At last there is some movement in the results of the famous challenge that Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore initiated to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as well as other greenhouse gases.One of the companies is from North America.
Here is the link--- http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/150133
Ken Bourne.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
BIO-CHAR retains water in agricultural soil.
BIO-CHAR retains water in agricultural soil.
This link will take you to an article about the use of bio-char to retain soil moisture.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/read/using_biochar_to_boost_soil_moisture-81119
Of course this is true! But there are so many more benefits of bio-char that I had to write a comment! Here is what I wrote---
The fact that bio-char helps
Ken Bourne (not verified) | November 9, 2011 - 7:15pm
The fact that bio-char helps to retain moisture in a known fact! The benefits of bio-char as an agricultural amendment are ancient history,e.g. terra preta. What we need is for some brave scientist, who is not funded by international chemical companies,to start telling the truth.
The world is inundated with problems that politicians are reluctant to cure. Waste, pollution, water shortage, food shortage, diseases and other chronic health problems, and worldwide unemployment.Power is also a massive problem especially where nuclear energy is concerned. Most of these have been caused, in my opinion, by over application of chemicals which reduces the amount of nutrients in food, and the products obtained from oil.
All of these problems can be reduced, if not eliminated by bio-char and organic food production. All organic waste can be turned into bio-char. So can sewage, farm manure, waste from sawmills and farms, forestry waste(slash piles) and the millions of trees that dead from pine beetle. Sewage would not pollute the oceans and our water would be filtered by the charcoal in agricultural and forestry soil. Chemical farmers must change over to organic farming and the large monoculture farms split up and returned back to family intensive farms. This would eliminate the food shortages as the food produced would be nutrient rich so that the consumption would be reduced considerably as, for example, one apple would contain the same nutrients as 5 of today's!(This would be the same as the nutrient value of food 60 years ago.) There would be far more available jobs, power would be created from the heat of creating the bio-char, and the resulting bio-oils and gases can be used for vehicular power instead of oil and natural gas. the actual process of creating bio-char creates more power than is used. Organic food production results in more food per acre than chemical farming and restores the top soil that farmers have nearly eliminated. This would also reduce the amount of diseases that are caused by our immune systems being compromised, and the associated health problems of obesity. (Good food would taste so good that children would eat it!) Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson realize the potential, lets hope that the people we elect and those that we pay to research come to the same conclusion soon.
Ken Bourne. BC. Canada
This link will take you to an article about the use of bio-char to retain soil moisture.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/read/using_biochar_to_boost_soil_moisture-81119
Of course this is true! But there are so many more benefits of bio-char that I had to write a comment! Here is what I wrote---
The fact that bio-char helps
Ken Bourne (not verified) | November 9, 2011 - 7:15pm
The fact that bio-char helps to retain moisture in a known fact! The benefits of bio-char as an agricultural amendment are ancient history,e.g. terra preta. What we need is for some brave scientist, who is not funded by international chemical companies,to start telling the truth.
The world is inundated with problems that politicians are reluctant to cure. Waste, pollution, water shortage, food shortage, diseases and other chronic health problems, and worldwide unemployment.Power is also a massive problem especially where nuclear energy is concerned. Most of these have been caused, in my opinion, by over application of chemicals which reduces the amount of nutrients in food, and the products obtained from oil.
All of these problems can be reduced, if not eliminated by bio-char and organic food production. All organic waste can be turned into bio-char. So can sewage, farm manure, waste from sawmills and farms, forestry waste(slash piles) and the millions of trees that dead from pine beetle. Sewage would not pollute the oceans and our water would be filtered by the charcoal in agricultural and forestry soil. Chemical farmers must change over to organic farming and the large monoculture farms split up and returned back to family intensive farms. This would eliminate the food shortages as the food produced would be nutrient rich so that the consumption would be reduced considerably as, for example, one apple would contain the same nutrients as 5 of today's!(This would be the same as the nutrient value of food 60 years ago.) There would be far more available jobs, power would be created from the heat of creating the bio-char, and the resulting bio-oils and gases can be used for vehicular power instead of oil and natural gas. the actual process of creating bio-char creates more power than is used. Organic food production results in more food per acre than chemical farming and restores the top soil that farmers have nearly eliminated. This would also reduce the amount of diseases that are caused by our immune systems being compromised, and the associated health problems of obesity. (Good food would taste so good that children would eat it!) Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson realize the potential, lets hope that the people we elect and those that we pay to research come to the same conclusion soon.
Ken Bourne. BC. Canada
Friday, October 14, 2011
Bio-char TLUD stove- my newly built effort- works perfectly!
On my 5 acres I have lots of stuff lying around ( some day I will use it!) so finding a few 55 gallon barrels was easy! The stove took about 3 hours to build- here are some pictures of the results.
On this barrel I had to drill 40 holes for the updraft effect. This was quite tedious but not difficult.
This is the afterburner/adapter that goes on top of the first barrel.
This is the completed stove ready to be filled with wood waste and produce bio-char!
This is one wheelbarrow load of kindling cut from some slabs from a local mill.
Nearly full with added twigs- when completely full I will light a fire on the top- let it burn to cinders- rake it over the top of the fuel wood waste- put on the afterburner and the chimney and make bio-char.
After all the hard work- perfect results! Not only an addition to my soil but a fuel for my forge as well!
On this barrel I had to drill 40 holes for the updraft effect. This was quite tedious but not difficult.
This is the afterburner/adapter that goes on top of the first barrel.
This is the completed stove ready to be filled with wood waste and produce bio-char!
This is one wheelbarrow load of kindling cut from some slabs from a local mill.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Effects of Bio-char on the soil.
Here is a comment I made on the article on Michigan Bio-char site--
Ken Bourne says:
Ken Bourne says:
There is no doubt that Bio-char is beneficial to the soil. However it is my experience that the most benefit is obtained when added to good organic soil after the bio-char has been inoculated with a tea made from a good compost, aged manure or from worm castings that contain a myriad of microbes. I would also stress that the adding of chemical fertilizer to soil that contains bio-char would be detrimental as that action would kill the microbes that are extracting the nutrients and feeding the plants! The benefits of bio-char are the effects that it has on the microbes in organic soil and the increase in the available nutrients so this results in bigger, stronger and healthier plants.
Ken Bourne
BC Canada
and here is the link to the article------- http://michiganbiochar.com/?p=678
Ken Bourne
BC Canada
and here is the link to the article------- http://michiganbiochar.com/?p=678
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