Carbon/Charcoal Finale

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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Just to finish off my tale,

My carbon expert worked on the downed trees in the neighborhood and made several bags of charcoal.
I paid for his time.
In return was given four bags.
He sold the rest to the neighbors.

The neighborhood was thankful for the tree cleanup and also for the carbon, which they need badly for their cooking.

In all, I turned out to be the Christmas elf ..... appreciated by many.

Thanks for all your input.

Merry Christmas, 🎄*
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
23
38
Just to finish off my tale,

My carbon expert worked on the downed trees in the neighborhood and made several bags of charcoal.
I paid for his time.
In return was given four bags.
He sold the rest to the neighbors.

The neighborhood was thankful for the tree cleanup and also for the carbon, which they need badly for their cooking.

In all, I turned out to be the Christmas elf ..... appreciated by many.

Thanks for all your input.

Merry Christmas, ��*

and I thought lumps of coal in a stocking was a bad thing. Evidently not in the DR!
 
May 29, 2006
10,265
200
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Just to finish off my tale,

My carbon expert worked on the downed trees in the neighborhood and made several bags of charcoal.
I paid for his time.
In return was given four bags.
He sold the rest to the neighbors.

The neighborhood was thankful for the tree cleanup and also for the carbon, which they need badly for their cooking.

In all, I turned out to be the Christmas elf ..... appreciated by many.

Thanks for all your input.

Merry Christmas, ��*

Charcoal is still quite common at the colmados. Most seems to come from coppicing branches on trees on a regular basis. Biochar is a very intersting tech. Use ground charcoal to improve soil.
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
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Always use it in my soil... works well.

Funny Steve, very good.
Wish I thought of it..... hahaha

I took a bit of a whipping when I suggested making carbon in a previous thread.....
breaking laws, etc.

It shows to go you how far of the road we sometimes are here in RD when we try to guage the Dominican psyche.
Whodathunk I was pleasing the locals by doing such an outrageous thing ??

Actually, I had a clue..... hence, I proceeded.

And yes, carbon is a necessity in many, many communities.
The law is aimed at commercial fabrication, not those trying to survive day to day.....IMO
 
May 29, 2006
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Charcoal production can be sustainable and Carbon negative when biochar is a byproduct. Most is produced inefficiently using green feedstock and no retort system. Tons of videos on this on YouTube. Yard and ag waste are being made into briquettes in much of Asia.
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
8,215
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www.
Biochar and briquettes will soon be manufactured in Bonao from sustainable commercial forests at an industrial scale. Intention is for industrial sales at the start -- such as poultry producers that at the present time are buying charcoal. Fertilizer byproducts will also be available.*
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
Biochar and briquettes will soon be manufactured in Bonao from sustainable commercial forests at an industrial scale. Intention is for industrial sales at the start -- such as poultry producers that at the present time are buying charcoal. Fertilizer byproducts will also be available.*



I've heard that guayacanes and campece are best trees for carbon
 
May 29, 2006
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One of the emerging techniques is called Alley Cropping. Rows of trees grown for branches used for fuel/charcoal with food crops in between. Inga and Leucaena are names I hear often, but I don't know what they are called locally.

[video=youtube;Vtu8MF5WoSo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtu8MF5WoSo[/video]

Large bamboo varieties also work well for charcoal as a crop.
 
May 29, 2006
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Biochar and briquettes will soon be manufactured in Bonao from sustainable commercial forests at an industrial scale. Intention is for industrial sales at the start -- such as poultry producers that at the present time are buying charcoal. Fertilizer byproducts will also be available.*

Biochar is mixed in with the used chicken bedding and composted..
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
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I'm not an expert, but when we were planning this, they were very fussy about which wood they would use.
To get the proper heat and burn time*
 
May 29, 2006
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The hard part of producing charcoal is not burning it all while getting complete pyrolysis. The feedstock has to be heated to around 300? minimum with as little oxygen as possible getting in. Pure charcoal can be heated to 1000?, but wont burn without oxygen.

There are a ton of YouTubes on this. The Japanese seem to do it best by digging a hole in a hillside.
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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The briquette-producing plant located in Bonao will be using acacia mangium trees from a commercial plantation. They also contemplate using bamboo from other commercial plantations. They will start production as of spring 2017.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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From August 30th of this year:
Hondo Valle.- President Danilo Medina visited the south-western province of El?as Pi?a over the weekend to launch a project aimed at restoring the forests in the mountainous area.
The initiative will also create sources of income for local families, while ensuring environmental sustainability.
During his conversations with local farmers, the president declared that “From now on, anyone who cuts down trees will be put in jail,” referring to the illegal deforestation that is ravaging the landscape in the local area.
The reforestation project in Hondo Valle is a commitment taken on by the State towards the local farmers during another of his so-called surprise visits on July 3rd, in which during a flight over the area he was able to see the deforestation for himself.
Out of concern for the situation, Danilo Medina*set up a commission made up of the Minister of Agriculture, ?ngel Est?vez; the director of the Dominican Agrarian Institute Emilio Toribio; the director of the Banco Agr?cola, Carlos Segura Foster, Senator*Adriano S?nchez Roa, the provincial*governor and a member of the Amor por la Vida Farmers’ Cooperative and the Hondo Valle irrigation association,*with the task of drawing up a reforestation plan within 30 days.
During this weekend’s visit, Medina announced the immediate start of construction of greenhouses for cultivating saplings for replanting. This will soon be followed by other components that will ensure the project’s success and its acceptance by the community.
“If we don’t stop this now, in five, six or ten years everyone will have to leave. The destruction of these mountains is tragic, and has to be changed. We will give it all the necessary support. There is an inter-institutional team. Today we will start to build the greenhouses, because this is starting immediately. I asked the equipment to be here today,” said the president.
The reforestation program is one of the largest investments put into effect as a result of the president’s surprise visits.
More than 90,000 tareas will be planted with a range of trees, coffee and avocado, at a cost of more than RD$700 million.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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Targeting of Dominican Republic forests:
Because of Haiti running out of plant material to burn, Haitians have created an illegal market for coal on the Dominican side. Conservative estimates calculate the illegal movement of 115 tons of charcoal per week from the Dominican Republic to Haiti in 2014. Dominican officials estimate that at least 10 trucks per week are crossing the border loaded with charcoal.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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Soil erosion:
The most direct effect of deforestation is soil erosion. An estimated 15,000 acres (61*km2) of topsoil are washed away each year, with erosion also damaging other productive infrastructure such as dams, irrigation systems, roads, and coastal marine ecosystems. Soil erosion also lowers the productivity of the land, worsens droughts, and eventually leads to desertification, all of which increase the pressure on the remaining land and trees.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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Now, Senor Webster, you did not take a bit of a whipping when you first posted this. You were offered honest advice in how to stay out of trouble. Not only you, but any other "gringo" that may have felt inclined to participate in activities as such. You see, there are two very different ways of life here in this country, la Republica Dominicana. There are rules for Dominicans, and then there are rules for all others. Regardless of the type of business you participate in, any person who has attempted a run at either legitimate or other types of business here have learned this. Now, with that said, I for one was not passing judgement towards you, as he who is without sin shall cast the first stone...BUT...again, it was only offered as advice to you that this may not be the proper forum to announce your Christmas spirit in the art of giving....especially when it's linked to a practice that the Dominican government has been making an attempt at cracking down on. Yes, arrests have been made. To the extent of doing away with this business....of course not. But again, with knowledge of key players involved in this process, I only thought it was fair to advise you and or any others considering to partake, the potential ramifications of such actions. 90 days pre-detention is not a fun thing.....especially for charcoal, and moreso for expats. Nothing more, nothing less. Many people pooh-pooh laws or enforcement of such, that they consider petty or that may not apply to them....until the day it is not petty, and it does apply. That's when the GoFundMe page has to be set up, and everybody is looking for a good lawyer to help the nice gringo. Again, it was only meant as advice, then and now, nothing more/nothing less, and definitely not personal. To each their own.
 
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