[Terrapreta] Charcoal from tree bark

[Michael Bailes]

2008/5/19 Sunergy <Sunergy at starfibre.com.au>:

>  Waste bark is presumably also a problem in sawmills all around the world.
> Here's one solution:
>
>
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> http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/31/business/bgbark.php
>
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>
Another very interesting article thank you.
I despair seeing the vast ships full of Australian *native forest wood chips
* being shipped daily to Japan
the Japanese must be laughing all the way to the bank :(

Two points I found especially interesting
*First the simple way of making char*

> To produce charcoal dust, tree bark and other tree remains are laid at the
> bottom of a concrete "pool," which is 1.3 meters, or 4.3 feet, deep. After
> they are lit, another layer of scraps is put on top, obstructing the free
> passage of oxygen into the bottom layer. This slow process of burning causes
> the material to turn into charcoal instead of burning to ashes. This process
> is repeated multiple times until the entire pool is filled will the
> carbonized material.
>

*Second the energy value of char.*
As has been mentioned before on this forum Charcoal has an energy value
Some think this might rival the energy and ecological value of coal.
 (Perhaps not ecologically, if the above smoky production method was used)

> "A ton of coal costs about ¥8,000," he said, equivalent to $66. "By the
> energy value, the price should be ¥6,500 or so."
>
> But, he added, referring to the charcoal dust, "because of the
> environmental value-added it offers, it could potentially sell for ¥15,000."
>
> Shimazaki said his company was able to sell the dust for close to that
> price under the pilot program.
>
We should all hope that char does NOT stack up against coal as we will have
little for our farms /gardens/global warming mitigation uses.
*BEST Energies Australia* were hoping for AUD$150 ( c 100 Japanese Yen) a
metric tonne for pyrolised char to make their system economic.
That is before carbon credits. If you used green waste or manure that was
normally dumped into *methane producing *land fill some carbon credits
should flow to the process.
Anyone, with a spare AUD 5 million, want to help me set up a money-making
pyrolysis plant in Japan? :)

-- 
Michael the Archangel
"Politicians will never solve The Problem;
because they don't realise they are The Problem.".
-Robert ( Bob ) Parsons 1995
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