[Terrapreta] Terrapreta Digest, Vol 7, Issue 22

[info at biorealis]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the list, having just recently discovered terra 
preta after watching this video documentary from BBC on El Dorado:

http://www.videosift.com/video/Horizon-The-Secret-of-El-Dorado

Richard Haard's comment (quoted below) about integrating biochar into 
a whole production system triggered a connection with earlier work I 
had done on just such an integrated system.

A few years ago (in complete ignorance of this use of charcoal) I 
developed a conceptual design for an integrated Community Food 
Production system for a rural Alaska Village. The basic idea is to 
grow plants and fish using "aquaponics" (integrating aquaculture and 
hydroponics, where the fish waste provides nutrients for plant 
growth, while the plants purify the water for the fish) under HID 
lights powered by a diesel generator burning a combination of 
biodiesel and producer gas. The producer gas is generated from the 
few thousands of acres of beetle-killed spruce that the village owns 
-- and needs to manage. Engine exhaust provides the heat for pyrolization.

Here is a link to a 1-page flyer giving an overview of the system.

http://biorealis.com/ANHBconference/PresentationSummary.pdf

and a link to a mindmap -- a presentation given to the Alaska Tribal 
Conference on the Environmental Management (ATCEM) in 2004.

http://www.biorealis.com/ANHBconference/


>    1. Re: Farm Produced Biochar (Richard Haard)
>
>It would be nice to engage a architect on a green mission
>or Swedish ecologist/planner Folke Gunther
>
>http://www.holon.se/folke/kurs/logexp/logexp_en.shtml
>
>for input on integrating biomass gasification, biochar as soil
>conditioner, water purification, remote energy/process needs.
>Actually I have had some conversations with Folke and put forth a 3
>pager to local developers and A&E community for an opinion on the
>idea of an energy sufficient community with food and manufacturing
>capability and this reason why I hang out here and at gasification,
>and biomass listserves.

Regards,

Bob Crosby

Biorealis Systems, Inc
P.O. Box 77-2773
Eagle River, Alaska 99577
http://biorealis.com
(907) 694-6370