GO · Projects · Nicaragua

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Charcoal for Change (Nicaragua)

Made from recycled materials, the BioChar oven produces carbon negative emissions. It REDUCES green house gases when burning.

13 minutes into the test a piece of wood is placed over almost all of the primary air duct to reduce the size of the flame.

The first experiment looks like a success!

2 minutes into the test, the stove`s fabricator, Wilmer, admires the nice flame already emerging. No fan or forced draft was used in the beginning, only a couple cents worth of kerosene applied to a few pieces of firewood on the top.

GO field scientist inspects the flames and emissions.

Biochar output can be planted into the soil to increase crop yield.

Summary
This project works to develop and implement a simple, portable stove that turns waste biomass into biochar, a soil amendment that provides structure, nutrients, water retention, and fertilization. In the combustion process, sustainable bioenergy is created while effectively sequestering carbon dioxide and greatly reducing the harmful particulate emissions of traditional primitive wood-burning stoves. This project will have two phases: a construction and distribution phase followed by a training and implementation phase.

More Information About this Project
from our man in nicaragua
I got a metalworker to make a gasifying stove similar to the Anila that uses materials that are cheap here, and can thus be produced for as little as $10-15. This cheaper stove is a simple TLUD, or top-lit up-draft stove, which has been shown to work through small development projects in India and Africa. I am currently receiving technical support on the first Nicaraguan-made version of this stove from Dr. Paul Anderson, the American pioneer and expert on this technology and a mentor of mine. His design has been shown to have remarkable efficiency, extremely low emissions, and is gaining notoriety because it produces biochar (albeit in lower quantities and somewhat different way than the Anila). Dr. Anderson spoke with other biochar experts at the North American Biochar Conference, which recently received a lot of attention, and SeaChar has hosted events with him to advance the technology, education, and dissemination of his stoves... Scott Eaton 31.Aug.2009
country and focus
This project is located in Nicaragua. The main focus of this project is on improving the Environment. For more information about Nicaragua, read the Wikipedia entry for Nicaragua.

Who is Running this Project
GO PROJECT MANAGER	GO PROJECT PARTNER
Kyle Miller Creative Director Groundwork Opportunities (GO) 1402 Campus Drive Berkeley, CA 94708 e: kyle@goworks.org t: w: http://www.goworks.org	Scott Eaton Project Manager Seattle Biochar Working Group (SeaChar) 2442 NW Market St. #552 Seattle, WA e: t: 206-612-3018 w: http://www.seachar.org/

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