[Terrapreta] Non Fuel Uses of Charcoal

[Michael Bailes]

Thanks Tom,
An interesting list. The Japanese have some specialty charcoals too made
from particular trees but  I can't remember what they are used for.
 I wish we had more access to Japanese Charcoal Research. They often start a
research paper with  "It is well know that charcoal does x, y, z ,etc"
without bothering to reference it.
 They are doing  a ten year study on Tea trees which I think is in its 4th
year; using only 100g of char per tree, per sq metre, per year. Already
there are huge, observable, measurable results in growth!

People who buy pyrolysis machines/technology need to know there is a market
for the end product. The fact that there is NO market for charcoal  in
Australia is holding back the roll out of modern pyrolysis technology here.

 It is rarely used in BBQs (gas is so cheap) and the main market is for
highly refined, activated charcoal; usually for scientific, medical or water
purification. It is a very small market. I priced 3K of horticultural
activated charcoal (used to mop up pesticide and fertiliser spills at AUD
$150.00 !

I found an excellent British paper on the uses of charcoal. It can be used
in some amazing things including pet food!
Interestingly my long suffering gastroenterologist has suggested I eat
charcoal tablets!!

The full article is here but I have copied the relevant growing Horticulture
bits in this email
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:I0TgdV-gQ_UJ:www.visitthemoors.co.uk/uploads/publication/978.pdf+


Best wishes
Michael Bailes
*Horticulture*  Charcoal has been used for horticultural purposes for at
least two thousand years,
archaeological research has come up with evidence of charcoal being used as
a soil
ameliorator in the Amazon basin around the time of Christ. (Do a web search
for "Terra preta" for more information)

  Green keepers of golf and bowling clubs used charcoal extensively as a top
dressing but
in recent years this has been substituted by sharp sand, the reason may have
been that
the demise of the British charcoal industry caused a shortage in supplies of
the correct
grades. Fine charcoal powder used on lawns (golf) absorbs and eliminates
excess
amounts of fertilizer and chemicals present in the soil
  .
Charcoal was widely available from horticultural sundriesmen up until the
late 1960's,
for use mainly in bulb fibre where the pots do not have drainage holes. The
charcoal was
said to keep the compost 'sweet'.

Orchid growing employs the use of charcoal and specialist growers of
carnations and
pinks find charcoal to be invaluable.

It has been reported that charcoal may act as a means of eradicating moss in
lawns.
Trials have been carried out and the results are currently being analysed.
(We should be lucky to have THIS [problrm!-m)

  Research has shown that growing mediums that have charcoal present, are
able to buffer
the effects of sporadic watering, by reducing the frequency of watering
whilst helping to
prevent 'damping off'
Charcoal also reduces the leaching of fertilise in free draining soils as
the charcoal's porous carbon structure enables the nutrients to be held for
slower release to the plants
.
    The inclusion of charcoal in open seedbeds showed that it facilitates
the uptake of
  nutrients. Calcium uptake almost doubles, with significant increases in
potassium,
magnesium and phosphorus, the pH increases slightly and there is an obvious
increase
in organic matter.

  Charcoal has been recommended as part of the treatment for the eradication
of a fungal
  disease, Cylindrocladium that infects Box hedges.

 Charcoal has proved to be an ideal renewable substitute for perlite and
vermiculite,
  compost additives used to increase aeration and aid drainage, but both
finite resources.

They  reported that the main reason for the decline in the use of
horticultural charcoal was that it is a dirty material to handle. If uses
can be found that have clear horticultural benefits and minimum handling,
then we believe that a considerable market exists. For example, charcoal
would make a good additive to grow bags, where
 the contents aren't handled much and there are problems with erratic
watering.

The currently favoured water retaining gels are not liked by all growers
  and there are doubts about how well they actually release the water they
have absorbed "Petunias in
hanging baskets tested in greenhouses showed no benefits when
water-absorbing
polymers were used. And plants grown in media containing water-absorbing
polymers
required watering just as often as plants grown in potting soil containing
no water-
absorbing polymers. Also, their usable life is limited by the amounts of
salt or fertilizers
in the soil

   ". Hence, charcoal could be used where watering may be a problem, e.g.
hanging baskets, or where it is hard to change the compost, e.g. in large
tubs.
Charcoal could be incorporated into locally produced 'green compost'. No
further
processing, other than simply grading would be required and transport costs
would be
low. We have had preliminary discussions with Scarborough Borough Council
about
adding fines to their Green Compost and they hope to do some simple trials
in hanging
baskets.



-
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070423/4f8cbf0c/attachment-0001.html