[Terrapreta] Bamboo

[Sean K. Barry]

Hi Kurt,

Ask Robert Flanagan about charcoal from bamboo.

SKB
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: rukurt at westnet.com.au<mailto:rukurt at westnet.com.au> 
  To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:terrapreta at bioenergylists.org> 
  Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:50 PM
  Subject: [Terrapreta] Bamboo


  Hi folkes,
  There has been mention of bamboo as a feedstock for charcoal production, 
  very much in the same breath as the use of sugarcane trash for this 
  purpose. It must be understood, that while both bamboo and sugar cane 
  are grasses, there are very great differences between them.
  Bamboo is a long term crop, more a forest crop than a grass type crop. 
  Bamboo grown from seed will commonly take many years, often 50 to 70 
  years and sometimes in the hundred years to flower again and then it 
  dies. It is mainly grown from cuttings which means that many plantings 
  are actually the same plant (clones) and all instances of that 
  particular clone will flower at about the same time. Not long ago this 
  resulted in a feed crisis for panda bears in China, when their feed 
  bamboos flowered and subsequently died over large areas.
  There are two main kinds of bamboos, the clumping varieties and the 
  runners. Generally speaking clumpers are tropical and runners are 
  temperate climate plants.
  It takes at least 4 years for a planting to reach full size. At this 
  point, the culms that grow every year will be about full size,sometimes 
  many inches in diameter (depending on variety), with thinner culms 
  growing before then. A bamboo culm grows from the shoot to it's full 
  height in a matter of weeks, but will take some four years to reach full 
  wall thickness. Until the culm is indeed fully mature it is not really 
  worthwhile harvesting it. This requires careful supervision and marking 
  of culms so that only mature ones are harvested. The running varieties 
  can spread at an alarming rate, often as much as 12 meters per years. 
  They are highly unpopular when they invade other properties.
  Properly managed bamboo can be a very productive crop, but it is a very 
  longterm crop, you can't grow bamboo this year and beans next year on 
  the same plot of land.

  Kurt
  who is experimenting with charcoal from bamboo at present

  >   


  _______________________________________________
  Terrapreta mailing list
  Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org<mailto:Terrapreta at bioenergylists.org>
  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biochar/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070521/eb93ac46/attachment.html