Stove testing begins…

Today (09/04/2010) we practised using the Anila and the Everything Nice stove, before the controlled testing is carried out.

Small pieces of wood (around 5cm x 2cm) were used, as well as rice straw and cow dung in different amounts. Water was boiled and different lighting methods experimented with – some worked better than others!

Information from today will be used to slightly modify the stove design where required to increase usability / efficiency.

The Anila stove 09/04/2010

The Everything Nice stove 09/04/2010

Stove construction: 06/04/2010

Stoves are being made at the Iron Workshop, which is about 15km from Siem Reap town centre.

The Anila stove, and the Everything stove were selected for the project, in addition to the Anderson TLUD, which is already being made at the workshop. More information to follow about the stoves!

Testing will begin on the stoves this week, then they will be deployed into the community for further trials.

Biochar Malaysia 2010

Sarah represented the biochar innovation project at this workshop on 25.03.10 at the University of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It had a varied programme which included the potential of biochars to remediate polluted soils from Dr. Hale and Cornelissen from the Norwegien Geotechnical Institute, and some novel methods of passive sampling for contaminants.

A summary of the networks for biochar research in SE Asia was given by Trevor Richards from the IBI SE Asia group.

A TLUD (version by Anderson) was demonstrated by the workshop host Dr Bachmann from the University of Kuala Lumpur who also discussed the production of biochar from household to industrial scale.

Anderson's TLUD - tested 25.03.10 by Dr Bachmann. Photo courtesy of University of Kuala Lumpur

UKBRC conference 28-29th April 2010

The UKBRC’s second annual meeting will be held at Rothamsted in the UK in April.

For more information and to register go to:

http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/sccs/biochar/rothamsted2010

Focus on… the TLUD

The TLUD (Top Lit Up Draft) gasifier was originally designed by Paal Wendelbo which he took to Africa in 1988. Since then, the design has been adapted and distributed around the world. A prototype of the design amended by Anderson has been produced and tested in Cambodia. A model was also adapted by ARTI in India.

It is a double chamber system, which is lit from the top, a chimney can be added and the air flows in via a tube at the bottom. More complex versions have a fan to force air into the system.

Feedstock is gasified meaning it burns with a smokeless flame. Waste biomass including wood shavings, corn stubble, coconut husks, reeds, sugar cane bagasse have been tested. Charcoal / biochar is produced which can be burned in the unit, or saved to be burned at a later date.

Prices for this stove vary, depending on the design and materials. The design by Anderson includes a ‘refugee’ and ‘artisan’ version to suit different target audiences.

TLUD produced by the Iron Workshop, Siem Reap, Feb 2010.

2nd Launching Event and Inception Workshop

Dr Simon Shackley and Sarah Carter from the University of Edinburgh attended the launch event of the project on 8-9 December 2009 in Bangkok.

The event was a great opportunity to receive feedback on the project plan, and to discuss new ideas with AIT and the other winners of the second round of grants.

Participative Distributed Innovation Processes and Biochar: Smoke Reduction, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Management

Participative Distributed Innovation Processes and Biochar:

Smoke Reduction, Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Management

This project has been awarded a small grant, through the ‘Enabling Bio-innovations for Poverty Alleviation in Asia Project‘ programme by the Asia Institute of Technology and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC).