Terra Preta - How to make the best Organic Gardening soil on the Planet?

4 per 1000 | Soils for food security and climate

Clearly, the acceptance and successful implementation of 4per1000 will lead to opportunities and valorisation of biochar...

Thailand workshop 18-20 February

Dates have now been fixed for the biochar workshop at Warm Heart.

Check out their Environmental Program here...
http://warmheartworldwide.org/biochar-research-environment/
A fantastic setting to learn about biochar.

Here is a link to the latest workshop flyer. Do get into touch with me or Evelind if you want to make a booking. Numbers are limited to about 15 and transport planning needs to be coordinated so please make contact soon if you are interested in finding out more on this.

FC Trough Char-Maker of Corrugated Roofing Sheets (CRS)

FC Trough Char-Maker of Corrugated Roofing Sheets (CRS)

This is a variant on WarmHeart system, previously linked here last October.

IBI Webinar - 30Jan

​---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 'Tom Miles' tmiles@trmiles.com [biochar]
Date: 14 January 2017 at 12:12
Subject: [biochar] Save the Date Jan 30 - IBI Webinar on Biochar Classification
To: biochar@yahoogroups.com

SAVE THE DATE: Jan 30th IBI is relaunching our Biochar Webinar series! Registration will be free for IBI Members & $40 for non-members. More details soon!

International Biochar Initiative – Educational Webinar Series

A Classification System for Biochars Applied to Soils

January 30^th, 2017 1:00 – 2:00pm E. T.

On January 30^th at 1pm ET (6PM UTC), the International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is relaunching its biochar education webinar series where you can interact with experts from around the globe about the latest research and developments on biochar, biochar production technologies, biochar business models and market opportunities.

First in the series is a webinar that reviews a biochar classification system aimed at optimizing the sustainable use of biochar in agriculture. This classification system builds upon biochar product definition and testing guidelines developed by IBI (Biochar Classification Tool) and the European Biochar Foundation, as well as including IBI’s methodology for carbon stability. This system enables stakeholders and commercial entities to identify the most suitable biochar to fulfil the requirements for a particular soil and/or land use. The potential effects of biochar in soils have been classified into five categories including: (i) carbon storage value, (ii) fertiliser value, (iii) liming value, (iv) particle-size, and (v) use in soil-less agriculture.

An interactive Q&A period will follow. You may submit your questions directly to the speakers during the event. Submit questions before the event to webinars@biochar-international.org.

When?
Date: January 30, 2017
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET (6:00-7:00 p.m. UTC)

Moderator: Kathleen Draper

Kathleen is a member of the IBI Board and Chair of IBI’s Information Hub.  She is also the US Director of the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Intelligence.  The Institute is an open source network focusing on beneficial carbon sequestration strategies which simultaneously provide economic development opportunities both in the developed and developing world. She is an editor and writer for The Biochar Journal, sponsored by the Ithaka Institute. Kathleen also works with various different universities and individuals on projects that are investigating the use of biochar in cement and other building and packaging products to develop products with lower embodied carbon which can be made from locally available organic waste.  She has written extensively about various topics related to biochar and is a co-author of the book “Terra Preta: How the World’s Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger”.

Presenter: Dr. Marta Camps

Marta is Associate Professor of Soil Science at Massey University (New Zealand) and the co-director of the New Zealand Biochar Research Centre. She has been a member of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (2013-2015) and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Biochar Initiative (2011-2015; vice-chair 2014; chair 2015). Marta studied Agricultural Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Lleida, Spain) and then received her MSc and PhD in Soil Science from the University of California, Davis. Previous to working at Massey University, she was a Senior Researcher - “Ramon y Cajal” (2003-2008) at NEIKER (Spain) and lecturer (1999-2003) at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

 

Biochar workshop in Thailand - early notice

I'm helping Warm Heart organise a 3-day workshop near Chiang Mai on biochar production and applications. More details will be provided soon, including the dates for the workshop but it will be toward the end of February.

A search on 'Warm Heart' on this blog will provide some context for the workshop. There is also some interesting video clips on their website that back-ground their community work in Phrao, Thailand.

Participant numbers will be limited to about 15 and workshop fees should be between US$100-150 pp, depending on numbers. Transport, accommodation options and meals are currently being arranged.

Please let me know if this is of interest to you. More soon.
Regards, Trevor
febiochar(at)gmail.com

Paul's TLUD update from Vietnam

Here is the latest from Paul Olivier in his stove work in Vietnam.

​---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Olivier
Date: 11 January 2017 at 14:37
Subject: a rewrite
To: Trevor Richards

I am updating a short essay on my gasifiers:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Gasification.pdf

In the essay I explain two features that have been added to my gasifiers (a burner dome and a new fan assembly).
Of course biochar is mentioned a lot in this essay.
If you share anything, only share the link to the essay, not a download.

I could have made the essay a lot longer to backup the main points in a more precise manner.
But I refer the reader to the longer paper:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Summary.pdf

Thanks.
Paul Olivier

--
Paul A. Olivier PhD
26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://www.epwt.net/

Singapore biochar workshop - 19 January!

I've only just got notice on this workshop today. It came together at NUS around visiting experts to their campus. They have room for more participants so do get in touch with Wei Cheng quickly, if you are interested...

"We cordially invite you to participate in the 2^nd Renewable Energy and Biochar Workshop on 19 Jan 2017.

Date                      : 19 Jan 2017 (Thursday)

Time                      : 9am – 12noon

Venue                  : NUS CREATE Tower lv15 seminar room (Directions)

Agenda                : Please refer to the attached flyer

We are honoured to have a few well-known overseas academic experts from China and Korea (see attached [dropbox link, TR] flyer for speakers’ profile) to share their research work and their views in this field.

Additionally, this workshop also aims to promote collaboration between industry and academia in areas including but not limited to renewable energy and biochar.

All are welcomed. Kindly RSVP by email to Mr. Wei Cheng Ng (erinwc(at)nus.edu.sg) by 16 Jan, 5pm.

Thank you and we look forward to your participation in the workshop.

Best Regards,

Wei Cheng Ng

On behalf of

Professor Chi-Hwa Wang

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585

Phone: (65) 6516-5079; Fax: (65) 6779-1936; E-mail: chewch(at)nus.edu.sg"

I've asked if sessions can be recorded or broadcast... they are looking into it but no guarantee on this.