Biochar Project Australia

Biochar or not to Biochar that is the Question

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Charmaster | Leave a comment

Biochar me for the missleading headline I am a bit rusty. I have been very busy indeed. Also I have a new camera : )

Here is the Gos.

December through to Feburauy the 8th I have been engaged in bringing the project “Biochar Industries” to fruition and setting up the projects for this year 2012.

I have completed all the paper work includeing 3 new Government Grants to help put Biochar on the map in Australia.

I am now working on the grant I won last year called Community Sustainable weeds out carbon in Project. I have several farms to test and a documentory to make and the most fun part is creating a mobile community kiln.

So I recieved a great email from Flow Force Technologies who happen to build mobile retorts and I am starting to investigate thier “Series 1, Model 250MG Batch Carboniser”

1 Biochar or not to Biochar that is the Question

BATCH CARBONISER Series 1, Model 250MG Product Brochure _d.

Here is a link to thier blog with a nice photo.

BATCH CARBONISER Series 1, Model 250MG

I was also given a set of plans for another kind of quick char concept. I have until 2013 to make up my mind thou

But you all know I can’t wait that long I want to be out at demo days doing and talking biochar so come on folks give me a hand. If you have a great biochar design and you think it would work good for a mobile community biochar unit then send me the info and lets get this going good.

Also if you have anything profound you would like to get into our Movie send me an email with the details.

Thursday sees the first community group taking advantage of the Adam retort Biochar Community kiln in Kunghur. I will be taking footage and will bring you a great update as soon as it happen.

Thats it for the update I am sure I left heaps out but you can always email me or comment on this post.

Char – u – Later

Charmaster Dolph Cooke

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Charmasters log

Tagged bio-char, biochar, biochar grants, Biochar Industries, biochar movie, biochar project, biochar the movie, biocharproject.org, community, community biochar, community kiln, Community Sustainable Weeds out Carbon in Project., sustainable biochar industries

biochar highlights 2011 the year at Biochar Project

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Charmaster | Leave a comment

Biochar highlights 2011. The year at Biochar Project.

Some might call him a maverick, others a genius, but Northern Rivers identity Dolph Cooke is passionate about sustainable living and biochar—and in the last 12 months has shown that he is a man of action. Some (but by no means all) of his achievements in the last 12 months include:

Maverick or Genius ?

Biochar Highlights from Biochar project kunghur 2011

Forming The Biochar Association of Australia, and Biochar Industries—and securing the ‘Hill of Abundance’ 3000 acre forest site at Kunghur as a base.
Constructing the first commercial Adam retort biochar kiln in Australia, and making it available for community use. (It is also the first in the western world.)
Holding community talks on biochar, and creating Biochar Action Learning Circles.
Receiving the United Nations Millennium Project Award 2011-2012 (Australasian Node)—for the Biochar Project’s sustainable education program.
Being awarded a commonwealth Government grant for the Biochar Project’s sustainable community ‘Weeds-out, carbon-in’ initiative.
Setting up the ‘Hill of Abundance Project’—the goal being food security for 500 families.
Hosting sustainable living working bees on site, ranging from swale-making to crop planting to compost making to biochar production to constructing buildings.
Formalising plans for an organic compost site and biochar production facility for community use on Kyogle Road, Kunghur.
Making biochar from ‘The Hill of Abundance’ available commercially, and marketing TLUD units (Top Lit Up Draft Gasifier) that make biochar and double as a cooking stove.

With this groundwork in place, 2012 looks even more action-packed. If you want to get involved or know what’s going on, log in to http://biocharproject.org/news and get on to the mailing list.

Sustainable living and social responsibility are the hot issues for 2012, and Dolph is a hands-on trail-blazer with a knack for turning big ideas into practical reality. Watch this man!

Biochar Highlights brought to you by the letters D and B and the number 1

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Charmasters log

Tagged australia, biochar, biochar association of australia, biochar highlights, Biochar Industries, biochar project, charcoal, charcoal highlights, charcoal project, hill of abundance, kunghur, nsw

Bush mechanic. Seeing the new in the Old.

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Charmaster | Leave a comment

Bush mechanic project number 1 completed. Here is a run down on how it all panned out. I was approached by Dr Paul Wildman on behalf of the Nunda Lions club to use my bush mechanics skills to help the Men of Labrador’s MENSHED build a better stove for their aid project.

DSCN2921 1024x768 Bush mechanic. Seeing the new in the Old.

Wombat the carbon Dog

So Wombat, Gillian (Photographer) and my self trekked out to the Labrador men’s shed where we were able to grasp their project much better.
Peter welcomed us and brought us up to speed on the entire project.

Which is a great bush mechanics project in its own right. The men at Labrador men shed have a link with the chief of a village in Vanuatu.
Peter and the boys introduced their first stoves because the women of the village would have to walk many kilometres to try and find wood to cook food on. So they invented a stove that would be more efficient and much more safer to the young ones that live in the village.
Now the stove the boys made was much safer than the pit fires and much more efficient, the stove was also made from reused BBQ gas canisters that are thrown out. The Biochar project’s job was to make it better. I added a cleaner burning concept and a by product concept to throw in the mix.

Bush Mechanics

Set the boys the new tasks and headed off back into the forest. It wasn’t long before the new prototype photos were emailed back to me for inspection.
I was delighted these expert bush mechanic / Craftsmen created such a good stove their was nothing I could add.
The best part of today’s visit was seeing all the men proud as punch showing off their handy work and having the ABC Interview us for Coast FM 91.7 ABC.
Big Thanks to.
Dr Paul Wildmam
Kalgrove KIDS and Adult Learning
Crafter-circle.com the journal of the bush mechanics
Nundah Lions Club
Labrador Men’s Shed
Biochar Industries
ABC Radio 91.7 Coast FM