[Terrapreta] Net Present Value and Ney Future Value of TPBenefits

[bakaryjatta]

Dear list members,

At great cost of telephone bills andISP charges I tried to keep up with the 
postings, hoping to find something practical beyond what I am doing myself 
right now.

Unfortunately I see long repetitions of previous posts and stuff that does 
not edify matters in the least, but rather confused what appeared to be a 
straight forward thing.

My retort is in my back yard. It is a drum with a fairly tight lid and a 
piece of pipe letting volatile gasses take over the initial firing in the 
firebox underneath. The drum is enclosed in a rock and soil and lime plaster 
wall. For a quick start I surrounded the drum with small branches or crop 
waste before covering the top with a scrap iron sheet with a gap for smoke 
to escape in the beginning. The drum costs money, the rest is labor.

The biomass is crop waste and or tree trimmings. Some material is up to 50 
mm thick and still chars all through. Like was stated on the list, the char 
appears to be about 40 %. After initial smoke, the volatiles take over and 
burn with a roaring sound. Sorry, no analysis of the off gasses, but I trust 
I am not a poluter beyond the normal CO2. With adequate investment the 
excess gas or heat can be utilized, not likely an easy option for most third 
world farmers.

Where does all the biomass come from? Plant it!  People still get rid of 
lots of it to clear roadsides and farms here. OTOH, I am planting more 
biomass every year and my soil is improving in the process. My mini climate 
is improving too as many of the trees retain their leaves during the dry 
season . Jatropha curcass is a soil improver and wind break. Not useful for 
char, but it makes great fuel oil for lamps and soap making. The oil cake 
makes good methane gas for cooking.  The digester effluent is mixed with the 
bio char before it put in the planting holes on the field.  Soil improver, 
energy and soil micro-organism inoculant.

Is it economic? What is the meaning of that? Maybe, when I get a good 
harvest, which depends on many other factors, like rain, etc. After all, 
food prices are going up because of increasing scarcity. Maybe some people 
think they can eat their economic gain in the form of money. During the last 
world war money could not buy food that was not there! You think the 
government is going to regulate food production to assure economic gain and 
sustainability? Or the market place will be regulating the climate in a 
timely fashion so that harvests will be reliable. My conclusion is that the 
real value is the food and other resources provided by the life of the plant 
springing from the soil.

Why am I doing this?  I think it is a usefull thing to do. There was a 
quotation that I recognized as true: 'The Spritual precedes the material'

The economic consideration will not bring a solution. It has in fact been 
the cause of the problem!

So, considering economic criteria, maybe no present value seen yet , but the 
net value will be having a future worth having at all. It is a choice and it 
better be a collective choice. If it does not do all as expected, do we lose 
anything?

Kind regards,

Bakary Jatta

Bwiam village, WR

The Gambia


>   1. Re: Net Present Value and Net Future Value of TPBenefits
>      (Greg and April)
>
>
>