Terra Preta - The parent thread which started it all

[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 maikeru

there are oils on top of the brew, and I imagine there still must be some, and many other chemicals, present in the spent grounds. Also, soymilk has quite a lot of plant oils. I wonder if these might be absorbed by the terra preta as decomposition takes place. Perhaps in agricultural settings waste vegetable or plant "juice," if rich in oils, could be used as a "bio-oil inoculant" for the terra preta?

Hard to know withjout some proper research trials
But to give an "educated guess" bio-oils/resins seem to be very important to the development of Terra preta soil micro fungi and bacteria.
So YES!

[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
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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.

[redgreenblue]

Here's a presentation on Terra Preta given during a seminar at Cornell. It gives a good overview of the current research & knowledge, although the contents are probably familiar to those following this forum.

Terra Preta to Bio-char : strengthening links between a model system and practical applications
http://ciifad.cornell.edu/activities...eill110806.pdf

I found slide 27 interesting as it shows some of the questions that still need to be answered...

Biochar: obstacles and opportunities
• What will be the feedstocks?
• Can large amounts of uniform biochar be produced or is it so feedstock sensitive that each batch will be different?
• How can production be scaled to small or large operations.
• Are the economics of its production understood?
• Support – ethanol or biochar?

From the previous forum post here, we can see some initial research indicating that the type of feedstock does matter, at least when comparing peanut shells to woody biomass.

As for "ethanol or biochar", both processes may in the future be complementary. The bio-oil produced during pyrolysis can be gasified and made into synthesis gas, which can then be converted into ethanol through synthesis gas fermentation (Biomass Program: Synthesis Gas Fermentation) or a fischer-tropsch process (http://www.cseng.org.uk/pdf/Liquid%2...erview.prn.pdf see page 5).

[Philip Small]

Erich wrote:

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

BEST Energies has a link to an OA version of the Nature article.

bestenergies DOT com SLASH downloads SLASH naturemag_200604 DOT pdf

[erich]

At Last a Nature article link that will Last

http://bestenergies.com/downloads/naturemag_200604.pdf

[Philip Small]

Originally Posted by erich

At Last a Nature article link that will Last

Another "link that will last" is at the bottom of this 1/19 blog post:

environmentdebate.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/carbon-sequestration-the-old-fashioned-way/

[erich]

NewTerra Preta Page & Mail List

My latest activities include being drafted by these guys at REPP Crest to coordinate a central data base for all things Terra Preta: Terra Preta.

the TerraPreta mail list: terrapreta@bioenergylists.org ,

The whole REPP thing started just a few days ago , so we will see who comes to the party.

Thanks,
Erich J. Knight

[Michaelangelica]

My life is being slowly taken over by terra preta (like the cre ep ing socialism in USA )

I am having troubles understanding some abbreviations in the book, "Amazonian Dark Earths" Can any one help? (No I don't have a copy of the book)
Talking about organic and inorganic carbon in soil ; they use this abbreviation "Mg C ha-1 m-1"
The "-1"s are above the line.
So ADE, Soil Organic Carbon stocks are estimated at " 147-506 Mg C ha-1 m-1 "(p127). What does that mean?
In other research articles I am sure I read people talk about 10-20% charcoal content in ADE. So far I have not found an accurate estimate of charcoal (apart from organic carbon) in ADEs In the book

Another problem
Many of the articles I have read (especially Japanese ones ) talk about Charcoal stopping the leaching of nutients, even though ADEs are more friable. This seems to be true but I was surprised by this comment:-
"When inorganic nutrients were applied to amazonian Dark Earths as a fertiliser, however, leaching proved very high and exceeded that found in the Ferralsol" (p115)
So what gives? Are only organic nutrients saved?

It also seems some crops do better than others because of the nutrients most persistent in ADEs P, N and Ca seem high