The Biochar Factory

    In a study made by Hossain et al. (2011) concerning the influence of pyrolysis temperature on production and the nutrient properties of biochar, researchers concluded that pyrolysis temperature has a significant effect on the chemical properties of the biochar produced. There are important implications regarding the suitability of biochar as a soil amendment. In our study, all biochars tested were produced at relatively low temperatures (250oC -300oC) and were slightly alkaline. Source:  http://biochar.pbworks.com/w/page/9748043/FrontPage Biochar preparation and characterization     Production of rice husk biochar (RHB) was carried out by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. RHB was pyrolized using a small-scale reactor at 300ºC -350ºC with a residence time of 1 hour. These temperatures may be applicable for small scale farmers who lack access to credit and cannot afford high-scale pyrolysi...

      Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the three main nutrients for plant growth. Both MSWI fly ash and bottom ash have been tested to provide nutrients to soil in agricultural applications. As MSWI bottom ash contains acceptable amounts of phosphorous and potassium, it can be used as a partial replacement of commercial fertilizers. In addition, the lime in fly ash can reduce the soil acidity, thus it can be used as a liming agent. Source:  http://plantnutrientsproject.weebly.com/nutrients-in-plants.html      However, there are many restrictions for these applications. The heavy metals in bottom ash will be toxic to plants and animals; the high salts content will induce salt stress in plants; the pH value in soil will affect the mobility of elements; and the leaching of heavy metals into ground water will cause environmental concerns. As a result, more research studies have to be done in this field (Glordano et al., 1983). Source:...

     The effectiveness of applications of composts, animal manures or mineral fertilizers are known to vary significantly whether they are incorporated or surface applied, banded or broadcast (Gherardi and Rengel, 2003), and similar responses can be expected to the method of biochar application. The biophysical responses to the way in which biochar is applied have to be considered, as well as technical feasibility, economic constraints and safety.  Compost and Biochar Faster & hotter composting – Reduce Nitrogen loss by up to 50% Reduce compost emissions – Locks up minerals and nutrients Makes better quality compost – Reduces compost smells The basic rule of making a good batch of compost is having the right ratio of carbon and nitrogen. Carbon is classed as any dead or brown biomass like brown leaves, woody mulch, sticks, paper, brown dry grass. Nitrogen is anything green or fresh, kitchen scraps, green grass clippings, fresh animal manure, weed...

林憲德（2007）指出：「生態金字塔最底層是支撐萬物的土壤，意即土壤和微生物活動是生態環境的基盤，然而，無論處於生態金字塔的何種層級，均必須仰賴陽光、大氣、水、表土等四項環境因子而存活，其中，又以水和表土深受人類開發活動的威脅，尤其城鄉建設對水與表土環境的破壞更是嚴重。但是如果沒有良好的表土，則綠色植物就無法好好生長，動物自然日趨稀少，整個生態系皆會受到影響，因此表土幾乎可喻為「生物之母」。」 　　然而，使用生物碳（英語：Biochar）即是一種可以改變土壤的方式，因為生物碳可以捕捉與清除大氣中的碳，將它轉化成非常穩定的形式，並儲存在土壤中達數千年之久，因此可以捕捉大氣中的一氧化二氮及甲烷，大幅減少溫室氣體，亦能增加20%的農業生產力，淨化水質，減少化學肥料的使用，因此生物碳亦稱為農業碳（英語：Agrichar）。 　　大有社區則是台灣第一個以生物碳使用於農業用途的地方，藉由生物碳改良土壤，幫助植物生長，以及碳收集、儲存使用、吸附壞的微生物等功效，讓大有社區的土壤日益肥沃與健康，而產出的稻米自然健康無毒，因此也讓大有社區的金碳米成為大有社區最著名的產品，目前除了直接販售外，也已初步打造為伴手禮品，甚至已將生物碳製成手工香皂，近期即將販售。 　　大有社區理事長吳素秋表示，使用生物碳後，不僅產出的稻米有機無毒、產量明顯增加，連居住於附近居民的的身體也越來越健康，而大有社區也持續與屏東科技大學環境工程學系的師生們進行研究，將產學結合，期望能製造出更有效益的生物碳。     (Google translation)  Hsien-Te Lin ( 2007 ) noted: " ecological bottom of the pyramid is to support all of the soil , meaning soil microbial activity and the ecological environment of the base plate , however , no matter what level in the ecological pyramid , must rely on the sun, air, water , topsoil and other env...

     Worldwide, 41 Mt of charcoal are produced annually for cooking and industrial purposes (Lehmann and Rondon, 2006). Most of this production is located in developing countries (40 Mt in 2002) rather than developed countries (1 Mt), with Africa being the highest producer (21 Mt) in comparison to South America (14 Mt) and Asia (4 Mt). Charcoal production is often detrimental to the environment, as it leads to deforestation and air pollution. Yet, most developing countries have few alternatives to charcoal production for household fuel. However, significant improvements are possible with viable alternatives as far as wood production, charcoal production with respect to human health and use of charcoal waste is concerned.  Source:  http://archive.publicartscotland.com/blogs/19-Building-the-Ugandan-Arts-Trust/articles      Additionally, it has been argued that use of charcoal as a fuel replacing wood leads to lower levels of household...