Archive for December 20th, 2009

And There You Have It

20 December 2009

M works in an institutional kitchen. That kitchen makes an effort to do the right thing by composting the voluminous vegetable wastes they produce and growing some of their own food.

However, M told me today that that effort is run by volunteers, and stops in the Winter. So for 5 months or so, all their vegetable scraps go to the landfill. What a waste!

I don’t blame them, and I’m not passing judgment. I know that composting in the Winter is difficult and time-consuming. I made some additions to the compost pile today, and what with the temperature being in the low 20s (°F), and cleaning out the buckets afterwards, and just moving through the deep snow, it was no fun. And if I feel so strongly about it, why don’t I volunteer to do it?

But still, that just goes to show you the shallowness of the effort to recycle and create a sustainable food system, even at an institution that, in general, cares about environmental and social issues. If it mattered enough to the higher-ups at that institution, composting would happen all year round.

Posted in Composting, Gardening | Leave a Comment »

Backyard Biochar, Take 2

20 December 2009

Okay, so I did another burn today in my second attempt to make biochar. I used the same system as before, but with only pine (to get the fire started) and oak, no brush.

It seemed to work better, and definitely produced less smoke and more heat. I could see smoke coming out from under the lid of the inner trash can and getting burned in the fire. Most of the initial charge of wood was used up after about 45 minutes, and I only added a little more oak.

I think the biggest problem is with the size of the barrels — I can’t fit enough wood in between them to make a fire that is long-lasting and hot enough (although I haven’t observed the results of today’s burn yet). I need either a larger outer barrel or a smaller inner barrel, or both. I don’t want to have to be standing around for hours feeding the fire one kindling-sized piece at a time.

Other things to do to improve this system: make more holes in the bottom of the large can, insulate the large can.

Other ideas: make a masonry enclosure for cooking/biochar production; make a rocket stove/biochar production system, perhaps based on that 10-gallon trash can.

Update: The results were, if anything, worse than the first time. I’m just not getting enough heat into the feedstock.

Posted in Biochar, Climate Change | Leave a Comment »