[Terrapreta] Methane and pottery

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi Robert,

"In the end concerns over methane production are irrelevant."

Please, ... Don't be posting that on your blog, about our Terra Preta discussions.  That is not what I heard or said about Methane production in this discussion.  You can't dismiss it as irrelevant, if you present no evidence (as we have) to the contrary.

SKB


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert Klein<mailto:arclein at yahoo.com> 
  To: terra preta<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 2:09 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] Methane and pottery


  I posted this on my Blog.  Go there for my ongoing
  discussion on Terra Preta

  http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com<http://globalwarming-arclein.blogspot.com/>

  In the end concerns over methane production are
  irrelevant. We have doubled production in the last
  century and it is all gone. The reason is ultimately
  very simple. It migrates to the upper atmosphere and
  is consumed. This is something that is not an option
  for CO2.

  Does the sharp increase in methane reaching the
  troposphere have any effect whatsoever? The quick
  answer is nothing that is obvious. It is a little like
  measuring the effect of the Mississippi on the
  Atlantic. The practical answer as always is to make as
  much as you desire and see were it takes you. My guess
  is nowhere.

  That means that methane production concerns regarding
  all forms of biowaste combustion are misplaced. My
  real concern would be for well intentioned government
  regulation been actively imposed forcing a larger
  industrial price for the use of the method.

  The second issue that has attracted comment is the
  association of pottery shards in the terra preta
  soils. I naturally postulated that this was partly to
  do with the disposal of kitchen waste in the corn
  stover stack kilns as we described in earlier postings
  in July. I also realized that a large bowl would have
  to be used to transport hot coals to the top of the
  stack and perhaps dumped into a prepared chimney.

  These bowls are as primitive as you can get and very
  prone to heat breakage, so the presence of pottery is
  no surprise. My discomfort came from the fact that
  they would have normally taken broken pottery away
  with them for disposal elsewhere. So why not?

  The answer came to me this morning. It is natural to
  take the bowl of coals to the top of the stack and to
  dump them there in the center and to let the coals
  slowly burn out a chimney. The problem is that you
  have to cover these coals with dirt to prevent flame
  out. The best way to do that is to upend the bowl on
  top of the coals and to throw dirt on top of that.
  Otherwise, the coals will end up been smothered by the
  dirt. The bowl would then migrate slowly to the bottom
  of the stack. In the process the high heat would cause
  this low quality pottery to breakup into very small
  pieces not worth recovering or causing any difficulty
  for cultivation.

  Actually a pretty nifty solution to the problem of
  controlling the ignition coal mass. While this was
  progressing, the farmer would stand by to throw dirt
  on any emerging openings in the stack to prevent a
  flare up.


         
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