Northern Rivers & Tweed Valley

• PROJECT 540 • B&B WASTE FACILITY • GARDEN • • SUGAR MILL

“The

Project 540 Kiln

has the specific intent to sequester atmospheric CO2, in many small localities, and to make soil good to the seventh generation.” Geoff Moxham www.bodgershovel.com

Constraints and goals

• Accessible sensors • Validate simple visual tests • Cheap low-emission designs • Household uses of process heat

Finessing efficient solutions including

• Vortex flow induced in chimney stacks • Pre-heated and controlled air to tuyeres • Multiple purpose dampers & vents

Building and testing prototype kilns

• Catenary and sprung-arch trolley kilns • Side-loading carriages • Quenching and inoculating tanks

Educational outreach

• Community kiln-building projects • Market and show presentations

Phoenix Kiln series

• 20 L • 40L • 3 cu m, small farm

Phoenix Rising

• Human scaled for 1 person • Output must justify the input _________________________________________________ • Compact method producing usable amount of char.

• Metal shell of washing machine makes smoke proof shell. • Lined with fire brick • Contains and store the heat • Worked well no need to top up fuel during burn Ben Speirs http://absorberroof.com

Mark Feltrin gasificationaustralia.com

Simple parts Double drum retort Lifting the lid Inside the kiln

Future steps - Using the heat Creating independence in the rainforest

• Heat for clothes drying • Hot water • Home heating • Refrigeration • Micro-gasification • Electricity generation Thermoelectric Organic Rankin Cycle Ben Speirs http://absorberroof.com/ Mark Feltrin http://www.gasificationaustralia.com/

•

• • •

Inoculating Biochar

Charring the weeds

– Lantana vines – Camphor Laurel trees – Bamboo

•

If composted returns CO 2 atmosphere in 3-5 yrs.

Crush finely smaller than ¼ in, while wet

to Biochar sequesters 30-40% of C for thousands of years.

– – worms can transport the fines Course meat grinder – Garbage disposal grinder, drip on inoculant – – heavy drum roller lawn mower over wet char in a bay

Inoculate with:

– Urine, worm juice, compost percolation – – Sea minerals, brewed crop specific teas Biodynamic compost & soil

Application:

4t/ac = 2 lb/sy. Improves to 1lb/sf

Animals

– Chickens, cows, humans Charcoal pores: Tilling it in is “urban renewal, with quality public housing” Hyphae: Microbial C reef

Mullumbimbi Community Garden

“Growing to Share & Sharing to Grow”

Fund raising

Food

Water Bush regeneration Events

Compost Design Site

Promotions Sustainability Compost loo Seed savers

Nursery BIOCHAR Chooks

Best practises Children’s garden

Sugarcane Farming

Tweed Valley - Robert Quirk

Mulching with green cane tops returns C to soil rather than going up in smoke Nitrogen added, 2lb/ac facilitates break down of machine harvested trash Legumes planted directly into trash in fallow period Legumes add nitrogen Add lime at 2t/ac then scrapes top 8 inch into mounds giving equivalent 4t/ac of lime in the mounds Plant cane into the mounds improves aeration on land subject to flooding Traffic controlled to inter-rows & reduced cultivation Lime & cultivate only once every 6 yrs minimizing soil damage, maximize soil life 50kg N/ha 250kg K/ha 6kg P/ha

Ap ply char at rate 2-4 ton/ac in 15 plots with some having no char

Test for crop yield, leaching of nutrients, nitrogen cycling, emissions of CH4 & N2O

Preliminary results indicate reduction in emissions of N2O with applications of 10t/ha green-waste biochar

High sulphate soils High N 2 0 with normal cultivation No agronomic benefit found to char Trails continuing with reduced N

Biochar field site – Tweed Valley NSW

Lab tests at DPI show up to 95% reduction in N 2 0 emissions

30 MW cogeneration plant fueled by remnants from sugar production Saves 400,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year $220 million capital cost Government policy has resulted in a plunge in the price of

renewable energy credits

.

Future potential for biochar production.

On farm collection of cane trash and use for biochar production requires proof of agronomic or climate benefit.

There is interest in small scale production for return to fields as trials

Germany seeks to reduce landfill disposal by 65 percent by 2016. Convert most of residuals into compost and energy.

Current operation

Next step:

Receive all green waste and kitchen waste from Wurzburg.

Separate and sieved into fines for composting, Woody trash for incineration for electricity, Plastic mixed trash for electricity production in a different plant.

Compost sold to farms and also bagged for retail on location.

Pyrolysis plant on location to char the wood waste & produce electricity Inoculate the biochar with liquid wastes or blend with compost.

Reduce odor, speed digestion, enhance soil amendment.

No green waste to landfills + fees: $80 /ton on weigh bridge $40 / ton C arbon P ollution R eduction S cheme

Ballina Shire

Self hauled green waste = 6000 t/yr Bio solids = 2000 ton/yr Pickup green waste & kitchen = 4000t/yr Food Links Project: Build resilience against climate change & peak oil Waste Management Centre Shred all 12000 ton/yr Row compost for 6 to 8 weeks Sieve to separate: Fines for compost = 5000 t/yr Chips for mulch = 4000 t/yr Pyrolyze - biochar = 3000 t/yr Send back to community Residential gardens Community gardens Broad acre application on farms Small horticultural farms Macadamia, avocado, bananas

Thank you From the Project 540 Team

http://bodgershovel.com

• • • •

Low-emission, low cost biochar kilns for small farms and villages

Focus is to prove that emissions from small biochar kilns can be controlled to best practice standards, while using easy designs, accessible materials, and simple cues for emissions checking.

Project results are committed to the Creative Commons public domain.

Available annual biomass worldwide: (Rounded from Yevich, Logan 2002) – 4 Gt of agricultural waste (2 Gt developing world including 400 Gt field-burned, 740 Gt fuel) – 2 Gt wood fuel burned Vision: 1 Gt of C sequestered globally via small scale pyrolysis and hands on land management = Terra Preta EXAMPLE: Anila Stove Project, Tamil Nadu (D. Friese-Greene, Schumacher Inst, Bristol) 25,000 Number of families cooking/day 25,000 31,250 Kg wood used/day 62,500 Kg of bio- residue used/day 25,000 Kg of charcoal used/day 10,000 tonnes Charcoal production in 1 year

Accessible Pyrometry Instrumentation

CO monitor N-type Thermocouple inserted 100mm into drum Non-contact Infra-Red thermometer

• • •

Three main indicators for good pyrolysis

Temperature of the kiln chamber ceiling

- non-contact infrared thermometer Temperature of the pyrolysis vessel core - N-type thermocouple in ceramic shroud CO content of the flue gasses automotive CO monitor -

Time-keeping is important

The “soak” period of one hour at 450C - 500C, needs to commence as soon as the reaction vessel core reaches temperature. This requires an process-area clock, or in our case a dedicated laptop data-logging set-up.

Biochar potential from waste biomass

• • • • • • Available Global Biomass: Global charcoal production, 1992 = 24 mt (FAO) Biomass & field residues burned, 1985 = 2.9 Gt (1995, +20%) (Yevich, Logan) Total field waste available = 4 Gt (developing world = 2.0 Gt (Yevich, Logan) Total Forestry production = 9.5 Gt/yr Net Primary Production (NPP) = 60 Gt C/yr Human Appropriated NPP (HANPP) = 20 Gt C/yr (32%) • • Conversion efficiency: 60% of wood is emitted as volatiles: CO2 , CO, CH4 , and NMHC.

Traditional methods require 6 to 12 tons of wood for 1 ton of charcoal .

• • Biochar potential (assuming 40% C fixing efficiency): 1 Gt C/yr (assuming 50% of Ag, biofuel & forestry waste) 2 Gt C/y (assuming conversion of 25% of HANPP or 8% of NPP).

CARBON/ENERGY BALANCE FOR CHARCOAL PRODUCTION & COMBUSTION

CO

[56/112]

CO 2

[234/234]

CH 4

[17/367]

NMHC

[2.8/34]

aerosol

[2.2/2.2]

CO

[45/90]

CH 4

[2.9/64]

NMHC

[1.3/15]

aerosol

[0.7/0.7]

Wood

[1000] Charcoal kiln Biomass pyrolysis GWP = 749

charcoal

[403] charcoal stove combustion GWP = 477

CO 2

[353/353] Pyroligneous liquids [185] ‘fines’ & handling losses [100] (=10% but could be 20%) Brackets contain C in grams, followed by 20 year CO 2 equivalent global warming potential (GWP) Charcoal production and use is more climate damaging than burning. Kiln data – Lacaux, et al 1994; Stove emissions – Smith & Thorneloe, 1992. Warming potential of CO assumed to be 2 - ibid

CARBON/ENERGY BALANCE FOR TERRA PRETA Small Kiln Scale

CO 2 CO

[56/112]

CO 2

[17/17] [234/234]

NMHC

[2.8/34]

aerosol

[2.2/2.2] Useful heat 5MJ

Waste Biomass

[1000] Pyrolysis Retort Biomass pyrolysis GWP = 399

charcoal

[503] Pyroligneous liquids [185]

N 2 0

[?]

CO

[?]

2

Soil sequestration & crop growth GWP = +-

CH

[?]

4

Brackets contain C in grams, followed by 20 year CO 2 equivalent global warming potential (GWP) Biochar soil sequestration provides relative GWP – 500, if CH 4 Kiln data – Lacaux, et al 1994; Assume waste biomass emissions = wood. is captured.

Correlation of methane emission with combustion efficiency

(CO2/CO+CO2)