[Terrapreta] Farm Produced Biochar

[Tom Miles]

Robert,

I have talked with friends and clients who are grain farmers in the
"prairies" (US Midwest and Canada) about making biochar on the farm. So far
there is: a) interest in the biochar and its potential; b) no real interest
in making it themselves unless there is a do-it-yourself model
("entertainment value"); and c) skepticism about the economic and agronomic
value ("show me"). 

Why should a grower invest his labor, equipment and money in making biochar
on the farm? We haven't clearly made that case yet. (And, where is he going
to find a "lot of nitrogen rich manure" on a grain farm?) Growers I know
will not speculate unless there is a perceived pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow.    

Find an interested grower and build a system around his/her specific
circumstances. Demonstrate that it's worth doing. Then watch 1% of the
farmers in the area adopt it.

Tom 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Klein [mailto:arclein at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 11:01 PM
> To: Tom Miles
> Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Niels Bech's flash pyrolysis
> 
> Hi Tom
> 
> I am thinking of wheat straw in the prairies. I have
> seen one ton bales sit out for years.
> 
> I expect that most straw is currently just dumped and
> its decomposition does nothing except return CO2 to
> the athmosphere.
> 
> Baling it and then converting it to Biochar is
> completely within the capabilities of a grain farmer
> with the equipment he has before he sets up a biochar
> system.
> 
> Wheat straw has been a recycling problem (as has corn
> stover), particularly since we moved away from mixed
> farming and the mixing of straw with manure.
> 
> Both need to be mixed with a lot of nitrogen rich
> manure in order to achieve a decent yield on
> decomposition.
> 
> regards
> 
> 
> bob