Biochar enhances animal growth

Effect of biochar on growth performance of local “Yellow” cattle fed ensiled cassava roots, fresh brewers’ grains and rice straw

Bounthavy Vongkhamchanh, T R Preston[1], R A Leng[2], Le Van An[3] and Duong Thanh Hai[3]

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Champasack University, Champasak, Lao PDR vongkhamchanhd@yahoo.com
1 Centro para la Investigación en Sistemas Sostenibles de Producción Agropecuaria (CIPAV), Carrera 25 No 6-62 Cali, Colombia
2 University of New England, Armidale NSW, Australia
3 Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, Vietnam

Abstract

In a 56-day experiment with 6 local Yellow cattle fed ensiled cassava root-urea, brewers’ grains and rice straw, there were indications (p=0.08) that after an initial 4-week adaptation to the diet, the cattle were growing faster when 1% of biochar (derived from rice husk) was incorporated in the diet.

TLUD street kitchen - Vietnam

​From: Paul Olivier
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2018 at 17:26
Subject: street kitchens in Vietnam

A street kitchen in Vietnam is generally a grave threat to human health and the environment. A street kitchen typically burns coal, charcoal or firewood. The lighting of these solid fuels usually emits a cloud of black smoke. When these solids fuels are combusted, high levels of benzene, particulate matter and CO stream forth in all directions. But perhaps, still worse, are the highly carcinogenic cooking oil fuels.

Near the University of Dalat, there are several street kitchens close to one another. They emit large quantities of cooking oil fumes. These cooking oil fumes combine with particulate matter and nitrogen compounds (emitted by sewage lines), and when these pollutants enter the human lung, they stick there and do not come out. People get sick, and people die.

Here you see jpegs of a 150 gasifier equipped with a 3-sided wind shield, a 40-liter biochar filter, a hood and a fan.

The 150 gasifier emits levels of benzene, particulate matter and CO well within the norms specified by the World Health Organization. When cooking oil fumes are pulled through the biochar filter by means of a small fan above the round hood, they stick to the biochar and not to the human lung.

The solid fuels typically used by street kitchens are costly. But with a gasifier, one has high-grade heat at a profit, since the biochar pellets produced in the gasifier have a greater value than the raw pellets from which they are derived. In other words, one has high-grade heat at a profit.

When biochar is produced in a gasifier, dirty and highly-polluting biochar kilns are not needed. In Dalat I have seen biochar kilns that emit, day after day, huge clouds of smoke.

Gasifiers can be powered almost entirely by agricultural waste biomass, such as rice hulls and rice straw. To the extent that such waste biomass would be pelleted and used as gasifier fuel, the useless burning of this waste would not take place.

--

Paul A. Olivier PhD
27/2bis Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat, Vietnam

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

IBI Webinar on B4SS (Indonesia, Vietnam)

https://biochar-international.org/webinars-list/

Upcoming Webinars

IBI Educational Webinar Series: Biochar for Sustainable Soils (B4SS)

11/29/2018Presented by Ruy Anaya de la Rosa
Biochar projects spanning multiple countries are still relatively few and far between. There is much to learn from these types of multinational projects. IBI has invited Ruy Anaya de la Rosa, the Project Director from the recently concluded Biochar for Sustainable Soils (B4SS) to discuss lessons learned, challenges and best practices from his experiences collaborating biochar projects teams in China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Peru and Vietnam.
B4SS was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the Land Degradation Focal Area in the GEF-5 Strategies.  The objective of the B4SS was to demonstrate and promote the adoption of sustainable land management practices involving the use of innovative organic amendments, based on biochar, that improve the capture and efficient use of nutrients, and enhance productivity, improve climate resilience, support rural livelihoods, and contribute to watershed management. A key goal was to promote the diffusion and successful adoption of biochar techniques among B4SS partner countries and beyond.
The project was focused on collating knowledge generated through the implementation of the targeted biochar demonstration projects. Awareness and improved understanding amongst smallholders, including women’s groups, and resource managers about the most effective biochar formulations and application rates to improve soil functions and reduce land degradation, will be created and shared among stakeholders. This integrated global approach to advance the knowledge on the use of biochar for SLM also conveyed other messages to farming communities mainly interested in soil improvement.

Cost?
Free to IBI Members or $40 for non-members. (Not a member yet? Click here to join and get webinars free for a year, and lots of other benefits!)  Registration includes access to the slides and a recording of the webinar.

To Register:
Non-members may register here for a $40 fee.  If you are a member and are expecting to access the webinar for free, please log in first and return to this page for the members registration link and code to appear. 

For more information:
For more information or if you have any questions about registration please email Caroline Peat at cpeat@ttcorp.com.  Want to become an IBI member and have access to all recorded webinars?  Visit our membership page to help support IBI.

B4SS at ANZBC18

Dr Ruy Anaya de la Rosa was at the recent ANZBC18 (previous post) and presented on Biochar 4 Sustainable Soils (B4SS) project. See tag below for previous posts.

Ruy's presentation starts at page 47.

https://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/18-039.pdf

Sustainable soil solutions in Vietnam - another B4SS report

 https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/waste-not-want-not

RFP for biochar consultants in Vietnam

https://vietnam.rikolto.org/en/news/consultancy-biochar-experts

"Rikolto in Vietnam (previously VECO Vietnam) is a member of Rikolto, an international NGO with its International Office in Leuven, Belgium. Rikolto’s mission is to enable and support smallholder farmers to take up their role in rural poverty alleviation and to contribute to feeding a growing world population in a sustainable way. Rikolto is currently implementing the 2017-2021 programme “Supporting Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain Development Benefiting Smallholder Farmers in Vietnam” with a focus on vegetable and rice value chains.

In April 2018, Rikolto started implementing the project “Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Rice Production in An Giang Province, Vietnam, through Alternate Wetting and Drying and Biochar Production”. This project is a first step to making our target rice value chains more environmentally-friendly and climate-smart. As part of this project, we are looking for a (team of) consultant(s) to assess the feasibility of transforming rice waste into biochar and market it."

Biochar research from Vietnam - full PDF

Application of Biochar from coconut shells to different soils in Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam

Tran Thi Tu(1), Morihiro Maeda(2), Le Van Thang(1), Nguyen Dang Hai(1), Tran Dang Bao Thuyen(1)
1) Institute of Resources, Environment and Biotechnology - Hue University, Vietnam
2) Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University, Japan

CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
"We examined the effect of biochar application to different soils on crop growth, phosphorus and nitrogen balances under greenhouse conditions in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. Results showed that : (1) Komatsuna growth in sandy soil less than clay and organic soils. Biochar improved crop yield in clay and organic soils, but it did not improve in sandy soil. (2) Biochar increased P and N uptake in leaves and roots in clay and organic soils. (3) Biochar reduced P leaching; furthermore biochar reduced TN leaching in organic soil. Besides, biochar reduced NO3-N leaching in clay and organic soils. We further study the N dynamics in soil treated with biochar materials."

Biochar in Vietnam - IBI report

A review of current biochar status in Vietnam

by Tran Thi Thu Hien

"Vietnam, an agricultural country, is the third largest in Southeast Asia region in terms of biochar potential. Each year, total biomass production from wood industry and crop cultivation is about 118 tons (Table 1), which is the mainly primary source of biochar feedstocks (Stefan Jirka, 2014). In recent years, the awareness about biochar benefits of Vietnamese people is increasing following to a global trend  as more large scale  field studies show the benefits of biochar use. ..."

 

B4SS visit to Thai Nguyen, Vietnam (August 2017)

Visit to Thai Nguyen (August 2017) - Biochar for Sustainable Soils

Biochar project funding opportunity - extended deadline

CfP-8 Proposal Preparation Support the deadline for submission of proposals of CfP-8 has been extended to 31 August 2017. Please contact us at your convenience if you require guidance and assistance in preparing your project proposal in a a professional way. CALL-FOR-PROPSALS - CFP-8 EEP Mekong Programme The Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with the Mekong Region - EEP Mekong, funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, aims to improve access to sustainable energy in the EEP Mekong partner countries Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. This Call-for-Proposals (CfP-8) is aiming at both Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and private sector companies in clean energy to propose projects.  CSO can propose pilot projects on a smaller scale whereas private sector projects should be close to commercial maturity and have potential for scaling-up. Minimum project value for both applications (CSO and private sector) is Euro 250,000. CSO projects can be funded (grant) of up to 60% of project value. Private sector projects can receive project grant support of up to Euro 1,000,000 depending on the project size and the level of verifiable self-financing of the project developer. EEP Mekong is inviting CfP applications in only one step as Full Project Proposals. To be eligible, projects have to be implemented in one or more of the EEP Mekong partner countries - Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The programme developers have to be registered in one or more of the above partner countries or Finland. Interested project developers are requested to submit their Project proposal online through the link provided at EEP Mekong website www.eepmekong.orgon or before 31 August 2017, at 16:00 hrs, Vientiane time. For detailed information about EEP Mekong programme and how to apply for project funding (CfP-8), please visit www.eepmekong.org or contact Bernhard Meyhöfer, Programme Manager    bernhard.meyhofer@eepmekong.org or Cosme de Arana, Business Development Expert  cosme.arana@eepmekong.org

http://www.eepmekong.org/

B4SS have been active in Indonesia & Vietnam

Check out B4SS activities in Vietnam and Indonesia.

​

From: Ruy Korscha Anaya de la Rosa korscha@gmail.com [biochar] 
Date: 13 July 2017 at 16:17
Subject: [biochar] B4SS Adventure Experience in Peru
To: biochar@yahoogroups.com

Starfish's Biochar for Sustainable Soils (B4SS) project is entering its final year and things are getting really exciting. The results of the last 2-3 years of research are coming in and our focus is now shifting to sharing this practical and important knowledge. Check it out and you could win a trip to Peru!

http://biochar.international/peru-trip
Dr Ruy Anaya de la Rosa
Project Director | Biochar for Sustainable Soils
  a collaboration of Starfish Initiatives
/

__._,_.___

Regional biochar training program?

Is there an opportunity here for a regional biochar training program.
This could bring expertise to support local biochar supporters, groups or NGO's.
It should also be a great opportunity for mature CHAB technology demonstration projects.
Your feedback / ideas welcome.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: EEP Mekong Programme <rcu@eepmekong.org>
Date: 29 May 2017 at 16:52
Subject: NEW CALL-FOR-PROPOSAL CFP-8 EEP MEKONG PROGRAMME
To: febiochar@gmail.com

NEW    CALL-FOR-PROPSALS - CFP-8                 EEP Mekong Programme   The Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with theMekong Region - EEP Mekong, funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, aims to improve access to sustainable energy in the EEP Mekong partner countries Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. This Call-for-Proposals (CfP-8) is aiming at both Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and private sector companies in clean energy to propose projects.  CSO can propose pilot projects on a smaller scale whereas private sector projects should be close to commercial maturity and have potential for scaling-up. Minimum project value for both applications (CSO and private sector) is Euro 250,000. CSO projects can be funded (grant) of up to 60% of project value. Private sector projects can receive project grant support of up to Euro 1,000,000 depending on the project size and the level of verifiable self-financing of the project developer. EEP Mekong is inviting CfP applications in only one step as Full Project Proposals. To be eligible, projects have to be implemented in one or more of the EEP Mekong partner countries - Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The programme developers have to be registered in one or more of the above partner countries or Finland. Interested project developers are requested to submit their Project proposal online through the link provided at EEP Mekong websitewww.eepmekong.org on or before 30 June 2017, at 16:00 hrs,Vientiane time. For detailed information about EEP Mekong programme and how to apply for project funding (CfP-8), please visit www.eepmekong.org or contact Bernhard Meyhöfer, Programme Manager   bernhard.meyhofer@eepmekong.org or Cosme de Arana, Business Development Expert cosme.arana@eepmekong.org

Paul Olivier shares his wisdom from Vietnam

Paul shares more of his experience and wisdom to help connect the dots on the cascading use of biochar...

​---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Olivier
Date: 5 May 2017 at 13:42
Subject: on biochar and how its made

Biochar in a fermentation mix provides surface area for the formation of biofilm by fermentation microbes, and it enhances the efficiency of the fermentation process. When poultry and animals eat fermented biomass containing biochar, biochar helps to prevent the volatilization of N-compounds from fecal matter. When biochar is incorporated into animal bedding, biochar helps to prevent the escape of N-compounds from urine that flows into the bedding. When poultry and animals eat fermented feed containing biochar, biochar provides surface area for their gut microbes and enhances poultry and animal growth. When black soldier fly larvae eat the fresh fecal matter of poultry and animals containing biochar, biochar provides surface area for their gut microbes and accelerates larval growth. When red worms eat larval residue containing biochar, biochar provides surface area for their gut microbes and accelerates red worm growth. When vermicompost is formed in the presence of biochar, the surface activation of the biochar takes place. Vermicompost is rich in humic and fulvic acids that effect biochar activation. Vermicompost formed in the presence of biochar is, undoubtedly, the finest fertilizer that exists.

When vermicompost with biochar makes its way into the soil, biochar retains moisture and provides surface area for the proliferation of AM fungi that shuffle nutrients to plants. Biochar provides surface area to many other beneficial soil microbes, such as N-fixing and P-solubilizing microbes. In this context, the growth of fruit and vegetables can increase anywhere from 30% to 400% relative to soil fertilized with chemical fertilizers. As indigenous earthworms ingest biochar and transport it deep down into the soil, biochar is made available to additional groups of soil microbes that enhance the growth of deep-rooted plants such as orchard trees. The idea of putting biochar directly in the soil is somewhat short-sighted, since biochar can fulfill so many important functions before it makes its way into the soil. Biochar should always be understood in terms of its cascading multi-functionality.

Furthermore, the idea of making biochar in dedicated kilns where all of the gas and heat get wasted is also short-sighted. The demand for high-grade heat is enormous, and insofar as possible (even in developed countries), high-grade heat should not be produced from fossil fuels, electricity or the combustion of woody biomass. As one cooks a meal or boils water, one should be making biochar. As one dries, parches or roasts agricultural products, one should be making biochar. As one fry-cooks waste biomass or co-cropped biomass into feed, one should be making biochar. As one distills alcohol or essential oils, one should be making biochar. As one keeps houses and greenhouses warm in winter time, one should be making biochar. As one boils bone to make soup broth, one can make an extraordinary phosphorous-enriched biochar using pellets made from biomass and finely ground boiled bone derived from a previous boiling of bone. One can make broth and bone char/biochar at the same time. Bone char/biochar can be incorporated into a fermentation mix to enhance the fermentation process as well as the nutrient value of the fermented feed and all that cascades down from it. The list of such combined processes goes on and on.

Since biochar adds value at each step in a cascade, since biochar is worth more than the biomass from which it is derived, one has high-grade heat at a cost less than zero. High-grade heat is a by-product of making biochar, and biochar is a by-product of making high-grade heat. Why focus only on the production of high-grade heat as in the direct combustion of biomass? Or why focus only on the production of biochar in biochar kilns? In one simple process, preferably a low-cost batch process, one has both.

In conclusion, we should try to view biochar from the point of view of its cascading multi-functionality, and we should make that biochar in combined heat and biochar systems.

Thanks.
Paul Olivier
--
Paul A. Olivier PhD
27/2bis Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam
Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://epwt.vn/en/home/

Paul Olivier in Vietnam - gasifier dome

Paul Olivier has shared some of his stove development work... great looking photos of his stoves...

​---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Olivier
Date: 1 April 2017 at 20:09
Subject: nichrome wire mesh dome
To: Paul Olivier

I took a long time for the nichrome wire mesh to arrive from China.

And it took a long time for the shop to make the mold to make the dome.

The dome in operation with a pot (100 gasifier) looks like this:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Pictures/029.JPG

Here you see it without the pot:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Pictures/031.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Pictures/032.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Pictures/033.JPG

After a burn, there is no smell.

The pot does not blacken.

The dome does not change color after a burn.

Here you see the dome after 5 burns:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/102%20Gasifier/Pictures/030.JPG

It looks like it was never used.

Ordinary 304 stainless steel changes color after one burn.

Nichrome stays the same.

Nichrome is special.

Nichrome does not change shape and keeps its original form.

The wire diameter is 0.20 mm.
The wire openings are 0.64 mm.
The open area of the wire mesh is greater than 58%.

Tomorrow Truc Duong will do some more tests.

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/

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/

Kontiki biochar production in Vietnam

My thanks to Prof. Stephen Joseph for the following...

Producing biochar in kontiki in monsoon season lr2 from Trevor Richards

Biochar use for climate-change mitigation in rice cropping systems (Vietnam)

My thanks to Prof. Stephen Joseph who has sent me the following publication. Please let me know if you would like me to forward a copy to you...

Biochar use for climate-change mitigation in rice cropping systems

abstract 

This study estimated the climate change effects of alternative rice production systems in North Vietnam with different residue management options, using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The traditional practice of open burning of residues (System A) was compared with the alternative of converting residues to biochar, which was returned to the same land area from which the residues were obtained (System B). Pyrolytic cook-stoves and drum ovens were assumed to be used by households to produce biochar, and the cook-stoves produced heat energy for cooking. The annual rate of biochar applied was determined by the amount of biochar produced from the straw and husk available. We assumed that agronomic effects of biochar increased with each annual biochar application until reaching maximum benefits at 18 Mg ha 1 , which takes eight years to be produced in pyrolytic cook-stoves and drum ovens. The largest contributor to the carbon footprint of rice at the mill gate, was CH4 emissions from soil, in both systems. Biochar addition reduced the carbon footprint of spring rice and summer rice by 26% and 14% respectively, compared with System A, in the first year of application. These values substantially increased to 49% and 38% after eight years of biochar addition. The climate effect of System B was most sensitive to the assumed suppression of soil CH4 emissions due to biochar application.

 Ali Mohammadi a, * , Annette Cowie a, b , Thi Lan Anh Mai c , Ruy Anaya de la Rosa a , Paul Kristiansen a , Miguel Brandao~ d , Stephen Joseph a, e, f

a School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia 
b NSW Department of Primary Industries, Beef Industry Centre, Trevenna Rd., Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia 
c Thai Nguyen University of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University, Thai Nguyen Province, Viet Nam 
d Division of Industrial Ecology, Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering (SEED), School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden 
e Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia 
f School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Biochar & Agent Orange

Discussion here on biochar solutions for Agent Orange contamination in Vietnam...
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soil-age/wyEdn2mpjaQ

More from Dr Paul Olivier in Vietnam

Transforming Biodegradable Waste, Integrating Plant and Animal Systems, Deindustrializing Agriculture, Reducing Carbon Emissions, Sequestering Carbon, Decommodifying Food and Restoring Biodiversity

By Dr. Paul Olivier, Dr. Nguyen Van Ket and Todd Hyman 

                  June 7, 2016                                       

This essay has seven major themes, as its title indicates. Small farmers transform biodegradable waste at the highest possible level, they closely integrate plant and animal systems, and they deindustrialize the production of food. These three strategies allow them to play a major role in reducing carbon emissions and in sequestering carbon. Furthermore, small farmers participate in co-ops that share and integrate waste resources and waste technologies. These co-ops also provide education and training, and they take care of all aspects of selling to consumers. With all of these elements in place, small farmers are then able to de-commodify the sale of food. Food is not just another commodity to be traded in the global marketplace. The market value of food should never be allowed to override broader issues relating to food safety, food security, the health of the environment and the biodiversity of our planet.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/Paper/Summaries/Summary.pdf

Biochar is a frequent subject throughout this report.

100 Projects for the Climate

This French initiative is helping support a number of biochar related projects. Three projects in the SEA region are revealed from a search on 'biochar' (nine in total)...
http://www.100projetspourleclimat.gouv.fr/en/#filters

Philippines: cook stoves
http://www.100projetspourleclimat.gouv.fr/en/projects/543-biocharintegratedsystem

Vietnam: gasifier technology
http://www.100projetspourleclimat.gouv.fr/en/projects/461-cu-khoi-guava-gasifier

Philippines: Project Eden
http://www.100projetspourleclimat.gouv.fr/en/projects/36-project-eden

They can all benefit from your votes...