How to Make Biochar With Clean SOLAR Power
Biochar is easy to make with solar power – just directed heat from the sun can reach 1000 degrees F. Hot enough to make biochar. For wastefree23.org biochar is very important – biochar is a good additive for soils. Biochar can be made from leaves and grasse and twigs, the types of materials that are often burned to get rid of them.
Once made biochar can be sold – it is worth possibly hundreds of dollars a tonne. Biochar can be mixed with wet clay and formed into briquettes for cooking – this allows for burning relatively cleanly the grasses and leaves that can not be burned without creating a lot of smoke and little heat.
Supplies
A sealable metal can, a parabolic or trough solar heat concentrator, dried leaves and twigs, ceramic insulation is nice to have to speed up the process, if possible a very thick heavy steel box, plate or pipe to protect the thinner steel container for the bio char. You can use aluminum container to hold the biochar – but the focal point of the parabolic mirror is hot enough to burn a hole through certain types of aluminum so beware.
Also please where gloves and sun glasses…the reflection from these mirrors is hot and intense. Not a good thing for your eyes or skin!
Step 1:
Here is the super simple set up. A quart can to hold the leaves, a very thick wall tube to protect the can, white ceramic insulation to keep the heat in the steel pipe to better cook the leaves
Step 2:
Place the leaves and other organic debris in the can and seal. Make sure the leaves etc are dry…if they are wet it is OK but the process will take much longer as the temperature needs to get to 500 degrees or and the water boiling will slow that process down.
Step 3:
Place the sealed can in the steel tube. Note that there is a small hole in the lid. This allows the hot air to escape. There will be some smoke at first as the oxygen in the can will allow the leaves to burn – but as soon as that oxygen is used then the biochar will be created. It is fun to have an infrared thermometer. the highest temperature is saw was about 650 degrees F
Step 4:
Remove the can – which now has a nice patena. the leaves are now biochar. Be careful with the hot biochar. Since it can begin to burn when exposed to oxygen. Adding water to the biochar when you first remove it is a good way to keep it from combusting.
Got questions?