Do You Create Biochar?
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- This Q&A is pulled from a collection of questions posed to me by students of my Online Permaculture Design course (PDC). Learn more with my free four-part Masterclass series, here:
www.discoverpe...
Question:
Do you create biochar to include in your systems at Zaytuna Farm? When and how is this type of amending most beneficial? Do you have special biochar producing systems you prefer or are most efficient? Where does the energy audit fall on producing more than token quantities of biochar?
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About Geoff:
Geoff is a world-renowned permaculture consultant, designer, and teacher. He has established permaculture demonstration sites that function as education centers in all the world’s extreme climates - information on the success of these systems is networked through the Permaculture Research Institute and the www.permaculturenews.org website.
About Permaculture:
Permaculture (en.wikipedia.o...) integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies - imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics, and community development.
#permaculture #biochar #soils
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How does the Galvanising on the Rubbish Bins not 'poison' the Bio Char? 🤔
Geoff, I live in Florida, USA and I have a 10,000 sq. ft. no till Organic garden area. The growing media is almost pure sand and any compost added to my beds is very short lived. I just can not keep enough Biomass in my soil, it is such a big project every year to keep soil fertility at usable levels. I discovered Biochar a couple of years ago, being blessed with 100 Oak trees this gives me Leaf Mold compost and a large volume of wood in which to make my own char. I have been adding Biochar to my beds each time I add compost at least three times a year. The results have been a major improvement to all my beds. My work load and associated growing costs have been greatly reduced.
Excellent explanation of the distinction between biochar and charcoal. Many on the internet confuse the two. Yours is the first clear distinction. Its not that one is better than the other but the distinction is necessary. Biochar in the soil is a world apart from charcoal in the soil. You are my GOAT today. Dave. An avid gardener, amazed by nature's simplicity and complexity combined. It keeps me humble and awake to the BS in all the other stuff.
Charcoal doesn't burn because of any residual oils in the matrix. It burns (cleanly) because it's pure carbon and when you heat it enough (ignition) it oxidises very readily in the air, combining with oxygen in a strongly exothermic reaction, which keeps the reaction going.
Thats what I was wondering as well...otherwise how could bio char or charcoal...keep burning and then turn into ash. Obviously its burnable. Love Geoff and love this simple method...but yes, still burnable.
@@Change-Maker All humans get things wrong sometimes! I'm just a geek who loves biochemistry, and my deficits are I don't understand some jokes. But when it comes to carbon, I know my stuff!
Best explanation in the shortest amount of time.
And you learned a lot of other useful information to complete your understanding.
Minimum amount of input for maximum amount of output
Least change for greatest effect, illustrated!
Biochar is made in a very narrow range of temperatures without oxygen.
Hardwood biochar can stabilize carbon for millennia, however it produces a lot of emissions up-front unless a quality retort is used (and the immediate nature of global warming means long-term carbon storage is less important than reducing emissions).
Smouldering woodsmoke is extremely toxic and is rightfully regulated - it is preferable to buy biochar, where emissions are reduced via retort.
Terra preta contains biochar, but has unique microbial elements that are not understood and properties that are yet to be replicated.
My understanding is that all charcoal will burn. The carbon readily oxidizes to CO2.
Biochar has all resins, or volitile components burned off, with only the carbon and trace minerals remaining. Biochar also is inoculated with the beneficial soil bacteria, either from compost, compost tea, direct soil contact, or adding urine for the nitrogen component.
Thanks!
Biochar or charcoal are made via pyrolysis ! *That means gasification in the absence of oxygen living 85 % of the dry mass intact* heavy carbon bounds contained in the Cellulose and the lignin parasites and form the insanely complex molecular structure that. Is biochar
Yes, my understanding is that biochar and charcoal are the same but biochar is prepared for use in soils. Lawton's hypothesis that charcoal burns because of residual tree resins is incorrect. Biochar, pre-inoculation, will oxidise and give off heat ('burning') if given an initial source of combustion. I've lost several retorts of char through taking the lid off too early and letting oxygen get to the still hot char.
However, Lawton's method of making charcoal is almost the same as mine, I use a retort in a smokefree woodstove, so no heat is wasted, said on outdoor biochar manufacturing.
My charcoal goes into working compost systems and is inoculated there, giving extra rich compost to sell on.
Sorry,typo, I wanted to say that outdoor biochar manufacturing did waste heat, as opposed to those of us who make it when we're using our woodstoves to heat our homes and cook on.
Bloody autocorrect!
@@johncossham9405 that's nit the only thing Geoff if dead wrong about in this video. He doesn't even make clear that the inner barrel is in fact a retort and NOT a closed container.
Terra preta it's portuguese. And it's found in Brazilian Amazon old settlements of indigenous people
It is a great way to build humus on sandy soil - eastern Germany has this problem. The ZEGG community uses this "terra preta" to build their soil with great success. They claim that this is the best thing they have to keep their nutrients from being flushed down into the deep sand.
They built a huge Steel Bowl with legs and heat it up a lot so only the gas from the wood burns and cover it with wet clay after it is finished to let it cool down.
This process uses all the wood invested to make bio char, instead of wasting wood for fuel. The important point is to get it hot enough so only the wood gas burns.
I trust that "huge Steel Bowl" as you described it is a KON-Tiki deep cone kiln, a flame curtain kiln.
You can visit the Ithaka Institute, the Biochar Journal for great articles and also check out our website: www.terrapretadevelopments.com.au
You still need to tell the story of the bone char!
Stories. I love Geoff narrated stories. Binge watching is great but doing is better. I will get there one day. Thank you Geoff and team and all permaculturists for making it happen.
This guy is highly knowledgeable
Just a reminder, don't use GALVANIZED buckets in your bio-char burner.
Why?
@@georgecarlin2656 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever
False !
That's just one of the things Geoff fails to mention...
There was so much that I didn't even notice the galvanised bucket :p
Yes and I wonder if the toxic metals of the metal containers remain in the final product. Thereby poisoning your garden.
Can you turn a bag of lump charcoal in to biochar? It sounds like you can, but how long would you want to burn it for?
The ultimate biochar resource is Biochar for Environmental Management by Johannes Lehmann.
Its extremely dense, dry reading for the scientifically literate but very informative and provides frameworks for integrating biochar with commercial enterprises and environmental policies.
A more accessible Biochar textbook for the layman would be The Biochar Revolution by Paul Taylor.Do your community a favor and get them into your local library.
May I suggest the very recently released book by Albert Bates & Kathleen Draper:
'BURN Using Fire to Cool the Earth' get it from us (printed in Australia ) or via Amazon from the US or the (Audible Audio ... - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com/Burn-Using-Fire-Cool-Earth/dp/B07P8WST4Y
for practical information feel free to check out our website:
www.terrapretadevelopments.com.au
Thank you for that information the lack of resins is a very good point. None water soluble oil is something most people would not knowingly put on the ground to grow things in. But many don't know about the difference in bio char and charcoal.
I may be looking at this wrong, but to increase the longevity of your metal garbage bin, could you load it up, and put it in the burner upside down? This would mean the smaller piece of metal, the lid, was to bit destroyed, and the actual bin would last a bit longer.
Maybe
QUESTION: For anyone.
I've been obsessed with this biochar topic for a month now. I have plenty of land and room to make it. I just bought 2 used food grade 55 gallon drums. I plan on laying the sealed drum sideways above my fire pit. Here's my question: Can the drum be totally sealed? Do I need any holes? I'm getting conflicting info on this. Thank You!
Bone char makes the blackest pigment
I would really love to see video of the process in action. I always find your videos educational regardless.
I agree! Has Geoff or anyone put together a video of making biochar?
@@louisegogel7973 Don't know but plenty of other people have.
So as I understand you, is that Biochar will not ignite? Carbon in it self will not ignite, even if its over 50-500C mixed with air? :-)
Biochar without any moisture in it, which is what comes out of this retort can self ignite if the retort is opened before the material has been allowed to cool down below 50C.
Geoff not mentioning any of this and even claiming biochar doesn't burn shows his lack of knowledge about the subject.
@@CarbonConscious It would be lovely for you to just add your wisdom without the cut down of Geoff.
I am sure he would be very open to hearing all your wisdom. Please do go through your comments and remove the negativity.
Part of Pirma culture in my mind is inoculating our minds with effective creative positive empowering and loving thoughts… Just like inoculating the bio char good stuff.
And I really think you have a lot of good stuff to inoculate in peoples minds when you keep the other stuff out of it. 🤍
@@louisegogel7973 my sincere apologies for calling someone out on distributing dangerous and potentially even lethal information...
(from 2:30) interesting considerations about growing in more tropical-equitorial regions, and the potential benefits of using biochar to prevent rain washing away otherwise beneficial bacteria in the soil. and as opposed to, say solar panels, may be better to use fired wood (that'll turn into biochar) like for cooking and heating
I make Biochar from pruning material of our fruit trees and hazelnut bushes and from the local Vineyard pruning / annual grape vines.
No competition to firewood to heat our house in winter.
@@frankstrie3214 interesting obs., thanks
@@frankstrie3214 I was wondering about that… how do you make it into biochar? Geoff’s method or?
A lot of other Biochar makers would disagree with your understanding.
I thought it’s necessary to compost it, or feed it with bacteria so i doesn’t absorb too much of the benefical bacterias of your garden beds.
how do you prepare the bamboo before putting it in the bin? do you just cut in in lengths or do you mulch it?
And we could go even further than biochar on to activated (pressure steamed) charcoal. I don't think permaculture is ready for that though
Please explain what you’re talking about and why you think Permaculture is not ready for that.
Geoff please do the complete process video, people would appreciate it and enjoy it
It;s like a gigantic version of char cloth, that you can use to start a campfire with
So I heard in the production of biochar also toxins are being produced. Can you share something about that?
I enjoy listening to your knowledge
What happens to the grease from grease trap attached with kitchen waste pipe
Awesome! As always. 😃
Really good explanation of BioChar, would you reccomend adding it for all soils? I use wood ash left over from bbq/garden fires both as a soil amendment and insecticide. is it worth switching to making biochar?
Ash and bio-char do different jobs. Ash adjusts pH and adds phosphorous, and bio-char acts as a water sponge and bacteria living space. If you need both, do both :)
My Family Garden haven’t heard of a soil type biochar isn’t good in. Be careful adding to much wood ash to one area little goes long way.
Good intel about testing biochar by washing it off your hands. I've never heard that and I'll test it the next time I make some.
Lots of method for making biochar, lots of ways of baking wood until the gas comes out. The particular method that's worked best for me is similar to this except I don't use the second smaller barrel. Instead I load the whole 55 gallon barrel with wood and start a fire on top of the pile. Let that burn down beneath the rim, a good and hot normal fire, then put on the top with the chimney. It should roar through like a rocket stove. If you do it at night you can actually see the barrel glowing red near the top. The next bit it to start choking off the oxygen by piling sand or dirt over the bottom air holes, not completely, but just enough to burn off the volatilizing gasses but not enough to burn the coals. If you cut the oxygen off too much you can often see the gas catching fire as it exits the chimney. The super hot par of the barrel will move down the barrel until it reaches the bottom, at which point you cut off all the oxygen from the bottom and cap the chimney top. You might burn off any escaping gas with long nosed lighter or blowtorch. Let it cool down enough that it won't catch fire when you remove the top, the barrel should be half or so full of biochar.
Thank you for sharing your method! Have you ever recorded your process on video so people can see it in action?
Thanks Sir for clearing many doubt, God Bless
I just learned this from Dr Olivier Husson's free course over at Regen Ag. You can greatly improve Biochar by treating it with Ferrous Sulfate prior to burning. Unfortunately, he is an academic and gives long lectures with a terrible French accent. In the same section he talks about the benefits of paramagnetism (shades of Dr Arden Andersen). Paramagnetism refers to the magnetic attraction of minerals derived from volcanic rock (basalt.) Perhaps this ferrous sulfate increases the
paramagnetism of the biochar. Yes. But how do we apply it? Do you have any suggestions. This could be a new advance in biochar. Andersen already sold me on basalt rock dust. Thanks in advance for your
suggestions.
This all works fine and can be added to soils and potting mixes.
@@DiscoverPermaculture But I was wondering how I would apply Ferrous Sulfate to the biochar so it would become parmagnetic. Any suggestions how I would do that?
How many hours Geoff?Thanks buddy
1 to 2 or just until fire burns out
@@DiscoverPermaculture you should've mentioned that after that it needs to cool down completely before being opened up.
Biochar can self-ignite when it's warmer than 50 degrees Celsius and exposed to oxygen.
So quite the opposite of your claim that it doesn't burn or is no longer a fuel!
"to get over the mystery" Last time I looked into it, it all seemed so mysterious... Thx!
Hi Geoff. As you noted, it wasn't just Amazonian cultures who amended their soils with biochar.
Biochar amended fields were found in pre-Columbian cities in N America like Cahokia in what is now Illinois, and many others as well.
Yes also in Finland, obviously burnt out charcoal was seen as useful
@@DiscoverPermaculture Could one use used up charcoal from a BBQ (or using it as almost ready material along with some fresh ?
@@xyzsame4081 I was also wondering about barbecue charcoal. Are there chemicals in commercial charcoal that you don’t want to have in the soil or is that OK?
@@louisegogel7973 Some commercial charcoal destined for BBQs has an accelerant included to help it start burning. However if you buy a locally made 'lumpwood pure charcoal' or know coppicers who make it and you can speak with the producers, then you'll know that it's pure charcoal and can be used for biochar. They may even be happy to sell you their fines which they can't sell for burning. Or, make your own as I've just detailed under your query earlier.
@@compostjohn Thank you so much! Your explanation helped a lot.
First off I would like to say thank you for making these videos they are very educational. But for this one I really wish you would've shown the wood that you put into the secondary container and then what really look like when you were done. Can any wood work are there certain words that work better that are better they produce a better product and does it crumble like dust where does it say intact. Then when you're done with it what's the next process if it's solid how do you work with it or does it crumble and deteriorate like dust. You have to understand individuals such as myself or watching these videos and we're clueless that's why we're watching but it doesn't help when you're somewhat informative but not all the way it's actually quite frustrating. But I find what do you do interesting and helpful just sometimes not completely informative we're left hanging wondering or curious other questions.
Just saying what you want and how helpful it would be is awesome! The rest can just get in the way of those very valuable thoughts. 😊
I thought the definition of biochar was charcoal that has biology in it and it is a quality issue if the charcoal has all the resin cooked out of it as well as the diversity of biology in it.
Could you please explain what you mean? As I understand it, the charcoal is immersed in a compost heap to absorb the nutrients it needs for the soil bacteria have a cozy safe place to grow in.
Biochar is great. Importantly, it can be created from non-wood sources and lasts virtually forever. In fact biochar made from rice hulls was found superior in soil conditioning than that made from wood sources. There are more primitive, easier ways to make biochar.
I make mine in a conical pit. Some of the char forms crusts of ash but once you extenguish the fire, i think the minerals in the ash, combined with the heating of water, saturate the pockets of the char.
Charred rice hulls add silica
@@DiscoverPermaculture
Thank you for the clarification. Knew studies showed rice hulls to be better, didn't know why. Burning older bamboo culms would have a similar effect as rice hulls.
@@Kizarat tell us more please!
A half dozen holes in the center of the lid of the inner can.
Holes in the lid of the inner can may let in air causing the wood inside to burn to ash instead of baking to char. Best to put holes in the bottom of the inner can, as the wood inside heats, it releases the gasses which escape from the bottom and burn off.
Some holes are definitely a critical component if you don't want the lid to pop off.
Can this be combined with a gasifier?
Brilliant explanation thanks
Great informative video, thanks Geoff. Could you use stainless Steel drums?
And there seems to be talk about having to inoculate it, can you please expand a bit more on that. Thanks again.
The biochar is porous like a giant sponge, that is why it is great for water retention. If you put it in the soil as is, it will soak up all of the nutrients. Now that would be great for future plants, but your current plants suffer. So instead, I inoculate it first. I mix it with good sloppy worm castings and a little compost and let the mixture stew at least 48 hours. Now the char has absorbed all of those great biomes and will slow release it to your garden.
@@NukeMomx2 Yes, good explanation. You have to build the evnvironment of the biochar before introducing to its new home. That way everybody is happy
You could but keep in mind that the thermal capacity of stainless steel is much less than that of mild steel so you will likely require more fuel to reach complete pyrolysis.
Which size stainless drums do you have there? Perhaps a TLUD stove would be more appropriate and those are in my opinion much easier to operate as well.
@@CarbonConscious And what about simply building a fire brick or earthen structure instead? I would think something that is not metal would be even better than a metal barrel that will eventually deteriorate.
For the next q and a.
What is bone char!?
That sounds very cool
Charred bone soaked in vinegar until it stops bubbling and moving really cool process makes a great cal/phos. Korean natural farming step. Cheers browned egg shells soaked in vinegar makes a water soluble calcium both can be used at 1/500 or 1/1000 fed soil drench or foliar sprayed.
Wow!
Thanks a lot! I actually have 6 chickens at home and way to many eggs
Just tried bone char for the first time the other day without even knowing its a thing people actually do. I took used beef marrow bones after I made broth and basically did the same method as biochar. Breaks up marvelously but I believe its necessary to burn the bones 2 times.
what kind of bamboos Are those? so pretty !
I saw some designs which do not use the internal drum. What is the difference? In his design, only the internal drum becomes biochar?
The method I show here is the easiest way to get a good result without too many complications.
@@DiscoverPermaculture no it isn't. The pit burn method also known as the Kon-Tiki method is by far the easiest way to make substantial amounts of biochar because it only requires a hole in the ground.
Your retort method here is very inefficient by design because you are burning 25 gallons worth of biomass down to ash to make an attempt at pyrolizing 30 gallons of biomass.
I say to make an attempt because this method has a steep learning curve and is difficult to get consistently right. Something that is demonstrated all over UA-cam by the countless of videos in which this retort method is a smoky mess.
A pit burn on the other hand is super easy to master.
@@CarbonConscious Even I could manage to work a pit burn pile… what do people use to cover it? Earth sod?
@@scout7060 the pit method, when done right, produces very little ash. Which then gets washed out during quenching.
I have alkaline soil as well and biochar has never given me pH issues.
Bone Char!! Lol great video
That is such a good explanation. Thank you.
the original people of NorthAmerica practiced this too.
We are starting a co-op & one of our members are in the process of learning black smithing-
I was curious if there was a forge design out there that could co-produce large amounts of Biochar out there?
@@douganderson7002
But they still require fuel to generate heat correct?
I was exploring the options for using the same energy for two functions as part of a Stack.
I am fully aware of other Biochar production methods. A fire pit works just as good & takes 15 mins to dig out. It's not production alone I was asking after.
So allow a re-articulation, by "Large amounts" I mean large enough to be worth the investment.
@@libraryofpangea7018 Have you figured out a way in the last two years? If so how is it going?
Geoff is a great teacher and a real gentleman.
Wow, so much easier to make than i thought
If you have charcoal and are too lazy to turn it into biochar, would that still work?
May do
Geoff Lawton: Permaculture Online thank you very much sir
At the very least it would add organic matter.
What happens to the grease from grease trap attached with kitchen waste pipe
Do you use "Humate acids and Fulvates"?
Yes we do
@@DiscoverPermaculture Excellent. Would be great if you talk about them too.
Not many people know them.
They are a great asset for the gardeners if they just know them.
The bacteria loves them. I use them in compost tea.
@M. Karbaschi, how do you use biochar in compost teas, pls explain. Thanks.
@@andrewbazo8388 Who said I am using biochar in my compost tea?
Finally! An explanation on the difference between charcoal and biochar. Thank you!
First attempt at your system Smokey as all hell what am I doing wrong?
I filled the bottom of the barrel with some wood packed around side started fire on top once some had cought fire down the bottom I put the lid on and it just billowed smoke for the next hour . The feed stock was wood pellets and cat poo other words kitty litter.
Any ideas ?
You need more flammable material, it has to be roaring.
@@DiscoverPermaculture thanks will give it another go hopefully no smoke and my neighbors wont complain this time!
Ditch this method/Geoff's poor advice and use a pit kiln instead. Also unlike what Geoff says your material needs to be dry (
@@gavinmatthews5618 Have you tried a fire pit?
@@CarbonConscious Again, please ditch your negativity towards Geoff. Your advice otherwise is very welcome!
Has anyone heard of Ormus? Its sea water minerals precipitated out of seawater with lye (sodium hydroxide). There are some fantastic looking results out there. I did one dose on one of twin garden plants (dont know its name, Im an alchemist not a gardener) The one that got the single dose is now 3 times the size of its sibling.
From what I have heard about it, its obtained from a certain depth of sea water.
I have a friend who uses it.
He said he loves it alottt
I'd love to hear more about this. When I make biochar in my indoor TLUD stove and use carob pods as a feedstock there inevitably is some ash production due to the material not packing down very well which results in my quench water slowly turning into stronger and stronger lye solution if I keep recycling it. I'm pretty sure it's potassium hydroxide in my case and I'd love to find some good uses for it.
@@douganderson7002 There are no minerals in sea water?
I used to mulch all my plants with about 10 inches of washed up seaweed from the beach. The plant absolutely love it.
what happens if charcoal absorbs nuclear radiation? anti-radiation or even keep radiation longer?
which if a disaster occurs all farmers must dispose of their charcoal that has been planted for decades at a very high cost.