Carbo-Fertil project and IBI biochar study tour to Austria June 2018

Biochar from food waste

I have a few Qs here...

• where does food waste best fit in a waste hierarchy? does it have better utility as animal feed or in a localised BSF industry
• what sort of H&MB numbers are going to work at scale, with all that water to remove? is hydrothermal carbonisation a better path for this type of waste stream
• recovering P from our industrial food and sewage systems is important... is biochar production going to become a key player?

Properties of Biochar from Anaerobically Digested Food Waste and Its Potential Use in Phosphorus Recovery and Soil Amendment

Shakib Alghashm ¹, Shiying Qian ¹, Yinfeng Hua ², Jian Wu ², Haitao Zhang ², Weihua Chen ² and Guoqing Shen ^1,*

¹School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, China

²Shanghai Liming Resources Reuse Co. Ltd., Shanghai 201209, China

^*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 14 November 2018 / Accepted: 5 December 2018 / Published: 10 December 2018

Abstract

The disposal of a large amount of biogas residue from anaerobically digested food waste is a burden for biogas production. The aim of this work was to investigate biogas residue as a potential feedstock, by preparing biochar at a broad pyrolysis temperature range of 400–900 °C. The properties required for phosphorus recovery and soil amendment application were evaluated. Biogas residue collected from an urban food waste treatment plant was pyrolyzed in a laboratory scale reactor. It was found that by increasing the pyrolysis temperature, the yield of biochar decreased and the pH, electrical conductivity and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area increased. The amount of phosphorus adsorbed onto the biogas residue-derived biochar (BRB) at 900 °C was larger than that of other kinds of biochar. The kinetics of phosphorus (P) adsorption on BRB could be described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The pot experiments showed that the resulting biochar is beneficial for the growth of cabbage. Overall, turning solid residue from the anaerobic digestion of food waste for biogas production into biochar shows good prospects as a means of solving the disposal problem, while creating new markets for food waste biogas residue.

PKS biochar from BEK system in Malaysia

I think I may have missed this Malaysian publication when it was released. You can read more about the BEK in Malaysia from the BEK tag below.
Link to PDF here

http://jopr.mpob.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/jopr2018inpress-haryati.pdf

Beyond the Trough - Thailand

​"Lots of people expressed interest in the post-trough, post-Kontiki, tench solution to making char in the field without water. Here's a really simple, two minute video shot using our original test trench. In a few months when the corn harvest is in, I'll shoot a more real one up in the mountains. For now, this will have to serve. It is not, as you will see, rocket science, and as long as you dig the trench during the rainy season, there's not much work involved."
Dr Micheal Shafer

Check out the "flame cap' tag for other contributions...

RHC-composting study from Malaysia

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

Solutions from the Jungle: The Tengkawang Factory

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.

EFB biochar, composting in Indonesia

Formulation of Biochar-Compost and Phosphate Solubilizing Fungi from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch to Improve Growth of Maize in an Ultisol of Central Kalimantan

Gusti Irya Ichriani ^{1, 2},  Syehfani Syehfani ³,  Yulia Nuraini ³,  Eko Handayanto ⁴  

ABSTRACT:

The efficiency of phosphorus uptake by plants in an Ultisol soil is very low because most of soil phosphorus is precipitated by Al and Fe. Oil palm empty fruit bunches can be used as basic materials of biochar and compost, and as sources of isolates of phosphate solubilizing fungi. This study was aimed to elucidate the effect of application of phosphate solubilizing fungi with biochar and compost generated from oil palm empty fruit bunches on growth and yield of maize an Ultisol of Central Kalimantan. This study consisted of two experiments. The first experiment was inoculation of four isolates of phosphate solubilizing fungi isolated from of oil palm empty fruit bunches, i.e. Acremonium (TB1), Aspergillus (TM7), Hymenella (TM1) and Neosartorya (TM8) to 'biocom' media (mixture of biochar and compost generated from oil palm empty fruit bunches) to obtain phosphate solubilizing fungi that can adapt to the media. In the second experiment, the best results in the first experiment were applied to an Ultisol soil planted with maize. The results showed that isolates that were best adapted to biocom media were Aspergillus-TB7 with 60:40 proportion (60% biochar + 40% compost) and Neosartorya-TM8 with 70:30 proportions (60% biochar + 40% compost). The application of the first experiment results to the second experiment showed that the application of biocom plus Neosartorya-TM8 (BTM) on an Ultisol soil significantly improved growth and yield of maize, as well as phosphorus uptake and efficiency of phosphorus uptake by maize.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:

Eko Handayanto   

Research Centre for Management of Degraded and Mining Lands, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran, Malang 65145, Indonesia

TLUD stoves in Bangladesh

The video below subtitles but I include it now because of the comments provided by Julian:

Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2018 20:30:58 -0400
From: Julien Winter
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves (stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org)
Cc: Mahbubul Islam, Dean Still, vhrapp
Subject: [Stoves] Short Documentary on TLUD and Biochar in Bangladesh (in Bangla)

Hi folks;
Here is a short doc on TLUDs and biochar in Bangladesh.  It is in Bangla,
but I am sure we can all understand the body language for 'migrating
pyrolytic front', 'cation exchange capacity', and 'sodium chloride'.

https://youtu.be/mxuVUV0_Des

The significance of this video is that Bangladesh is a nascent hot-spot of
TLUD and biochar research, because it is probably the most ideal country in
the World for these technologies: 3 crops per year, low organic matter
soils, 80% of population cooking with biomass,  >1000 people / km?,
impending loss of land to sea level rise, and plenty of scientists.

It is great the way this video includes both the university professors,
farmers and lots of women.  The CCDB project has collected data showing
that university professors increase the self-esteem of women TLUD users, so
it is recommended that professors should be applied liberally in the
countryside to increase cookstove acceptance.

I hope subtitles in English are forthcoming.

Cheers,
Julien.
--
Julien Winter, Cobourg, ON, CANADA

BBC coverage on biochar

Climate change: Five cheap ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere

 

Successful pot trials - rice, acid soils and biochar

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE & BIOLOGY

Effect of Rice-straw Biochar Application on Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Root Growth and Nitrogen Utilization in Acidified Paddy Soil

State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310006, P.R. China 
Rice Research Institute of Guizhou Province, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550006, P.R. China

Abstract

"Soil acidification and low nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency are serious problems in rice production. Biochar has the potential to provide a liming effect and strong nutrient adsorption, leading to soil improvement. This study was conducted to investigate specific root traits in rice and to assess the effect of rice-straw biochar amendment on nitrogen efficient utilization in acidified soil. Addition of 20 g kg-1biochar and washed biochar significantly promoted rice growth and the yield increased by over 35% and 24%, respectively, when compared with the control. Application of equivalent lime did not increase the rice yield in either low or high N treatments. Biochar application alleviated soil acidity and improved the available nutrient content. Biochar maintained a high available N during the N depletion period by regulating N adsorption and release in the acidified paddy soil. Biochar or washed biochar amendment was found to significantly improve root growth when compared with the control, particularly root mass and adventitious root length. However, application of equivalent lime only significantly promoted the growth of root system before panicle initiation stage. When compared with the liming effect, the adsorption properties of biochar provided a persistent effect in improving acidified soil. Further studies on long-term effects of biochar addition on crop growth as well as its behavior in soil are required in future."
© 2018 Friends Science Publishers

Ithaka newsletter: Biochar Journal articles

Dear Friends of Ithaka,
The prospects of climate change are so increasingly dire that there are times when it may seem inappropriate to celebrate a promising scientific advance or any other good news. Good news, however, is exactly what humanity needs at moments like this. And to produce good news, it helps to share them and to create examples that others might replicate.
One such bright spot in the dark is the inclusion of biochar and pyrogenic carbon capture & storage (PyCCS) into the recent IPCC special report. It took more than ten years of global biochar science, technology development and practice before it finally appeared serious and convincing enough to the world’s leading climate scientists to mention biochar-based carbon sequestration as a technology to consider. It may take another five years until policy makers discover and discuss this most promising solution to keep global warming in a range that may still sustain civilization in all regions where human culture prospered during the last millennia. Five more years for us to prepare the groundwork with sophisticated technology, understanding of mechanisms, sustainable certification, and valuable biochar based products. See linked below our extended comments and the decisive, biochar related passages from the new IPCC special report.
At Ithaka we have been hard at work on various other positive developments which we hope will provide inspiring examples such as the forest gardens with organic biochar-based fertilization that we set-up in Nepal. A local journalist, Abhaya Raj Joshi, recently visited one of the villages where more than 50,000 trees were planted and have been linked to a global carbon subscription model since 2015. He interviewed villagers on how the new climate farming methods have changed their lives and the village.
And last but not least, Kathleen’s new, updated white paper on using biochar in coffee production with lots of new success stories about using biochar in coffee production and processing from three different continents. Thanks to funding received by the Biochar for Sustainable Soils project, you can enjoy the complete white paper with open access.
The Ithaka team will be traveling to Cuba, India, China and the UN climate conference in Poland over the next months to continue with education, research, collaboration and in-field biochar initiatives. As always, we will share with you what we learn and what we believe may be of service to others. We always appreciate hearing about successes and lessons learned by others working collaboratively on biochar projects around the globe, please feel invited to share these with us.
Yours Hans-Peter and Kathleen

Biochar and PyCCS included as negative emission technology by the IPCC

by Hans-Peter Schmidt

Biochar was included for the first time as a promising negative emission technology (NET) in the new IPCC special report. While the special report’s overall message was alarming, the inclusion of biochar is an important milestone for mitigating climate change and fostering research on pyrogenic carbon. We provide here a short summary on pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS) and relevant excerpts from the new IPCC special report with regards to PyCCS and biochar.
... mehr

Carbon sequestration to rejuvenate land, water and economy in Nepal

by Abhaya Raj Joshi

Three years after the first 10,000 forest garden trees were planted in a Nepali mountain village and were linked to a new type of private carbon trading scheme, the village received the visit of a young journalist from a national newspaper. His particular insights into the Nepali way of life and policy, make his report about this acclaimed pilot project combining organic biochar based fertilization, mixed tree garden plantation, water retenition, soil conservation, and crop value chain creation a passionate critic.
... mehr

Pyrogenic carbon capture and storage

In this review, we show that pyrolytic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS) can aspire for carbon sequestration efficiencies of >70%, which is shown to be an important threshold to allow PyCCS to become a relevant negative emission technology. Prolonged residence times of pyrogenic carbon can be generated (a) within the terrestrial biosphere including the agricultural use of biochar; (b) within advanced bio‐based materials as long as they are not oxidized (biochar, bio‐oil); and (c) within suitable geological deposits (bio‐oil and CO2 from permanent pyrogas oxidation).
... mehr

Biochar & Coffee White Paper

by Kathleen Draper

An increasing number of coffee growers use biochar to improve soil fertility and resiliency, reduce dependence on fertilizers, achieve better survival rates for young plants, increase disease resistance and optimize residue management. New peer reviewed information on how biochar can help mitigate coffee rust (roya) and other diseases is presented in addition to benefits related to soil fertility, composting, effluent filtration, renewable energy production, residue management and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire coffee supply chain. ... mehr (<

Biochar & low fertility soils - meta-analysis

Biochar application to low fertility soils: A review of current status, and future prospects

Highlights

• Biochar has potential to be the best management practice for low fertility soils.

• Biochar coating with organic materials can result in enhanced crop nutrient supply.

• Biochar may accelerate the composting process and improve the end-product quality.

• The influence of biochar varies strongly according to the types of feedstock/soil.

Abstract

Rapid industrial development and human activities have caused a degradation of soil quality and fertility. There is increasing interest in rehabilitating low fertility soils to improve crop yield and sustainability. Biochar, a carbonaceous material intentionally produced from biomass, is widely used as an amendment to improve soil fertility by retaining nutrients and, potentially, enhancing nutrient bioavailability. But, biochar is not a simple carbon material with uniform properties, so appropriate biochar selection must consider soil type and target crop. In this respect, many recent studies have evaluated several modification methods to maximize the effectiveness of biochar such as optimizing the pyrolysis process, mixing with other soil amendments, composting with other additives, activating by physicochemical processes, and coating with other organic materials. However, the economic feasibility of biochar application cannot be neglected. Strategies for reducing biochar losses and its application costs, and increasing its use efficiency need to be developed. This review synthesized current understanding and introduces holistic and practical approaches for biochar application to low fertility soils, with consideration of economic aspects.

Nice article on biochar 'state of play'

 Well written summary on biochar IMO. We need to see more these sort of articles in local and regional flavor

NCAT Specialist Pens Biochar Article

October 19, 2018

NCAT’s own Jeff Schahczenski, agriculture and economics specialist, published an article about biochar and organic agriculture that was featured in the Organic Farmer magazine. Jeff writes that biochar in agriculture has become a “movement” but points out the difficulties in even establishing a definition for it.
“The range of topics and issues surrounding biochar are immense and unwieldy,” Jeff says. “If you don’t believe me, just check out the 2015 second edition of the book, Biochar for Environmental Management: Science, Technology and Implementation, edited by biochar leaders Johannes Lehmann and Stephen Joseph. This 928-page tome is only the tip of the iceberg on the many, many topics related to biochar. “
You can read the full article at https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/61973642/organicfarmer-augsep2018-e/14.
You can also read NCAT’s publication on biochar here: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=322.
Jeff has expertise in organic and sustainable agriculture public policy, marketing and economics, genetically modified crops in agriculture, organic horticulture, renewable agriculture energy, sustainable building construction, and intercultural communications. He served as executive director of the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (WSAWG), and has been an adjunct instructor for the University of Montana, Western Montana College, and Montana Tech. Jeff received graduate degrees in agricultural economics and political science and served in the Peace Corps in Belize, Central America. He can be reached at jeffs@ncat.org or 406-494-4572.