4 ms·

If we're going to burn the dead standing wood and other organic matter, why not produce biochar and syngas from it? Companies such as All Power Labs (allpowerl

If we're going to burn the dead standing wood and other organic matter, why not produce biochar and syngas from it? Companies such as All Power Labs (allpowerlabs.com) produce pallet size devices that can be taken to the source of the wood and convert them there. The biochar produced can be introduced back into the ground, or used on farmland, and is essentially carbon negative. The syngas can be used to produce electricity in a generator, or for heating purposes (boiling/distilling water, heating homes, drying foods, etc.). It seems wasteful to just inefficiently burn it and dump large amounts of smoke into the air when we can use it for energy purposes or to improve the soil. Allowing it to compost produces methane, which is a worse greenhouse gas, so that's not a great option, sadly.

kaikai 2y ago
Much of Northern California and Oregon are fire adapted ecosystems, meaning that fire is a natural part of the landscape. There are plants that require smoke and fire for their seeds to germinate, for example. Converting wood to biochar doesn’t address that. The bigger issue is that prescribed fire is comparatively much easier and cheaper. I’ve been on burns where we had a biochar kiln going, and were also burning piles. We easily burned dozens of piles in-place, and loaded maybe 6 into the kiln. We also had to set it up near a road, because it was heavy and needed a water truck nearby to extinguish the coals and make char. I’ve been doing prescribed fire for a couple years now and people OFTEN bring up biochar. My feeling is that sure, go for it. If you have the resources and time, awesome. But don’t stand in the way of people doing good work because you think there’s a better way to do it. There’s plenty of work for all of us.

4 ms·

If we're going to burn the dead standing wood and other organic matter, why not produce biochar and syngas from it? Companies such as All Power Labs (allpowerl

by nanomonkey 2y ago

kaikai 2y ago
Much of Northern California and Oregon are fire adapted ecosystems, meaning that fire is a natural part of the landscape. There are plants that require smoke and fire for their seeds to germinate, for example. Converting wood to biochar doesn’t address that. The bigger issue is that prescribed fire is comparatively much easier and cheaper. I’ve been on burns where we had a biochar kiln going, and were also burning piles. We easily burned dozens of piles in-place, and loaded maybe 6 into the kiln. We also had to set it up near a road, because it was heavy and needed a water truck nearby to extinguish the coals and make char. I’ve been doing prescribed fire for a couple years now and people OFTEN bring up biochar. My feeling is that sure, go for it. If you have the resources and time, awesome. But don’t stand in the way of people doing good work because you think there’s a better way to do it. There’s plenty of work for all of us.