August 2013

Grass Tablet Biochar
4 cm Grass Tablets
Household Grill modified with an iCan reactor

The grass tablet biochar (pyrolytic carbon) shown above was made in an iCan TLUD
with a variable speed blower. This charcoal was air quenched and is thus bone dry.
When wet, it is very soft and can be formed to fit a variety of shapes. I have found, for
example, that grass tablet biochar saturated with cold water is effective at reducing the
pain of burns.

The following pages illustrate some of the ways the above biochar was made.
Note: Grass biochar will be ashy as grass has considerably more ash content that
wood

Grass tablets broken into short sections prior to being loaded into the fuel chamber of
the iCan reactor.
These tablets were made from field grass about 3 years ago in Shelburne, VT. Note
that the longest fibers are about the length of the diameter of the tablet. Shorter is
better.
These tablets are about 4 cm in diameter.

Download the attached Grass Tablet Biochar How To for detailed Reactor photographs and answers to questions posed to Jock by the stoves community.

Shop: Nike

VermiChar Eco-fertilizers subsistence Garden
VermiChar Eco-fertilizers Subsistence Gard

Attached are the trials i did with biochar from rice husks and vermicast. I mixed the two together and filled the containers to become my garden.

Some of the lessons i learned

1. vermicast is highly water soluble and quick releasing than compost. Therefore i had to sprinkle a scoop of the vermicast once every week.

2. The vermi cast - biochar mix need a curing time before it can support the plants. Beneficial microorganisms can help cure the mix.

3. The earthworms take up a considerable amount of nutrients from the compost to become their body tissues.

And then do you think we can use the biochar-vermicast mix into the floating gardens? They are much lighter.

Good luck with your project.

Jed

Calzado Nike

Reinforced Holey Roket Stove
Holey Roket Stove - Drawing (side)
Holey Roket Stove top view

by Joshua B. Guinto
Specialist, Sustainable Village Technologies

1 The Basic Mechanisms of the Rocket Stove. With the lessons from people like Rok Oblak, Richard Stanley and the Aprovecho Institute the author began learning to build the holey roket stove in his workshop at Daet, Camarines Norte. With sheer perseverance and amidst scarcity, he was able to create several models and delivered skills training to poor people in Camarines Norte, Sorsogon and recently in Bulacan.

2. Among the many feedbacks from the users are the limitation of the holey roket stove in terms of (1) fragility in handling and (2) capacity to receive bigger loads when cooking for bigger occasions and events and for food business. In response, one of the models was picked up for reinforcements.

3. The Innovations as of July 2013

http://www.trust.org/item/20130723104434-3k5zt/

Clean stove cooks up power alongside food
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Tue, 23 Jul 2013 10:44 AM