cascadiamax

The researchers will find little synergy in a flock of waving flags. Perhaps they will be able to prove more with wiggly living things. Unfortunately, leaders are not always chosen for their authenticity or perceptiveness. The book on horse sense was written by a woman, but it carries a cross gender/race message about the role of sensibility and authenticity in relationships and making choices. It sure resonates with me, anyhow. Essential to The Art of War is the art of consensus, otherwise, it is just an tool for the Napoleons to conquer the world. Consensus is a concurrence of senses, and if everyone has a role to play in making the world a better place, everyone needs to be "serene and inscrutable" in their senses.

I will look up that link. One for you in exchange - how horses pick their leaders. Most people think the stallion leads, but the alpha mares are the ones that run the show. How horses communicate and sort out that leadership is fascinating study. The relationship between humans and horses holds even more value in understanding an extrasensory approach to leadership. Epona Books: Tao of Equus

Excellent point!

Your post raises many questions. Can you share more details? In what forest region of the states is the plant located? Is a specific plant manufacturer being used? Is that 30 tons per day (TPD)? How is the pyrolysis gas collected? Where is the char sold? Char from wood waste, then mixed with chicken manure - the method Christoph Steiner reports from Terra Preta test plots in Slash and Char. The added crop value from this approach is thought to be from the enhanced food (manure) and shelter (char) environment for microbes to thrive and support the soil foodweb. The priority foremost priority seems to be removing CO2 out of the atmosphere. It can sit as char in a salt cave for a thousand years if necessary. If someone will pay $200/ton for that, great. Otherwise, farm and forest soils are a most sensible path for char as long as the material cost is low enough to stimulate use. There are many reports of amazing results using EM with soils. Few of them, if any, have been validated scientifically in the US for general Ag production, when EM is used alone or with other chemical fertilizers. Proper tests need to be done. To do amazing things, microbes need food, shelter, air and water just like we do. A type of Bokashi mix for soils may be more appropriate than straight EM, or EM with char. That suggests the critters will fare better in intensive organic or biodynamic types of cultivation than the kind of rural agriculture best known in the San Joaquin or Willamette valleys.

Taildragerdriver, This biochar project in Denmark may be interesting to you. The method of farming practiced is not the norm in your area nor in mine, but it is rather well suited to a CSA farm business model - perhaps like those around Portland, OR. Nonetheless, there is something about seeing a pyrolysis machine with sterling engine in a greenhouse - is it the promise the wood inputs are so exquisitely used for heat/electricity and the charcoal is used directly on the farm? Nothing is wasted and the use of charcoal in soil is so readily accepted. I wish we could visit the place and build this way here in Oregon. Translated version of http://www.aarstiderne.com/Aarstiderne/Om-aarstiderne/Ide-og-baggrund/Miljoet/Pyrolyse.aspx You might also find Linda Kohanov's book on exploring the potential of horse/human relationships useful. It speaks with the same transformative authority as The Secret. Epona Books: Tao of Equus When you get a chance to respond, how goes your progress on marketing charcoal? How much bio-oil you envision producing from the 1 TPD facility? When would the plant pay back it's initial investment?

So, it sounds like the leader is usually the one that has learned how to do the most with the least amount of energy - the one that stays cool under pressure of decision making, without wasting energy on work, fear, uncertainty and doubt - even when facing the unknown. This individual in the pack, herd, flock or school is more likely to find the next place for the herd to eat or find safety from predators. In competition, the leader is the one best able to judge and stay to his or her known best course in spite of the pressure of others to sway. Being second, third or fourth in the pack on the way to the goal would, in this case, be a side effect of an attitude of achievement. The people in the lead typically share a mutual respect in common. Exchanging positions during the race is common. The final push is about finding the personal resources inside to be the best. Another note: the "agony of defeat" idea promoted by ABC Sports in the 70's generated excitement to attract an audience to competition, but it suggested how the loser should feel.

"Is it possible to have subconscious fear of certain people?" It is possible. The body has a sense of things that cannot be understood by rational thinking alone. This sense is what gave rise to a phrase like "gut instincts" or "trust your heart." Hanging around horses is a good way to get in touch with these senses. Hence the term "horse sense." A lot of growing up is about learning how to feel and how to express feelings. Being able to reason with feelings is the holy grail of consensus - a concurrence in everyone's senses. Through verbal and other abuses, perceptions and feelings are conditioned to be hidden or avoided. Intellect becomes king, and sensitivity is labeled bad. When feelings show up in a big way later on, they are difficult to deal with, and tend to be destructive on ourselves and others. There are two good books to go deeper deeper with this. The Tao of Eqqus and The Verbally Abusive Relationship: and How to Recognize It and How to Respond

The plant at Aarstiderne is a good example of biochar integration with a farm operation. It is not clear if the plant is from a commercial venture. The stirling engine is not ready for export yet. I cannot post links yet, so search for the dot com. A description of the farm and pyrolizer can be found on the OM AARSTIDERNE link, under Ide og baggrund. It may require Google for translation as well.

There is also GreenPyro, north of San Francisco. They claim to be a developer of an advanced pyrolysis furnace. Full scale operation is about a year away.

Field tests in Oregon with effective microbes (EM) from SCD and EM America on strawberries, beans and zucchini showed no noticeable difference than the controls. It was not a scientific trial, but enough to expect little gains with biochar. EM reportedly does better with wastewater treatment, as a probiotic for livestock and as a compost conditioner. Charcoal mixed with chicken manure does best. Cogentech Inc. in Wilsonville, Oregon (USA) advocated a Bioten system. A form of direct fired wood burning gas turbine. There is a rumor over here they are looking at biochar production of some sort.

Domes have always been fun to think about living in. They feel spacious, but have difficult acoustics, and can be difficult for some people to live in. It is more a love-hate thing. There is still debate whether they are more efficient on materials when used as a home.

... and I neglected to concur with your comment about using biochar as a compost extender. Also, good points on acidity. Notes well taken on blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Taildragerdriver's distribution area is in the non-berry part of the state, so perhaps nursery, pasture, orchard, compost additives, and garden stores are his only options for sales.

Cedars, The Oregon State University Extension Service is suggesting 100 lbs/acre of Nitrogen for mature pear trees, one half of which comes from the current-season fertilizer application and the remainder from the soil N pool. It is applied one month prior to harvest. For blueberries, the recommendation is 120lbs/acre, but I can recall no berry crops in that region. Those do not seem to be low N numbers, but then, I am not a farmer in the area. Tree crops like a PH of 6.0. Would a slightly acidic char as reported earlier in this thread cause Oregon high desert soils to go below that number and require lime? Some balanced kind of biochar fertilizer is needed here, with all the goodies plants need. All the NPKSMgBZn and lime seems to come from a mine somewhere and gets lost in the process of production. It sounds like Terra Preta soils will give base nutrient retention capability to the soil from which a sustainable fertility can be maintained with renewable manure type nutrients.

Cowboy Charcoal at $5 for an 8lb bag is equal to $1250/ton. That should be easy to compete with. If you are close to the cherry, apple or pear orchards near Hood River or the peach orchards near Enterprise, there should be some organic farms interested in getting a fertile biochar to work with. There should also be farms near La Grande that might want to experiment. They would need more than bags, though. The ABRI 1 DTPD process probably describes the feedstock rate, of which the biochar is likely to be 25%, for about 90 tons of biochar per year. You should be able to get about $600/ton if it is dry mixed with NPK, organic manure and microbials. That should make the best TP soil, and competes with inorganic fertilizer prices. Nurseries, if any in NE Oregon, should be early adopters. Remember, you will have a carbon-negative product. That is your pitch. Who would NOT want to sell carbon-negative fruit, grain, hay, seed, or potatoes?

Mostly just interested in preserving our place and togetherness on the planet. Nothing else really matters. So, I might as well just go about doing so. Peak-everything looms, and I need to help my kid get through the next 50 years with a decent life. She's not old enough for Martenson's The Crash Course (it is worth googling for), so I need to take the lead and build the future for her to thrive in. I hope to have help from those of you equally intent on turning Armageddon into Eden. What a jolly good crowd to be in whatever the outcome.