Biochar benefits aplenty for rubber planter and workers

This is the title of an article by Dr Saman Dharmakeerthi in the July-August issue of Rubber Asia magazine. The article is available online here...

http://issuu.com/dhanampublications/docs/rubber-asia-july-august2013/69?e=3386873/4174718

There has been research activity in Sri Lanka for some time around the tea and rubber industries. Dr Dharmakeerthi hopes that this will lead to a local biochar interest group in the near future.

Haze, Slash&burn and palm oil plantations in Indonesia

I have posted a number of times on the haze issue that afflicts Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore on an annual basis (search on "haze" for 3 previous posts).  I recently discussed this subject with a senior executive from a major plantation company (lets call him Mazlan). This is how he described the situation in Sumatra to me (please excuse any over-simplification - I'm sure there may be many variations to the theme):

Major international palm oil plantation companies negotiate access to land (in Sumatra) with both state and federal authorities in Indonesia. They are granted initial 3-year concessions (I am not sure what criteria must be met in this period - but I assume it would relate to negotiating final agreements with all affected parties) prior to the major financial commitment involved in establishing the plantation and its required infrastructure.

A large plantation company will invariably be looking for large contiguous blocks of land under a concession but maybe only 50% of this land will be suitable for plantation conversion. The balance may be protected or physically unsuitable or under the control of existing small holders or villagers.  I have heard that land tenure and ownership is at the heart of the many problems associated with the rural poor in Indonesia. This issue was reinforced to me by Mazlan, who also claimed that many of these rural landless poor will seek to advantage themselves when major land deals are in progress by moving into the land concession blocks.

Mazlan points out that his company's practices strictly adhere to RSPO rules... there is no open burning on the land under their direct control. The burning is carried out by the existing land-holders, villagers or migrant poor. The plantation company has no powers or rights to enforce the 'no open burning' laws or rules. The people living within their concession areas can not be forcibly removed or controlled by the plantation company. This is the responsibility of the Indonesian government (be it local, regional or federal). I can not verify any of this but it does seem plausible.

I can easily imagine the difficulties faced by government authorities in trying to enforce any burning ban. I can also understand the position of the rural poor in trying to clear land quickly for planting, enhance their poor soil fertility with ash, retain claim over land by clearing or even to just high-lighting their remote, marginal existence by sending smoke signals to the urban wealthy.
I would like to offer up a long term solution (and no surprise, it has biochar at it heart)...

Nutrient management is one of the major cost components for a palm oil plantation. This is due to the inherently poor fertility of most tropical soils and the intensive extractive nature of plantation agriculture. Biochar offers the possibility for a revolution in nutrient use efficiency in tropical agriculture along with many other proven soil and water holding benefits. Some plantation companies are starting to take notice and have begun some small scale research trials (much more could and should be done).

Lets take a small leap of faith here and assume biochar can replace some of the mineral fertilizers that are regularly applied to the plantation palms. This gives biochar an economic value, creating the potential for local biochar production and its associated supply chain developing within and around the plantation. Biomass will be too valuable to just burn - it will become the feedstock for the plantation-driven local biochar production industry. Training and equipping local people to produce biochar is relatively simple but the incentive to work must be based on a real economic value of the product. Lets assume a biochar value similar to urea... say $US300/T.  One man with a simple 200L drum TLUD could earn $30/day? My list of the benefits...

• Local communities

1. Work, income and all of the poverty reduction, social cohesion and local development that comes with economic stability.
2. Improved health - they are on the haze front line.
3. Sustainable agricultural practices that come with biochar.

• Plantation companies

1. All the potential benefits that can come with biochar in the soil (economic and environmental)... reduced fertilizer requirements, improved crop productivity, improved water holding capacity, improved plant & soil health, reduced carbon footprint (from fertilizer transport, carbon sequestration, GHG emissions reductions), reduced nutrient & sediment erosion leading to better water quality. 
2. A local biochar industry will help meet CSR and TBL (economic, social, environmental reporting) goals including carbon sequestration.
3. Plantation biomass can be directed toward biochar at a later stage, after the costs, benefits & risks have been assessed. When large scale pyrolysis systems are integrated (CHP) into palm oil mills, many other benefits will flow to the plantation companies.

• Regional governments (and us!)

1. Haze reduction...
2. economic growth
3. carbon sequestration

Dr Christoph Steiner proposed a Slash&char alternative to the Slash&burn activities he studied in Brazil as part of his PhD thesis. His book may also offer some insights on biochar based solutions.

Effects of biochar on soil properties and erosion potential in a highly weathered soil

Abstract

Highly weathered soils in humid Asia are characterized by low soil fertility and high soil erosion potential. This study evaluates the influences of biochar made from the waste wood of white lead trees (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit) on the physicochemical and biological properties of long-term cultivated, acidic Ultisol. This study used three application rates (0%, 2.5%, and 5% (wt/wt)) of the biochar with an incubation time of 105 d for all cases. Soils were collected at 21 d, 42 d, 63 d, 84 d and 105 d during the incubation period to evaluate changes in soil properties over time. A simulated rainfall event (80 mm h^− 1) was performed to estimate soil loss for all treatments at the end of the incubation time. Experimental results indicate that applying biochar improved the physicochemical and biological properties of the highly weathered soils, including significant increases in soil pH from 3.9 to 5.1, cation exchange capacity from 7.41 to 10.8 cmol (+) kg^− 1, base cation percentage from 6.40 to 26.0%, and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) from 835 to 1262 mg kg^− 1. Compared with the control (i.e., no biochar), biochar application decreased bulk density from 1.4 to 1.1 Mg m^− 3, increased K_sat by 1.8 times and increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates from 2.6 cm to 4.0 cm. Incorporating biochar into the soil significantly reduced soil loss by 50% and 64% at 2.5% and 5% application rates, respectively, compared with the control. The formation of macroaggregates in the biochar-amended soils is the critical factor to improve soil erosion potential. Based on these results, a 5% application rate of biochar is considered as suitable for highly weathered soil because this application rate efficiently improves soil physiochemical properties and reduces soil loss.

Shih-Hao Jien^, ,
Chien-Sheng Wang
Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan

The full article is available here:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816213001604

Greenpeace accuses RSPO of selective investigation on forest fires

"Calling for more transparency, the environmental watchdog claims that two more RSPO members are guilty of forest fire practices other than the five palm oil companies scrutinised by the sustainable palm oil group."

Co/ http://www.eco-business.com/ 

NZ project funding for Eastern Indonesia (biochar project opportunity?)

The following announcement is currently on the NZ Government Electronic Tender System GETS. This looks like a great opportunity for a biochar related project... maybe based around TLUD stoves or community scale equipment such as Adam Retort. Please get in touch if your organization is interested or you know of a groups with the credentials and possible interest. I hope to be able to assist with finding local or NZ collaboration partners.

Design and implementation of an agriculture activity in Eastern Indonesia

"The New Zealand Aid Programme, acting through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is seeking registrations of interest (ROI) from suitably qualified and experienced organisations to partner with MFAT on the design and implementation of an agriculture activity that:
• improves economic opportunities for marginalised communities; and
• increases economic returns through improved agricultural productivity and/or agribusiness development
in one or more provinces in eastern Indonesia (Papua, West Papua, Maluku, North Maluku, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Nusa Tengara Barat).
MFAT’s indicative budget for this Activity is NZD4.5m over 3 years. Interested organisations will need to demonstrate experience of managing projects of this scale and MFAT will carry out due diligence during its procurement process to ensure that applicants have the capacity and capability to manage New Zealand government funding.
Further details on the work required and background on this Activity are contained in the attached ROI document.
Questions relating to this ROI must be received in writing to the official contact person by 12:00pm (NZ time) on Friday 12 July 2013."
Response date is 16 July - please let me know if you want a copy of the ROI document from the GETS site.
http://www.aid.govt.nz/where-we-work/asia/indonesia

British Biochar Foundation - conference videos

The British Biochar Foundation have generously provided video recordings on all presentations from their recent conference in Oxford. The conference was broadcast live as well... lets hope this is a new trend for remote conference attendance.

Characterization of Local Mill Rice Husk Charcoal and Its Effect on Compost Properties

This new publication on rice husk char application and testing can be added to the extensive list of research papers and interest in using these crop wastes as a biochar soil amendment. A search on this website for 'rice' will provide links to 14 previous posts related to the subject of RHC.
ABSTRACT
"Rice husk charcoal (RHC) is a by-product of rice processing mills which can befound in very large quantities in these mills. This industrial waste is largely unutilized, causing environmental pollution especially in the state of Kelantan. In order to increase its utilization, RHC was characterized and investigated for its potential in enhancing the composting process. Physico-chemical properties of RHC such as pH, nutrient content, ash content, CEC, adsorption kinetics, surface area, functional groups, surface structure and pore sizes were studied. The composting treatments were carried out by mixing 4% (wt/wt) and 6% wt/wt) RHC with organic substrates and with no RHC amended as control. Parameters such as daily temperature, CO2 flux, nutrient content, pH, moisture and total microbial count were measured during the composting process. Results showed that RHC is a highly alkaline material (pH 8.9) with a carbon content of 16% (wt/wt dry basis), CEC of 17cmol kg-1soil, BET surface area of 401 mg g-1 and a methylene blue Adsorption capacity of 38.8 mg g-1. The presence of C=O carboxyl-C, ketones and ester, aliphatic C=H, C=C benzene ring and C-H aromatic hydrogen suggests that RHC mainly comprises amorphous char, a random mixture of thermally altered molecules and aromatic polycondensates. The addition of RHC to organic matter accelerated the composting process through higher decomposition rates due to higher microbial population at the thermophilic stage with RHC acting as a bulking agent, as well as higher moisture and nutrient retention during composting. N losses were found to be lower with RHC composting."

Theeba, M.1*, Robert T. Bachmann2, Illani Z.I1, Zulkefli M1, Husni M.H.A3 and Samsuri A.W3
1Water and Soil Management Programme, Malaysian Agricultural Research Institute (MARDI) Persiaran UPM-MARDI, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Chemical and Bioengineering Technology (UNIKL-MICET), 78000 Alor Gajah Melaka, Malaysia
3Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia , 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaKeywords: Rice husk charcoal, composting, physico-chemical, decomposition, nutrient retention
http://www.msss.com.my/mjss/Full%20Text/Vol%2016/Theeba.pdf
(I got a link warning on the msss site which I ignored. But please contact me if you want a copy of the report by email)

tagging old posts

I've finally got around to going back through all my old posts to add tags (labels) for keyword searching - this works well for searches on location or subject.

Politicians blow their annual smoke over this year's slash & burn activities...

Name and shame companies behind haze: Singapore
"Singapore is calling on Indonesia to name the companies behind the illegal forest burning which has caused serious haze pollution this week across the Republic.

In a joint statement, both Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said they had spoken to their Indonesian counterparts to express their concern about the worsening haze situation.

Both Ministers had asked Indonesia to share the names of errant companies involved in illegal burning, as an Indonesian Forestry Ministry official had said that Malaysian and Singapore palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia may be responsible for starting the fires in Riau."

http://www.eco-business.com/news/name-and-shame-companies-behind-haze-singapore/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EB+June+19th+2013+Newsletter&utm_content=EB+June+19th+2013+Newsletter+Version+B+CID_6c288c8aa42ab5a5a9d0df6b463e32cf&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=READ%20FULL%20STORY

I think there are practical solutions for changing these polluting and wasteful land clearing practices (and assuming they are legal!). Managed trench combustion has been demonstrated by Nik Foidl in central & south America to produce biochar for localized soil amendment.

Previous posts on this issue...
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2011/10/regional-haze-issue-slash-char-solution.html
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2009/07/ibi-support-for-south-east-asian.html


New post on this issue...

How corruption is fuelling Singapore's haze

Sustainable Decentralized Water Treatment for Rural and Developing Communities Using Locally Generated Biochar Adsorbents

http://www.wcponline.com/pdf/October2012Kearns.pdf

A follow-up to previous post on Josh's work

Biochar making (Philippines) ... where are the TLUD's?

"With many Filipinos still dependent on agriculture, the government faces the challenge of reviving the sector that has posted sluggish growth over the past several years.

Agriculture is also suffering from a degraded environment partly caused by chemical use in farming.

At the first National Conference on Philippine Biochar on April 17, agriculture experts and government and private sector representatives proposed a way to improve soil fertility—biochar, or agricultural waste transformed into organic fertilizer.

The carbonized rice hull (CRH), a type of biochar, is an example of a product of the partial burning of rice hull. Instead of turning the outermost cover of rice grains into waste, it can be carbonized and turned into soil fertilizer. ...."

http://opinion.inquirer.net/54617/biochar-making

The article includes a chart on production but is not a step-by-step guide and does not seem to include TLUD which I think is a serious omission. Energy utilization should be an important aspect for the future and TLUD is a great pathway via cook stoves.  A search on this site for "TLUD" pulls 4 reports... particular emphasis on the work of Paul Olivier in Vietnam (4Mar12 & 28Aug12).

More on Urban use of biochar

Looking past the unfortunate terminology describing biochar as "fertilizer", this article should be of interest for urban environments...

Chicago landscapers turn to ancient Amazonian fertilizer

... “It seemed like a beautifully ecological and non-chemical fertilizer,” Jacobs said. He had seen evidence that biochar improved agricultural productivity, but nothing for landscaping. “We took a leap of faith.” In the first year the honey locusts grew 24 inches, or about twice what Jacobs expected. Two years later, “They have continued to grow like... weeds,” he said.
Urban soils often lack carbon and struggle to sustain the diverse microbial communities that are essential to plant growth. Essentially charcoal, biochar is loaded with carbon and fosters microorganisms so well that it has been called a coral reef for soil.
Jacobs is quick to note that every site is different, and that his project isn’t a scientific study. But the cost difference is negligible, he said, and “something is making those trees grow better.” He now uses biochar in most of his downtown landscaping projects, as well as in his own garden. ...
http://www.wbez.org/blogs/chris-bentley/2013-06/chicago-landscapers-turn-ancient-amazonian-fertilizer-107645

Application of char products improves urban soil quality (Singapore)

This paper has appeared in Soil Use and Management, September 2012, 28, 329–336
Application of char products improves urban soil quality
Abstract
"Urban soils are a key component of the urban ecosystem but little research has considered their quality and management. The use of char or partially combusted char products as a soil amendment is becoming popular worldwide because of perceived benefits to fertility and the potential for increasing carbon sequestration. In this study, we assessed the effect of applying coarse and fine char material on the quality of four different types of soil-based root-zone mixes typically used for turfgrass and general landscaping in Singapore: clay loam soil, approved soil mix (ASM, 3 soil:2 compost:1 sand), 50:50 (sand ⁄soil) and 75:25 (sand ⁄soil). Char briquettes made from sawdust were mixed thoroughly at rates of 25, 50 and 75% by volume with the soil mixes. Results showed that addition of char (both coarse and fine) significantly enhanced the carbon content of the mixes, with the largest increase being associated with the 50% and 75% additions. Soil nutrients (total N, extractable P, K, Ca and Mg) and mean weight diameter of aggregates were also significantly increased following the application of char. The clay loam and the 50:50 and 75:25 soil mixes were more responsive to the addition of char than was ASM."

S. Ghosh(1,2), D.Yeo(3), B.Wilson(2,4) & L.F.Ow(1)
1 - Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology, National Parks Board, Singapore 259569, Singapore,
2 - School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia,
3 - Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore, and
4 - Office of Environment and Heritage, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia

Biochar increases biogas production in a batch digester charged with cattle manure (Lao PDR)

Abstract
"Two in vitro incubation experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that biochar would serve as support media for biofilm development in a biodigester and would as a result increase the yield of biogas whether added separately or enclosed in a nylon bag The treatments in experiment 1 were: control (no biochar), biochar added at 1% of the substrate DM in the biodigester, biochar added at 3% of the substrate DM in the biodigester. The substrate was fresh manure from cattle fed dried cassava root, fresh cassava foliage and urea. Proportions of water and manure were arranged so that the manure provided 5% of the solids in the biodigester. Gas production was measured daily over the fermentation period of 30 days; methane in the gas was measured after 21 and 28 days. In experiment 2, a 2*2 factorial arrangement with 4 replications was used to compare level of biochar: 1% of solids in the digester or none; and presence or absence of a cloth bag in the biodigester. The fermentation was followed over 21 days with daily measurement of gas production and content of methane in the gas at the end of the fermentation.

In experiment 1, incorporation of 1% (DM basis) of biochar in the biodigester increased gas production by 31% after 30 days of continuous fermentation; there were no benefits from increasing the biochar to 3% of the substrate DM. The methane content of the gas increased with the duration of the fermentation (24% higher at 28 compared with 21 days) but was not affected by the presence of biochar in the incubation medium. In experiment 2, adding 1% of biochar (DM basis) to the substrate increased gas production by 35%, reduced methane content of the gas by 8%, increased the DM solubilized (by 2%) and increased methane production per unit substrate solubilized by 25%. Presence of the cloth bag increased gas production when it also contained biochar but decreased it when added to the biodigester without biochar. There was a similar interaction for methane produced per unit substrate solubilized."
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd24/12/sang24212.htm?goback=.gde_2446475_member_243421682

Hawaii Biochar Products Signs Historical Memorandum of Understanding (Vietnam)

Activity in Vietnam...
"Hawaii Biochar Products, a Puna, Hawaii based company will participate in a Vietnam Biochar industry testbed and training program. The program will further their mission to provide solutions for sustainable agriculture using organic materials and environmentally friendly processes."

"Together, they will support project proposals that create and strengthen a Vietnam biochar industry and related energy, policy, and training infrastructure matching CERED's leadership in climate change and sustainable agricultural practices and policy; Larta Institute Asia Pacific's network of expertise and contacts, project management and subject matter expertise; Hawaii Biochar's experience and technology utilization and network of technology sources; and EcoFarm's working knowledge of sustainable agricultural programs in Vietnam,..."
http://www.prlog.org/12131112-hawaii-biochar-products-signs-historical-memorandum-of-understanding.html