think about.

So, what we are looking for are locations in which the alternatives are not in play against TP

Stop thinking wood and tree waste and just think WASTE -anything organic can be made into carbon and electricity by Best Energies' Pyrolysis plant (Will post more about that later)

Building in wood has been the preferred way to go in Oz for along time now However with the ban on Chlordane the termites are getting the upper hand So, many are turning to steel framed buildings. Some, rarely, occasionally, use adobe.
Industrial buildings seem to be made out of concrete Lego blocks ( a bit bigger and thinner- Lego should have been banned years ago for the disastrous impact it has had on the minds of young architects!) Bloody ugly boxes of buildings with little natural light.
A building might last 50-100 years? Carbon will last in the soil 10,000 years or more. Farmers might also be able to claim carbon credits.

In a country water-starved like Oz ,something that can save you 18% water on your farm, you would think would be jumped at - no matter what else it did - even if it danced and played the bagpipes.

Deary me, haven't I reached 10 posts yet so I can provide links?

Don't you know any good jokes? see "Quality (sic)Jokes and Humour" ( lousy Yank spell checker! 'Humor' - more imperialism!)

[malcolmf]

Here is a list of char-making references, organised by type of design. The list combines previous links from this thread with other research. The list is restricted to items that convey at least some idea of the actual method / equipment used. Hopefully readers can judge the approach they could most easily adopt.

Simple technologies for charcoal making (FAO Forestry series) several designs: earth pits, earth mounds, brick kilns, metal kilns; well done UN!
How to Make Drawing Charcoal 3 designs (scroll for 2 & 3), DIY; for small quantities
English Charcoal, environment, history and woodmanship 2 designs; metal ring kiln; retort with gas feedback
ClayArt Archives charcoal method earth pit, DIY only briefly described
La Purisma Mission (find "pit is dug") earth pit, DIY only briefly described
Charcoal clamp earth mound, DIY
Mycroft In Flight Magazine (find "charcoal") barbeque firegrate, DIY
David G Mills posting 1, posting 2 metal can, DIY
Making Charcoal from Sugar Cane Leaves metal can, DIY only briefly described
A Charcoal Cooker metal pot, DIY
Top Five Things to Do With Oil Barrels When There's No More Oil To Fill Them oil drum, DIY
Making your own charcoal oil drum, DIY
Allotment Forestry local charcoal oil drum, DIY; scroll down for detailed instructions
How to build a small charcoal kiln oil drum, DIY
Charcoal Making at Home oil drum, skilled DIY
Fayette charcoal kiln permanent brick kiln
Convert Wood into Charcoal & Electricity permanent brick kiln, skilled DIY; char + fuel
Making charcoal and preserving wood metal oven; char + gas (used for preservation); some smoke containment
Flexi portable charcoal kiln metal ring kiln
Bramley Frith charcoal burning metal ring kiln; also a classic picture of smoke emissions
Charcoal burn metal ring kiln
Making Charcoal and Charcoal Retort retort with gas feedback; skilled DIY from 2 oil drums
Scott Bidstrup (find "efficient charcoal") solar furnace, skilled DIY, no evidence of use
Solar Parabolic Trough Charcoal Oven solar furnace, skilled DIY, account of prototype trial, no charcoal as of Jan 2007
BEST Pyrolysis, Inc. low-emission kiln; char + gas + heat (possibly low char yield to favour gasifier)
Carbon Diversion pressure vessel; high speed, high yield

Additions welcome

M