Anne Miller wrote:
Kaarina Kreus wrote:I had some sweets but run out of them quickly. Warning to anyone planning to live without frequent visits to the shop: take the amount of chocolate you can maximally imagine consuming and multiply by ten.
No, actually twenty. Might as well add a buffer. OK, thirty.
I thought I was the only person who hoarded chocolate...
Phil Stevens wrote:One other point I would add to the intentionality of making biochar is the production method, and specifically the pyrolysis temperature. Biochar is produced at temperatures between 400 and 750 degrees C. If the temperature is too low, the volatile hydrocarbons are not fully driven off. This is great for charcoal intended as fuel for heating and cooking, as it will be easier to light and produce more heat. But it sucks for biochar, because the pore structure will be poor to nonexistent (clogged up with tars), and much of the carbon content will remain in a form that degrades over time. Also, the graphene complexes that provide molecular attachment points for nutrient ions don't start forming until you get above 400 degrees.
If the treatment temperature gets higher than 750-800 degrees, the graphene structures start to fuse together and collapse into sheets, losing the attachment points around the edges. The micropores disappear as well, so this material won't provide the soil benefits of biochar...the aeration, water retention, and microbial habitat functionality is diminished or lost entirely.
This is a big part of why I have chosen to use the IBI terminology. I don't want to give the impression that you can take low-grade charcoal full of tars and gunk (or something at the other end of the scale that's practically graphite), soak it in compost tea or whatever, and suddenly have something that will do your soil a whole lot of good for the long haul...because it won't work. This is not to say that "accidental" biochar is worthless...most of it is good, because the temperatures reached in a wood fire are conveniently in the sweet spot for decent pyrolysis.
John F Dean wrote:For what is it worth, I have tried this approach without successs.
M Smythe wrote:Your biggest problem and mistake was living alone. Especially in a place like Scandinavia. I run a small farm and am the main worker. I took in some former friends turned into squatters that then tried to take over my farm last year. They broke into my house, and threatened my 76-year-old mother after beating me bloody in my backyard. They did it and dared to because they had 5 people vs. me and my old mother. Never again will I make the mistake of being too few. You need like-minded friends or family with you. Something can and will always happen. It could be covid or could get robbed or could be something as simple as no power and water and far from help and heat. You need another person who can be a trusted helping hand, especially in these dangerous times. I am telling you my personal experience because it is too easy to get killed now doing something stupid. I'm 41 and healthy, and people still thought they could try to kill me and take over. Be careful for god's sake. If not for real friends and fellow neighbors, I would have died on my own place.
Jane Mulberry wrote:
Trace Oswald wrote:Is there some way to read this without giving that site access to my contact list?
If you scroll down on that article page, past the "Related papers" section the full text should be readable there without needing to log in or download.