Joe, my apologies - a typo. Instead of " a
world which generates now (probably) 20 million
tonnes annually." that should read 20 _billion_
not million !
On 08/12/2013 12:33 PM, Joe Barnas wrote:
DAVID,
Thankyou for the insightful overview of biochar
and comparative functionality of Zeolite, of
which I was not familiar.
However one thing I am focused on is how to
address catastrophic global climate change and
for that having billions of gardeners
sequestering carbon, while building healthy soil
and hence healthy food is not something that
Zeolite can provide. It is another tool in
growing food, yes, but let's not lose sight of
the long term benefit of promoting biochar. I
might even try mixing some with biochar just to
gain the N adsorption benefits.
On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM, David Murphy
<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Greetings Biochar/Gasifier people !
Everybody & his dog seems to have something
to say about
charcoal/biochar/biochar-compost mix and so
on.Well, here's another dog to bark his piece !
Biochar is often seen as the great
agricultural panacea, but _it is
not_.Biochar is a name given to plain
ordinary charcoal to indicate that it is
destined for use in soil improvement, but
basically it is still plain ordinary
charcoal, just crushed into smaller
particles. In some circumstances it is a
very beneficial tool but it is not magical
as some proponents seem to think. Just
remember, all charcoal has a bio-origin - wood.
In some Ag. trials in Australiait
significantly improved crop volume (treble
in one case) but in other instances, nothing
worth writing home about.It depends on what
the soil is like to start with.
Charcoal is stable.That means it does not
take part in any composting system (which is
one primarily of bacterial digestion) and it
is indigestible so that when offered as a
dietary supplement (in poultry food for
example) it passes through the digestive
system physically unchanged but will adsorb
a high proportion of the gases and some
toxins produced in the process of digestion,
because that is what charcoal does. For this
reason, it's adsorption capability, poultry
will generally do better on a little charcoal.
Quite a few pages could be filled on the
beneficial services provided by charcoal as
it travels through the digestive system, but
it does it as charcoal only and as nothing
else. By all means use a little in the
feed, you can only benefit.
The only physical way to change the nature
of charcoal is to burn it. That is why it
lasts in soil (or wherever it is) for
thousands of years.
It has an incredibly high surface area of
360 m^2 (varies) and is a mass of minute
tunnels which in turn means a very high
volume and gases become trapped in these
tunnels.It does not _ab_sorb, it _ad_sorbs
and traps only.The difference between absorb
and adsorb is the same as the difference in
liquids of suspension and solution.Clay
particles will be in suspension, sugar and
salt go into solution.
Charcoal is useful in an aerobic composting
system because again of the entrapment of
air in the tunnels.A composting system goes
well if there is enough oxygen bearing air
available to the bacteria which are a
significant part of the system.The more air,
the higher the population of bacteria (other
factors being OK). The charcoal itself is
inoperative, and doesn't change, nor is it a
catalyst, it simply provides a service. It
will only provide a haven for soil
benevolent bacteria if there is something
trapped in the tunnels which the bacteria
can eat.
Charcoal is a good adsorber of gas and
liquid simply because that is what it
does.Zeolite on the other hand, can have an
even higher surface are per gram and has a
propensity to entrap gases, most
particularly nitrogen in it's various forms
-- as gas -- ammonium for example -- and in
liquids as a salt of NO_3 .It actually draws
them in (like a magnet attracts ferric
objects) where charcoal just takes it as it
comes. It is easy to see also why
charcoal is so effective as a filter, but if
you have a solution rich in nitrogen, run it
through Zeolite and the N will be removed.
Add some to the litter in poultry grower
sheds, there will be fewer mortalities
because the ammonia which sometimes will
asphixiate small birds will be absorbed.
Zeolite will take N out of solution,
charcoal will not. There's 40 natural
forms of Zeolite and more than another 150
can be synthesised, so choose carefully for
the one most appropriate to your problem.
Zeolite can perform an amazing range of
actions. Once used and applied as
fertiliser, Zeolite subsequently will
release the N slowly and remain in the soil
as a balancer of N. Too much, it will take
it in (so that the soil pH is not lowered)
and release it as required.
Charcoal's great stuff though, it's easy to
make and holds answers to a lot of problems
- but not all !
David Murphy.
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--
Joe Barnas
Portland, OR
541-525-1665
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