Yesterday I ran across this YouTube video. Here pine forest debris (pine needles, pine cones, twigs and branches) is run through a hammer mill and a pellet machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOp__fEb9KM
These pellets could be used as fuel in a pellet gasifier: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1567a.JPG https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1568a.JPG The gasifier shown here is only 25 cm in height, and if completely filled with pelllets, it produces gas for as long as 1.5 hours. The biochar from this pellet gasifier comes out in pelleted form: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22013094/150%20Gasifier/Short/Photos/IMG_1563.JPG Here in Vietnam there are a lot of pine forests. The government has instituted a program of controlled burns to prevent catastrophic forest fires. In dry season the air quality in the vicinity of Dalat where I live is really bad. The smoke, greenhouse gases and soot released from this controlled burning constitute a major environmental problem. All of the energy released by these controlled burns is totally wasted. At the same time, a lot of people go into the forests and chop down trees to make charcoal to burn in charcoal stoves. Deforestation is a major problem. Due to their link to deforestation, charcoal stoves, in certain areas of Vietnam, should be banned. If forest debris could be collected, hammer-milled and pelleted, then it would not be necessary to do controlled burns. Minority peoples, who live within the forests, could earn substantial money collecting forest debris. Small pellet-making facilities could be set up along the edges of forests. Some pellets could be used by minority people for household cooking, and some pellets could be sold. The biochar produced from these pellets is quite valuable. Numerous studies have shown that pine needle biochar has exceptional properties (search "pine needle biochar". Some biochar could be sold, and some could be returned to replenish forest soils. In Vietnam, over 80% of agricultural land is devoted to rice. In the highland areas where rice is not grown, there is coffee. In highland areas where coffee is not grown, there are pine forests. So Vietnam has an abundance of rice hulls, rice straw, coffee husks, pine needles, pine cones and other forest debris. No shortage of biomass here. Thanks. Paul Olivier -- Paul A. Olivier PhD 26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong Dalat Vietnam Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam) Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam) Skype address: Xpolivier http://www.esrla.com/
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