[Terrapreta] CEC and future experimentation

[Richard Haard]

Yes,

Some time ago this is what me excited about John Flottvik's portable  
pyrolyser system. Combined with a tub grinder this system could  
pyrolyse forest waste as is piled up prior to burning . At  the time  
he claimed his 15 tpd pilot plant was not economically feasible but  
the concept was very interesting. Especially where secondary power  
transmission lines were accessible and a system of temporary power  
insertion to the grid could be worked out. Toms work seems to be a  
continuation of this conceptualization.

This option has not made it to commercial application but the idea is  
still there. I think conversion on the site cancels out the cost of  
trucking wood to a centralized plant. But and a big but in this era of  
increasing energy costs the value of this char as a powdered  
substitute for oil in a boiler would find a market for char rather  
than distributing in the forest.

Sequestering the carbon is positive for sure but unless a forest  
practice can be developed that can be demonstrated to have positive  
effect you might as well bury the stuff in a pit.

Distributing in the forest is an interesting option to me. Where my  
home is located, a closed canopy mixed conifer forest the soils are  
gravel and cobbles. I am interested to come up with an experimental  
design for a series of plots in the understory of this tract. I have  
selected some places where the dense over-story prevented understory  
vegetation where charcoal can be worked into the liter layer easily.

Here is an image at my homesite, forest site with Larry loading some  
logs, mostly windfalls for delivery to the sawyer to make siding and  
decking for my home. This shows anyway my proposed research platform.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/2099256167/

There has been foraging in the literature on my part for ideas on an  
approach to this but it might be interesting to put the idea out here.  
With my limited finances and lots of time what would be parameters to  
monitor in such a study, what suggestions for study design, and how to  
measure the effect if any of charcoal additions to a forest understory.

Initially I desired to look at nitrogen fixation in these soils but  
have not been to come up with biological screening or chemical  
analysis tests within my means. I think a simple lysimeter could  
collect natural seepage but unfortuntely my reading of the literature  
indicates simple and cheap nitrate tests are unreliable. Monitoring  
CEC and impact on soil nutrition might be another approach to this  
study. In addition there needs to be open source information about  
making charcoal hydrophillic other than long term weathering. Larry  
seems to have accomplished this but we are not quite sure what he did  
that made this happen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/1439480187/in/set-72157594444994347/

I am interested to receive suggestions and articles to read or  
collaborators to work with towards an experimental approach to  
demonstrate carbon sequestration in PNW forests is a beneficial  
practice. I would like to have a project underway in spring.

Rich H
On Dec 11, 2007, at 7:43 AM, Sean K. Barry wrote:

> Your ideas about charring forest arisings is just great!  I agree  
> that it could be a tremendous boon for carbon sequestration, soil  
> enhancement, and fire safety.
>

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