From: Anderson, Paul <psanders@ilstu.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2018 9:51 AM
To: Gordon West <gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com>; Gordon gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com <biochar@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: Rick Wilson <rick012@yahoo.com>; Kathleen Draper <draper@ithaka-institut.org>; biochar@yahoogroups.com; Anderson, Paul <psanders@ilstu.edu>
Subject: Claim value for PBG RE: Putting biochar in its place WAS RE: [biochar] Al Gore’s right
Gordon,
That is very good point!!! (Others should read your message (below) to know the context). And your project is an excellent case study!!
This also applies to the biochar that is created in the TLUD cookstoves because the pyrolytic gases are used for cooking.
My personal preference is to not use the term “syngas”, which has some special meanings that do not apply to many of the gases coming from the making of charcoal. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngas
I have sometimes used the term Pyrolytic Biogas or PBG to distinguish what comes off of making charcoal as being different from commonly understood Biogas which comes from anerobic digestion of biomass (call it ABG ? or DBG ?). Biogas has its long history and following that we cannot change. But we can build upon the clean-burning reputation of regular biogas with a preceding descriptive word such as Pyrolytic to call it PBG (and “equate it” with LPG when in an appropriate burner such as a TLUD device.
Comments about PBG would be appreciated. (It took over 10 years for TLUD to be an accepted term within the stoves and biochar communities —- but still needs to be explained to outsiders.)
Paul
Doc / Dr TLUD / Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Exec. Dir. of Juntos Energy Solutions NFP
Email: psanders@ilstu.edu<mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu> Skype: paultlud
Phone: Office: 309-452-7072 Mobile: 309-531-4434
Website: www.drtlud.com<www.drtlud.com>
From: Gordon West <gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com<mailto:gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com>>
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2018 9:22 AM
To: Gordon gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com<mailto:gordon.west@rtnewmexico.com> <biochar@yahoogroups.com<mailto:biochar@yahoogroups.com>>
Cc: Anderson, Paul <psanders@ilstu.edu<mailto:psanders@ilstu.edu>>; Rick Wilson <rick012@yahoo.com<mailto:rick012@yahoo.com>>; Kathleen Draper <draper@ithaka-institut.org<mailto:draper@ithaka-institut.org>>
Subject: Re: Putting biochar in its place WAS RE: [biochar] Al Gore’s right
Still missing from the economic discussion (unless I missed it) is the potential to use the energy from the syngas for profit, and to displace fossil use. In our ‘just started’ pilot project in northern New Mexico we plan to heat a building on a college campus using syngas to replace propane. The present annual cost with propane is $50,000 – assuming a sales price of $500/ton for the char we project an annual profit of $10,000 from heating that building, a $60,000 net revenue swing.
Add to that the avoided fossil fuel CO2 contribution. And add again the environmental restoration benefits from using forest thinnings. Might as well add again the jobs and rural economy boost from using local feedstocks.
Gordon West
The Trollworks
503 N. “E” Street
Silver City, NM 88061
575-537-3689
An entrepreneur sees problems as the seeds of opportunity.