Steve Bartlett

Hi, I'm new to permaculture and biochar and have this question. So many people have shown the benefits to low soil disruption and layering organics beneath the planting soil. I see that biochar does show benefits, but is it enough to justify the extra work?

Also, even taking windfall or dying trees from your woodland has an impact. Is the impact negligible enough to ignore?

I'm not trying to stoke anyone here, just anticipating the types of questions I would have to answer if and when I was to do biochar....which is way cool in my mind.


P.S. On a different note, I would like to see this software: Input all the variables of your operation to determine your +/- footprint.

For example: made a kiln from several derelict steel tanks that otherwise would have been melted down, (+2); had the tank delivered 50 miles (-2); didn't use factory bought kiln which required fossil fuels to produce (+5); didn't have factory kiln delivered 1,200 miles (+4); used welder which ran on carbon neutral woodgas used in my generator (+2); dragged windfall timber from my lot with tractor, 2 hours (-5); cut up wood with chainsaw, 3 hours (-2); rerouted off-gasses from pyrolysis to initial fire in biocharing (+3); dug 15'x6' foot garden trench 6 feet deep with backhoe, 2 hours (-2), didn't use xyz method of implanting organic wealth into soil (+8 ). After you plug in lots of variables you can see how good or bad you are doing.

Hey thanks Marcos. I did more checking on the All Labs site, and they do have some info on the dual fuel idea. It seemed (I'll have to check again) that they said larger engines like eight cylinder were too big. They said what you said about restricting flow and that is how the wood gas is drawn in.

I'm out looking at pickup trucks today, and if I go syngas it'll probably end up being a gas truck. I love diesels, especially F-350's, but WVO seems like such a lot of trouble these days and getting worse.

Marcos Buenijo wrote:
Hey Steve. First, I recommend you contact people who know more than I. To that end check out the forums at driveonwood.com. Next, consult the Handbook for Biomass Downdraft Gasifier Engine Systems (available on line). That will provide a basic intro. You might also contact the engineers at All Power Labs as they have a large stationary Diesel generator currently dual fueled with a large gasifier (it's a 100 KW, 1800 rpm unit).
First, I assume a vehicle application, right? I would try restricting the air intake to a Diesel just enough to increase manifold vacuum to ensure there is enough differential pressure across the gasifier for operation. The ideal setting would be the one that provides just enough air flow through at idle to keep the gasifier hot enough to make a clean gas, but also does not pull too much air through the gasifier at high engine speeds that it overheats.

One of the main points I want to get across is that anyone who considers converting a vehicle to run on wood gas should attempt a dual-fuel configuration that uses a much smaller gasifier. I believe this general approach can minimize many of the disadvantages. Also, I believe the Vulcan gasifier is a good candidate for it's simple, compact, and low cost design.

I've been trying to decide on a 7.3 litre diesel to use with a WVO conversion, or a cheap gas pickup truck with syngas. How could I regulate a split of diesel/syngas as you suggested? I didn't see anything on the websites selling the Vulcan or the GEK from All Power Labs.