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Post by MagnetMan on Dec 17, 2009 12:28:09 GMT -5
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Post by MagnetMan on Dec 19, 2009 14:34:33 GMT -5
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Post by MagnetMan on Dec 20, 2009 12:07:03 GMT -5
Yesterday we put together a large charcoal kiln out of scrap metal, packed it with 40lbs of raw alfalfa and made 10 lbs of biochar. We will mix the charcoal 50/50 with leaf mulch for the spring vegetable garden.
The ratio of biomass to charcoal is even better than I thought
about 4 to 1
In cash terms that means one ton of alfalfa selling at $200 per ton when turned to biochar is worth $1200. (BioChar sells at $70 for a 30 lb bag.) And since the conversion process chars itself with its own released gasses, it costs nothing to produce but a couple of hours of labor - the net profit is almost $1000.
That is more than just a cool deal!
That is as hot as it gets!
We will construct a much bigger kilm soon, also out of scrap but this one with an added compression chamber that can store and redirect the gas releases,
We are currently producing a short video for Utube, which we taped during the initial combustion process we first did in our kitchen. There are plenty of other demo videos out there that show how to make bio-char - but this is the first one that shows the amazing amounts of oil-laden steam, nitrogen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen gasses trapped inside the raw bio mass - jetting out of the kiln under heat pressure. Enough fuel to char itsekf and then some.
This is probably the most productive way we will ever tap into stored solar energy!
It makes biochar, sequestrates the earth with replaced carbon, fertilizes the soil, grows better crops, and keeps the air and earth clean - all at the same time
The potential that our research foundation might be able at convert our entire valley ecosystem and its $200 million alfalfa agri-business into something far more sustainable
as well as five times more profitable makes the grant application to USDA almost a done deal as well as being a huge advert for the budding bioChar industry in general
There are billions of farm acres that need carbon sequestration as well as masses of excess energy for electricity
This win/win breakthrough on how to change the way we do business here in our own desert eco-system has made me realize more clearly how the whole environmental movement is stalled by the argument between business and idealism and how that can be solved.
In this experiment in Fish Lake Valley we will be showing that eco-management in a sustainable manner can be initiated without business disruption and even allow profits to soar to higher levels than previously imagined
I believe that sustainability without disruption may possibly be achieved in any and all industrialized ecosystems if idealists think more creatively and constructively about the motivational effect of bonuses and profits instead of asking for new taxes and sacrifices.
Idealists talking good business sense will shut up all the bull in Congress and get construction going faster than destruction
THAT, I believe, is the big New Age Deal!
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