[Terrapreta] CEC and future experimentation

[lou gold]

Great Rich. I will be following your progress. If you get something solid
here please alert me so that I might help tell the story.

hugs,  lou

On Dec 11, 2007 4:37 PM, Richard Haard <richrd at nas.com> wrote:

> 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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-- 
http://lougold.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/sets/
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