Dear Anand ----- Original Message ----- From: Anand Karve To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2010 11:19 PM Subject: Re: [Stoves] [biochar] Capturing carbon in the timber industry
Dear Kevin, the need of the hour is fuel. By leaving the branches, leaves and bark lying on the forest floor, you sacrifice a large amount of energy. # Yes, there is indeed a large amount of energy left behind. Here in Nova Scotia, the general rule for natural coniferous pulpwood harvesting is that there is about 1/2 the total tree mass left behind as slash, after a clearcut harvesting. Generally there would be less slash from a sawlog clearcut. The soil has enough minerals to support forestry and agriculture indefinitely. These minerals have very low solubility in water, and therefore the root hairs of the plants are not able to absorb them efficiently, but the soil micro-organisms can absorb them much more efficiently, because they absorb through their entire cell surface. The microbes then make the mineral nutrients available to plants. It is an accepted fact that there exists a positive correlation between the number of soil microbes per g soil and the soil fertility. Applying about 50 kg green leaves to the soil, once every three months, is enough to maintain a high microbial population density in the soil. # Supplying organic matter to the soil to support the necessary life-forms is indeed important. In locations where the relative cost of labor is low and the cost of energy is high, different "rules" make sense, compared to such places as Canada, the US and New Zealand, where labor costs are relatively high, and the value of the slash, as either energy of charcoal, is low. Additionally, in India, with manual harvesting, smaller diameter wood is much easier to collect than larger wood, while here in Nova Scotia, the smaller wood, being much more labor intensive, is left behind. # Additionally, much of our forest cover, in our Northerly location, is coniferous, and don't have the leaf fall to replenish the soil organic matter that deciduous trees provide. I don't think there is "one solution", but rather, a number of solutions that would depend on the site specific circumstances. However, having said that, if one "general solution" was proposed, then it would probably be best to err by leaving more slash behind, rather than removing too much. Best wishes, Kevin Yours Anand On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 12:30 PM, Kevin <[email protected]> wrote: Dear John Leaving the tops, limbs, and stump on site after harvesting is probably a good thing, especially if the slash is driven over by the harvesting machinery. Crushing it down helps it to return organic matter to the soil, and minimize the fire hazard if it is allowed to dry without contact with the ground. Something like 90% of the nutrients in a tree are in the branches and leaves or needles, and it is a big mistake to remove them from the site. It can lead to rapid nutrient depletion. Removing the stumps for their biomass loosens the ground excessively, and can aggravate possible erosion problems. "Natural" stands, in contrast to plantations, invariably have a range of tree species, some of which have commercial value, and some of which don't. It makes sense to harvest the "unmerchantable stems" for fuel or charcoaling purposes. However, leaving the tops, limbs, leaves/needles and stumps seems to be a good step toward sustainable forest management. Best wishes, Kevin Chisholm ----- Original Message ----- From: John Nissen To: [email protected] Cc: Ron Larson ; Biochar-production ; Discussion biomass ; Ron Larson Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2010 6:21 PM Subject: [biochar] Capturing carbon in the timber industry Hi all, I've just had a month's holiday in New Zealand, where forestry is big business, and was horrified by the way they apparently left wood debris on the ground after taking the timber away. They also left stumps in the ground to rot away. Has any thought been given into capturing the carbon left after the timber is removed? It must be a major source of CO2 and methane. Cheers, John __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (4) Recent Activity: a.. New Members 1 Visit Your Group MARKETPLACE Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers Center. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions! Explore new interests. Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use. __,_._,___ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3323 - Release Date: 12/18/10 _______________________________________________ Stoves mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address Stoves mailing list to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://www.bioenergylists.org/ [email protected] http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org -- *** Dr. A.D. Karve President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) *Please change my email address in your records to: [email protected] * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Stoves mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address Stoves mailing list to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://www.bioenergylists.org/ [email protected] http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3326 - Release Date: 12/19/10
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