[Terrapreta] Frenzy - wordsmithing, humour, no TP value

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Philip

What you are telling us is very much like a clip from a "Sludge Sales Brochure." What about the toxins in sludge, and their negative value?

Kevin
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Philip Small 
  To: Terra Preta 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 1:53 PM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Frenzy - wordsmithing, humour, no TP value


  On sludge.  Sludge-N applied to farm fields normally replaces N manufactured using nonrenewable energy. 

  The bulk of municipal waste water treatment solids is microbial biomass.  It may smell like shit because it is still putrescible and smells anaerobic, but it isn't faeces anymore. Much of the putrescible content is food waste, especially in communities with kitchen sinks set to up with garbage disposals (I favor sewer fees on garbage disposals.  If you have one, wise up and yank it off).  Stabilized after 20-25 days of detention, with most of the putrescible characteristic used up to grow biomass, biosolids achieves a classic microbial C/N of 6-8, and an N content of between 3 and 6% on a dry weight basis.  Even considering that only 25% of that org-N is plant-available the first year, at US$0.5/lb in 2007 and 2x that in 2008, that org-N content is of considerable fertilizer value: $15-30/dry ton.  Add another $10-$20/dry ton for the mineral-N content.  At 5DT/ac, that's an applied value $125-$250/acre in 2008.  What will it be in 2009?

  For sludge that can be trusted (I believe some can, some can't) it makes more sense to me to bulk up sludge with char than to make the sludge into char.  For one, the N in sludge in mineralized with a fair amount of inefficiency. Ammonia volatization and denitrification also take its toll on sludge-N uptake efficiency. Adding char can help with the denitrification especially. Another consideration is that sludge is fairly high in organic acids, such as humic acids and especially fulvic acids. That seems a valuable  complement to char.  

  Each sludge is different, and each community's land resource is different.  If the candidate fields are all in N-fixing alfalfa or legume-mix pasture, well it doesn't make as sense to retain the N value, but it would make sense if the candidate fields are wheat. Just some thoughts. -philip





  On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 6:52 AM, Gary Barei <garyb1957 at gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, this one time, I'll bite --- wordsmithing

    We've all gotten so politically correct, technically competent, hell, media-savy and diplomatic!!

    If it looks like shit, and it smells like shit, and it tastes like shit ........ Momma says ... it probably is SHIT!

    So, let's cook it up, say 500 degrees Fahrenheit, no oxygen allowed ... black gravelly / powderly looking stuff  ...

    Hmmmmmmmmm ....

    Looks like : a soil amendment,  maybe a water and  ion  retentive,  a microbial  heaven  on earth  (literally), a CO2 trap  .... 
    Smells like: well, hell ... it doesn't smell ... except for that sweet organic, grassy, earthy,  we had the best time in the corn rows (sorry, I digress)....
    Tastes like:  Well, it just tastes good, natural I guess, plants loved it ... less herbicides, fertilizer and pain ... and we all did it in a crappy way, if you get my drift!

    SO - what does Momma say now?  Same as ever!!!  Look, Smell, Taste --- how is your local, regional, national politician, taking Momma's good advice?

    I'm afraid to do the math, but 6 Billion of us must have, say, minimum, 250 gm of "night soil, bio-sludge, post-processed biomass, nutrient depleted excrement" to contribute daily  ... somebody post the number ... I'm too afraid to launch the calculator.... What if we pyrolysed it? ..............oops, say it out loud!

    ENERGY
    POOP/NUTRIENTS (yeah, I mention that, but most like to look the other way! ~LOL~, so many goodies left over!)
    BIOCHAR - soil me, drop me in the river .... I wish I could sing the blues

    How to save the planet?  ...  Laugh at the above, and get serious about tomorrow's choices.........

    My 2 cents, Canadian, at the time of posting, global market calamity trading in currency notwithstanding.  Thanks!

    BTW, I bought oil at $79 US last  November ... Dumped it recently, but it makes me sadder, every day :-(

    There it is!  La Poo Point!

    *******************





    On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 4:15 AM, MFH <mfh01 at bigpond.net.au> wrote:

      Its becoming increasingly obvious that there's the beginning of a whole new "wordsmithing" industry on how to save the planet, like using human poo: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/11/2271675.htm





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  -- 
  Philip Small, RPSS
  Land Profile, Inc. * PO Box 2175 * Spokane, WA 99210
  509-844-2944 cell * 509-838-4996 fax * 509-838-9860 office
  Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/philipsmall 


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