BLACK COAL

Black coal (ebony, Kurozumi, UK : Soft charcoal ) and is, wood and earthen furnace use a carbide was charcoal is. Main component is nearly carbon is, a very small amount alkali salt contains.

The Nature of Black Coal

Black coal is mainly oak, oak, oak, etc. are charcoal at a relatively low temperature in a dedicated earthen furnace, it has been prepared by sealed extinguished charcoal is.

Charcoal typified by hard charcoal major difference between is in the process, hard charcoal is compared to an internal temperature at the time of refining is about 1000 degrees, black coal is the about 700 degrees from 400 degrees . However, in recent years to refining at a high temperature to reach the equivalent of 1000 degrees and during the hard charcoal refining, carbide rate hard charcoal equivalent of eucalyptus there is also a high-quality black coal using the material and the like.

The main difference between black charcoal and hard charcoal is a fire fighting method, hard charcoal is scraped out of the kiln in a state where the burning, but to quench fire suppression over the white poppy powder, even in chimney in helping black coal is that the lid to the opening-fired the lid, there is a point to be extinguished over time like a pot off in the presence of an acid deficiency.

Black coal is soft compared to the hard charcoal, can be ignited by a relatively easy ignition agent and a burner than hard charcoal, combustion temperature and force of flames itself is strong, easy to ignite.

Brand

It brand of black coal, but there is a charcoal using a variety of trees in various places. The typical black coal,

• Hokkaido charcoal (second only to Iwate in the production volume)
• Iwate "Iwate Kirizumi" (tree species is mostly Nara. Japan Iwate Prefecture charcoal Association top share in a unified brand. Black coal production volume of)
• Akita charcoal (black coal, Nara in White Charcoal both)
• Gifu "Kamiishizu Tokiyama charcoal" (tree species is oak, oak, etc.)
• Hyogo "Ikeda charcoal" (tree species is oak)
• Kochi "Tosa black coal" (tree species is oak)
• Kumamoto "Kashiki charcoal"

Uses

The main use of black carbon is fuel. In recent years, there is a strong demand in the barbeque applications.

Although there is a case in which is also used in traditional heating that uses a gradual combustion of buried in ash, such as a fireplace, it is necessary ventilation for the components derived from carbon monoxide and wood vinegar is more likely to occur during combustion, in recent years it is very dangerous in a high thermal insulation and high air-tight housing.

In black coal sausage barbecue

Black coal applications is different, it has been effectively utilized in various fields.

It was molded by the grounds of tea of ​​coffee beans in black coal "Haikaro charcoal

Fuel
Deodorant, Deodorization, Dehumi

The black coal There are a lot of small gap, it is possible to adsorb moisture and odor there. In addition to deodorant and dehumidification of room and storage space, it is also used in the whole house dehumidifier to spread under the floor. In order to lose dehumidification deodorizing ability with the lapse of time, or to be dried regularly sun-dried, it is preferable to replace every few years.

Blacksmith, Forging, Pottery

Forging, the black coal is used to burn at a high temperature. Mainly strong firepower, Songtan, Kurisumi, miscellaneous trees charcoal is used, has been referred to as a blacksmith charcoal collectively. Contains a lot of combustible components other than carbon, such as resin, and blowing 1000 degrees or more of the high temperature is obtained, (which is dangerous because of Using the blacksmith charcoal back to the cooking and heating sparks and smoke odor) it is essential to forging 

Also pottery in the field of, at home, black coal and charcoal stove if any, blowers, small charcoal stove pottery can be performed.

- Wikipedia 

WHITE CHARCOAL- Binchō-tan

Binchō-tan or white charcoal or binchō-zumi (備長炭) is a traditional charcoal of Japan. It dates to the Edo period when during the Genroku era, a craftsman named Bichū-ya Chōzaemon (備中屋 長左衛門) began to produce it in Tanabe, Wakayama. The raw material is oak, specifically ubame oak (Quercus phillyraeoides), now the official tree of Wakayama Prefecture. Wakayama continues to be a major producer of high-quality charcoal, with the town of Minabe, Wakayama producing more binchō-tan than any other town in Japan. Binchōtan is a type of Lump charcoal or Hardwood charcoal.

Binchō-tan / white charcoal

The fineness and high quality of binchō-tan are attributed to steaming at high temperatures (about 1000 degrees Celsius). Although it is often thought that binchō-tan burns hot, it actually burns at a lower temperature than ordinary charcoal but for a longer period, making it preferable to a number of Japanese chefs. Because it does not release smoke or other unpleasant odours, it is a favorite of Unami  (freshwater eel) and yakitori (skewered chicken) cooks. Due to difficulties in identifying the producing region, the name binchō-tan has come into broader use to designate white charcoal generally, and even products from outside Japan, as well as those made of other species, have come to use the name.

To differentiate the aforementioned "non-pure" products, there is a movement to call binchō-tan produced in Wakayama kishū binchō-tan.

Burning Binchōtan

Binchō-tan has found uses other than as a fuel. Because it has numerous small pores, it can absorb chemical substances. Bits can be added to rice during cooking to remove the chlorinated tap water taste, placed in shoe-cabinets to absorb odors, and put in rooms to freshen the air. There are many more supposed benefits and health values of white charcoal. Currently there are a number of binchō-tan-based consumer products on the market such as socks, shirts, shampoo, cosmetic products, and many more. Acclaimed London yakitori restaurant Bincho takes its name from binchō-tan.

Binchō-tan or white charcoal is harder than black charcoal, and rings with a metallic sound when struck. Wind chimes and a musical instrument, the tankin ("charcoal-xylophone") have been made from it.

- Wikipedia 

SLASH-AND-CHAR

Slash-and-char is an alternative to slash-and-burn that has a lesser effect on the environment. It is the practice of charring the biomass resulting from the slashing, instead of burning it as in the slash-and-burn practice. The resulting residue matter charcoal and biochar improves the soil.

In that context, charcoal can be made by numerous and varied methods, from the simplest (an earth cover on the pile of wood, with strategically placed vents) to the most sophisticated (a modern plant that recuperates and recycles strictly all exhaust gases). (See also: biomass explaining some of these methods and advantages.)

Slash-and-char offers considerable benefits to the environment when compared to slash-and-burn.

It results in the creation of biochar, which can then be mixed with biomass, such as crop residues, food waste, manure and / or other, and buried in the soil to bring about the formation of terra preta. Terra preta is one of the richest soils on the planet - and the only one known to regenerate itself, although precisely how this happens is hotly debated within the scientific community.

It moreover sequesters considerable quantities of carbon in the safest and most beneficial fashion, as opposite to the negative effects of the slash-and-burn. Switching to slash-and-char can sequester up to 50% of the carbon in a highly stable form. The nascent carbon trading market that sponsors CO₂ sequestration projects, could therefore help supplement the farmers' income while supporting a decrease in the pace of deforestation and the development of a more sustainable agriculture.

References

Lehmann – Biochar sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, supra note 11 at 407 (“If this woody aboveground biomass were converted into biochar by means of simple kiln techniques and applied to soil, more than 50% of this C would be sequestered in a highly stable form.”)

- Wikipedia 

SLASH-AND-BURN

Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique that involves the cutting and burning of plants in forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology. It is typically key in shifting cultivation agriculture, and in transhumance livestock herding.

Old terms for slash-and-burn in English include assarting, swidden, and fire-fallow cultivation. Today the term slash-and-burn is mainly associated with tropical rain forests. Slash-and-burn is used by 200 million to 500 million people worldwide.  In 2004 it was estimated that, in Brazil alone, 500,000 small farmers cleared an average of one hectare of forest per year each.Template:(2.47105 acres) The technique is not sustainable in large populations, because without the trees, the soil quality becomes too poor to support crops. The farmers would have to move on to virgin foret and repeat the process. Methods such as Inga alley farming have been proposed as alternatives to this ecological destruction.

Slash-and-burn practices in Eno, Finland,  1893

History

Historically, slash-and-burn cultivation has been practiced throughout much of the world, in grasslands as well as woodlands.

Slash and Burn Indians

During the Neolithic Revolution, which included agricultural advancements, groups of hunter-gatherers domesticated various plants and animals, permitting them to settle down and practice agriculture, which provides more nutrition per hectare than hunting and gathering. This happened in the river valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Due to this decrease in food from hunting, as human populations increased, agriculture became more important. Some groups could easily plant their crops in open fields along river valleys, but others had forests blocking their farming land.

In this context, humans used slash-and-burn agriculture to clear more land to make it suitable for plants and animals. Thus, since Neolithic times, slash-and-burn techniques have been widely used for converting forests into crop fields and pastureFire was used before the Neolithic as well, and by hunter-gatherers up to present times. Clearings created by fire were made for many reasons, such as to draw game animals and to promote certain kinds of edible plants such as berries.

This satellite photograph illustrates slash-and-burn forest clearing along the Rio Xingu (Xingu River) in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Slash-and-burn fields are typically used and owned by a family until the soil is exhausted. At this point the ownership rights are abandoned, the family clears a new field, and trees and shrubs are permitted to grow on the former field. After a few decades, another family or clan may then use the land and claim usufructuary rights. In such a system there is typically no market in farmland, so land is not bought or sold in the open market and land rights are traditional. In slash-and-burn agriculture, forests are typically cut months before a dry season. The "slash" is permitted to dry, and then burned in the following dry season. The resulting ash fertilizes the soil and the burned field is then planted at the beginning of the next rainy season with crops such as upland rice, maize, cassava, or other staples. Most of this work is typically done by hand, using such basic tools as machetes, axes, hoes, and makeshift shovels.

Large families or clans wandering in the lush woodlands long continued to be the most common form of life through human history. Axes to fell trees and sickles for harvesting grain were the only tools people might bring with them. All other tools were made from materials they found at the site, such as fire stakes of birch, long rods (vanko), and harrows made of spruce tops. The extended family conquered the lush virgin forest, burned and cultivated their carefully selected swidden plots, sowed one or more crops, and then proceeded on to forests that had been noted in their wanderings. In the temperate zone the forest regenerated in the course of a lifetime. So swidden was repeated several times in the same area over the years. But in the tropics the forest floor gradually depleted. It was not only in the moors, as in Northern Europe, but also in the steppe, savannah, prairie, pampas and barren desert in tropical areas where shifting cultivation is the oldest type of farming (Clark 1952 91-107)

Historical References

Southern European Mediterranean climates have favored evergreen and deciduous forests. With slash-and-burn agriculture, this type of forest was less able to regenerate than those north of the Alps. Although in northern Europe one crop was usually harvested before grass was allowed to grow, in southern Europe it was more common to exhaust the soil by farming it for several years.

Classical authors mentioned large forests, with Homer writing about "wooded Samothrace," Zacynthos, Sicily, and other woodlands. These authors indicated that the Mediterranean area once had more forest; much had already been lost, and the remainder was primarily in the mountains.

Although parts of Europe aside from the north remained wooded, by the Roman Iron and early Viking Ages, forests were drastically reduced and settlements regularly moved. The reasons for this pattern of mobility, the transition to stable settlements from the late Viking period on, or the transition from shifting cultivation to stationary farming are unknown. From this period, plows are found in graves. Early agricultural peoples preferred good forests on hillsides with good drainage, and traces of cattle enclosures are evident there.

Painting by Eero Järnefelt of forest-burning

Greek explorer and merchant Pytheas of Marseilles made a voyage to Northern Europe around 330 BC, with part of his itinerary recorded by Polybios, Pliny and Strabo. Pytheas visited Thule, a six-day voyage north of Britain: "The barbarians showed us the place where the sun does not go to sleep. It happened because there the night was very short—in some places two, in others three hours—so that the sun shortly after its fall soon went up again." He describes a fertile land, "rich in fruits that were ripe only until late in the year, and the people there used to prepare a drink of honey. And they threshed the grain in large houses because of the cloudy weather and frequent rain. In the spring they drove the cattle up into the mountain pastures and stayed there all summer."

In Italy, shifting cultivation was a thing of the past by the birth of Christ. Tacitus describes it as a strange cultivation method, practiced by the Germans. In 98 AD, he wrote about the Germans that their fields were proportional to the participating cultivators but their crops were shared according to status. Distribution was simple, because of wide availability; they changed fields annually, with much to spare because they were producing grain rather than other crops. According to the original text, "Agri pro numero cultorum ab universis in vices occupantur, quos mox inter se secundum dignationem partiuntur, facilitatem partiendi camporum spatia praestant. Arva per annos mutant, et superest ager; nec enim cum ubertate et amplitudine soli labore contendunt, ut pomaria conserant et prata separent et hortos rigent; sola terrae seges imperatur". This is the practice of shifting cultivation.

During the Migration Period in Europe, after the Roman Empire and before the Viking Age, the peoples of Central Europe moved to new forests after exhausting old parcels. Forests were quickly exhausted; the practice had ended in the Mediterranean, where forests were less resilient than the sturdier coniferous forests of Central Europe. Deforestation had been partially caused by burning to create pasture. Reduced timber delivery led to higher prices and more stone construction in the Roman Empire (Stewart 1956, p. 123). Although forests gradually decreased in northern Europe, they have survived in the Nordic countries.

Tribes in pre-Roman Italy (including the Etruscans, Umbrians, Ligurians, Sabines, Latins, Campanians, Apulians, Saliscans, and Sabellians) apparently lived in temporary locations. They cultivated small patches of land, kept sheep and cattle, traded with foreign merchants, and occasionally fought. These Italic groups developed identities as settlers and warriors around 900 BC. They built forts in the mountains which are studied today, as are the ruins of a large Samnite temple and theater at Pietrabbondante.

Many Italic peoples saw benefits in allying with Rome. When the Romans built the Via Amerina in 241 BC, the Falisci settled in cities on the plains and aided the Romans in road construction; the Roman Senate gradually acquired representatives from Faliscan and Etruscan families, and the Italic tribes became settled farmers.

Classical writers described peoples who practiced shifting cultivation, which characterized the Migration Period in Europe. The exploitation of forests demanded displacement as areas were deforested. Julius Caesar wrote about the Suebi in Commentarii de Bello Gallico 4.1, "They have no private and secluded fields ("privati ac separati agri apud eos nihil est") ... They cannot stay more than one year in a place for cultivation’s sake" ("neque longius anno remanere uno in loco colendi causa licet"). The Suebi lived between the Rhine and the Elbe. About the Germani, Caesar wrote: "No one has a particular field or area for himself, for the magistrates and chiefs give year by year to the people and the clans, who have gathered together, as much land and in such places as seem good to them and then make them move on after a year" ("Neque quisquam agri modum certum aut fines habet proprios, sed magistratus ac principes in annos singulos gentibus cognationibusque hominum, qui tum una coierunt, a quantum et quo loco visum est agri attribuunt atque anno post alio transire cogunt" [Book 6.22]).

Strabo (63 BC—c. 20 AD) also writes about the Suebi in his Geography (VII, 1, 3): "Common to all the people in this area is that they can easily change residence because of their sordid way of life; they do not cultivate fields or collect property, but live in temporary huts. They get their nourishment from their livestock for the most part, and like nomads, pack all their goods in wagons and go on to wherever they want". Horace writes in 17 BC (Carmen Saeculare, 3, 24, 9ff.) about the people of Macedonia: "The proud Getae also live happily, growing free food and cereal for themselves on land they do not want to cultivate for more than a year" ("Vivunt et rigidi Getae, / immetata quibus iugera liberas / fruges et Cererem ferunt, / nec cultura placet longior annua")

Jordanes of Gothic descent, became a monk in Italy. In his mid-sixth-century AD Getica (De origine actibusque Getarum; The Origin and Deeds of the Goths) he describes the large island of Scandza on which the Goths originated. According to Jordanes, of the tribes living there, some are Adogit from within 40 days of the midnight sun. After the Adogit were the Screrefennae and Suehans,  who also lived in the north. The Screrefennae did not raise crops, instead hunting and collecting bird eggs. The Suehans, a semi-nomadic tribe with good horses (comparable to the Thuringii), hunted furs to sell; grain could not be grown so far north. In about 550 AD, Procopius also described a primitive hunting people he called "Skrithifinoi": "Both men and women engaged incessantly just in hunting the rich forests and mountains, which gave them an endless supply of game and wild animals".

Locations of Norwegian tribes described by Jordanes in his Getica

Adam of Bremen described Sweden from information he received from the Danish king Sven Estridson (also called Sweyn II of Denmark) in 1068: "It is very fruitful, the earth holds many crops and honey, it has greater livestock than all other countries, there are many useful rivers and forests; with regard to women they do not know moderation; they have for their households two, three, or more wives simultaneously; the rich and the rulers are innumerable ... [with] livestock grazing, as with the Arabs, far out in the wilderness". The use of fire in northeastern Sweden changed as agriculture evolved. Although the Sami people did not burn land (since burning killed the lichen required by their reindeer), later farmers frequently used slash-and-burn techniques. The 19th-century Swedish timber industry moved north, clearing the land of trees but leaving waste behind as a fire risk; during the 1870s, fires were frequent. There was a fire in Norrland in 1851, followed by fires in 1868 and 1878; two towns were lost in 1888.

Slash-and-burn in Småland, Sweden (1904

Forest Finns

One culture which flourished in pre-agricultural Europe survives: the Forest Finns in Scandinavia. Martin Tvengsberg, a descendant the Forest Finns, studied them in his capacity as curator of the Hedmark Museum in Norway. The Savo-Karelians had a sophisticated system for cultivating spruce forests. A runic poem about Finland's spruce forests reads, "Gåivu on mehdien valgoinen valhe" ("The birch is the forest’s white lie"). The best spruce forests reportedly contain birch trees, which grow only after a forest has burned once or twice.

Huuhta cultivation spread: within the circle in 1500 AD, within the line in 1600, and to the dashed line in 1700

Modern Western World

Slash-and-burn may be defined as the large-scale deforestation of forests for agricultural use. Ashes from the trees help farmers by providing nutrients for the soil. 

In industrialized regions, including Europe and North America, the practice was abandoned with the introduction of market agriculture and land ownership. Slash-and-burn agriculture was initially practiced by European pioneers in North America such as Daniel Boone and his family, who cleared land in the Appalachian Mountains during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, land cleared by slash-and-burn farmers was eventually taken over by systems of land tenure focusing on long-term improvement and discouraging practices associated with slash-and-burn agriculture

Northern European Heritage

Telkkämäki Nature Reserve in Kaavi,  Finland, is an open-air museum which still practices slash-and-burn agriculture. Farm visitors can see how people farmed when slash-and-burn agriculture became the norm in the Northern Savonian region of eastern Finland beginning in the 15th century. Areas of the reserve are burnt each year.

Telkkämäki Heritage Farm and Nature Reserve in Kaavi, Finland

South Asia

Tribal groups in the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and the Bangladeshi districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban and Sylhet refer to slash-and-burn agriculture as jhum or jhoom cultivation. The system involves clearing land, by fire or clear-felling, for economically-important crops such as upland rice, vegetables or fruits. After a few cycles, the land's fertility declines and a new area is chosen. Jhum cultivation is most often practiced on the slopes of thickly-forested hills. Cultivators cut the treetops to allow sunlight to reach the land, burning the trees and grasses for fresh soil. Although it is believed that this helps fertilize the land, it can leave it vulnerable to erosion. Holes are made for the seeds of crops such as sticky rice, maize, eggplant and cucumber are planted. After considering jhum's effects, the government of Mizoram has introduced a policy to end the method in the state. Slash-and-burn is typically a type of subsistence agriculture not focused on a need to sell crops globally; planting decisions are governed by the needs of the family (or clan) for the coming year.

Some areas of the reserve are burned annually.

Ecological Implications

Although a solution for overpopulated tropical countries where subsistence agriculture may be the traditional method of sustaining many families, the consequences of slash-and-burn techniques for ecosystems are almost always destructive.

Sumatra, Indonesia

This happens particularly as population densities increase, and as a result farming becomes more intensively practiced. This is because as demand for more land increases, the fallow period by necessity declines. The principal vulnerability is the nutrient-poor soil, pervasive in most tropical forests. When biomass is extracted even for one harvest of wood or charcoal, the residual soil value is heavily diminished for further growth of any type of vegetation. Sometimes there are several cycles of slash-and-burn within a few years time span; for example in eastern Madagascar the following scenario occurs commonly.The first wave might be cutting of all trees for wood use. 

Chiang Mai, Thailand

A few years later, saplings are harvested to make charcoal, and within the next year the plot is burned to create a quick flush of nutrients for grass to feed the family zebu cattle. If adjacent plots are treated in a similar fashion, large-scale erosion will usually ensue, since there are no roots or temporary water storage in nearby canopies to arrest the surface runoff. Thus, any small remaining amounts of nutrients are washed away. The area is an example of desertification, and no further growth of any type may arise for generations.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

The ecological ramifications of the above scenario are further magnified, because tropical forests are habitats for extremely biologically diverse ecosystems, typically containing large numbers of endemic and endangered species. Therefore, the role of slash-and-burn is significant in the current Holocene extinction.

Morondava, Madagascar

Slash-and-char is an alternative that alleviates some of the negative ecological implications of traditional slash-and-burn techniques.

- Wikipedia 

I'm Going Off Gluten & Feel Tired

Gluten is a protein found in staple grains, such as wheat, barley, rye and most oats, that can trigger digestive problems as well as fatigue, joint pain and autoimmune conditions. Going off gluten is the only way to manage your symptoms and stay healthy if you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant. You may actually feel worse in the first few days or weeks after eliminating gluten; however, if you persevere, your health and energy will soon be better than ever.

A book of gluten free recipes. Photo Credit CharlieAJA/iStock/Getty Images

Gluten in Foods

Going off gluten is not necessarily easy, since it is so widely available in many commonly-consumed foods. Many people make the mistake of cutting off most of the gluten and keeping a few occasional bites of gluten-containing bread, cakes or cookies. To improve your health by going off gluten, you need to be vigilant, carefully reading labels to avoid all hidden sources of gluten and be remaining strict with your gluten-free diet. If you are exposed to gluten even just once a month, it can be enough to perpetuate your symptoms of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, which include fatigue and lack of energy.

Gluten Contamination

Even if you are very careful at reading labels and avoiding all foods containing gluten, your diet may still be contaminated with traces of gluten, which can make you feel tired on your gluten-free diet. Cross-contamination is a common problem for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Use different skillets, utensils and cutting boards, if the rest of the family is still cooking with gluten-containing foods. Avoid using the same peanut butter jar as the rest of the family because a few gluten-containing breadcrumbs could contaminate the jar and expose you to traces of gluten. When eating out, ask that your foods be prepared separately with clean equipment to prevent cross-contamination.

Gluten Withdrawal

If you feel more tired after going completely off gluten, it is probable that you are experiencing gluten withdrawal. Although this phenomenon is not well understood, Charles Parker, a psychiatrist treating patients with food intolerances, explains that removing gluten from your diet can cause nausea, diarrhea, depression, insomnia and fatigue. Parker mentions that people with food intolerances can unknowingly be addicted to the very foods that make them feel bad. If you feel tired, you may be suffering from gluten withdrawal. Continue your gluten-free diets for a few more weeks and you should note improvements in your energy level.

Lower Carb Intake

Feeling tired when going off gluten can simply be the result of decreasing your carb intake. Most gluten-containing foods, such as bread, pasta, couscous, breakfast cereals and baked goods, have a high carbohydrate content. You can keep your carb intake up, choosing high-carb, gluten-free foods such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, legumes, rice, quinoa, fruits, milk, yogurt and vegetables. Otherwise, decreasing your carb intake requires your body to switch from primarily burning the sugars derived from these carbohydrates to using fat. If you prefer to keep your carb intake lower, include generous amounts of fat at each meal, from olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, butter, nuts and natural nut butter, to provide your body with all the energy it needs.

www.livestrong.com

How to Rub a Banana Peel on Skin to Get Rid of Scars

Bananas are commonly eaten as a healthy snack as they offer valuable nutrients such as the B6 and B12 vitamins. As well of being a source of nutrition, the yellow peel of the banana has skin care benefits. According to Alternative Home Remedies, the peel of the banana has the capability of drastically reducing skin irritation, including swelling and redness. You can also use the peel of the banana to act as a homemade blemish treatment. The potassium and antioxidants housed within the peel of the banana have the ability to diminish the visibility of unsightly scars.

The inside of the banana peel can help to fade scars. Photo Credit banana image by Edvin selimovic from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>

Step 1

Remove the peel of the banana to expose the inner fruit.

Step 2

Eat the fruit of the banana to absorb vital nutrients, while saving the outer layer known as the peel. Pull one strip of the banana peel away from the rest. Bend the peel inside out to expose the white colored inner layer of the peel. Locate the scar on your skin that you wish to fade the appearance of.

Step 3

Rub the soft inside layer of the banana peel back and forth against your scar to allow the surrounding skin to take in the vitamins and nutrients of the peel. Allow the moisture from the banana peel to dry onto the skin of your scar. Moisten a cotton cloth under your sink with some warm water.

Step 4

Rub the dampened cloth over your scar to remove any excess pulp that came from the inner layer of the banana peel.

Tips

• Apply the banana peel onto your skin on a daily basis to visibly reduce the appearance of your scar.

www.livestrong.com

BIOCHAR

Biochar is charcoal used as a soil amendment. Like most charcoal, biochar is made from biomass via pyrolysis. Biochar is under investigation as an approach to carbon sequestration to produce negative carbon dioxide emissions. Biochar thus has the potential to help mitigate climate change via carbon sequestration. Independently, biochar can increase soil fertility of acidic soils (low pH soils), increase agricultural productivity, and provide protection against some foliar and soil-borne diseases. Furthermore, biochar reduces pressure on forests. Biochar is a stable solid, rich in carbon, and can endure in soil for thousands of years.

Biochar created through the pyrolysis process.

History

Pre-Columbian Amazonians are believed to have used biochar to enhance soil productivity. They produced it by smoldering agricultural waste (i.e., covering burning biomass with soil) in pits or trenches. European settlers called it terra preta de Indio. Following observations and experiments, a research team working in French Guiana hypothesized that the Amazonian earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus was the main agent of fine powdering and incorporation of charcoal debris to the mineral soil. 

The term “biochar” was coined by Peter Read to describe charcoal used as a soil improvement.

Production

Biochar is a high-carbon, fine-grained residue that today is produced through modern pyrolysis processes, which is the direct thermal decomposition, of biomass in the absence of oxygen,  which prevents combustion, to obtain an array of solid (biochar), liquid (bio-oil), and gas (syngas)  products. The specific yield from the pyrolysis is dependent on process conditions. such as temperature, and can be optimized to produce either energy or biochar. Temperatures of 400–500 °C (752–932 °F) produce more char,while temperatures above 700 °C (1,292 °F) favor the yield of liquid and gas fuel components. Pyrolysis occurs more quickly at the higher temperatures, typically requiring seconds instead of hours. High temperature pyrolysis is also known as gasification, and produces primarily syngas. Typical yields are 60% bio-oil, 20% biochar, and 20% syngas. By comparison, slow pyrolysis can produce substantially more char (~50%). Once initialized, both processes produce net energy. For typical inputs, the energy required to run a “fast” pyrolyzer is approximately 15% of the energy that it outputs.  Modern pyrolysis plants can use the syngas created by the pyrolysis process and output 3–9 times the amount of energy required to run. 

The Amazonian pit/trench method  harvests neither bio-oil nor syngas, and releases a large amount of CO₂, black carbon, and other greenhouse gases (GHG)s (and potentially, toxins) into the air. Commercial-scale systems process agricultural waste, paper byproducts, and even municipal waste and typically eliminate these side effects by capturing and using the liquid and gas products.

Centralized , Decentralized and Mobile System

In a centralized system, all biomass in a region is brought to a central plant for processing. Alternatively, each farmer or group of farmers can operate a lower-tech kiln. Finally, a truck equipped with a pyrolyzer can move from place to place to pyrolyze biomass. Vehicle power comes from the syngas stream, while the biochar remains on the farm. The biofuel is sent to a refinery or storage site. Factors that influence the choice of system type include the cost of transportation of the liquid and solid byproducts, the amount of material to be processed, and the ability to feed directly into the power grid.

For crops that are not exclusively for biochar production, the residue-to-product ratio (RPR) and the collection factor (CF) the percent of the residue not used for other things, measure the approximate amount of feedstock that can be obtained for pyrolysis after harvesting the primary product. For instance, Brazil harvests approximately 460 million tons (MT) of sugarcane annually, with an RPR of 0.30, and a CF of 0.70 for the sugarcane tops, which normally are burned in the field. This translates into approximately 100 MT of residue annually, which could be pyrolyzed to create energy and soil additives. Adding in the bagasse (sugarcane waste) (RPR=0.29 CF=1.0), which is otherwise burned (inefficiently) in boilers, raises the total to 230 MT of pyrolysis feedstock. Some plant residue, however, must remain on the soil to avoid increased costs and emissions from nitrogen fertilizers.

Pyrolysis technologies for processing loose and leafy biomass produce both biochar and syngas.

Thermo Catalytic Depolymerization

Alternatively, "thermo-catalytic depolymerization", which utilizes microwaves, has recently been used to efficiently convert organic matter to biochar on an industrial scale, producing ~50% char.

Carbon Sink

The burning and natural decomposition of biomass and in particular agricultural waste adds large amounts of CO
2 to the atmosphere. Biochar that is stable, fixed, and 'recalcitrant' carbon can store large amounts of greenhouse gases in the ground for centuries, potentially reducing or stalling the growth in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels; at the same time its presence in the earth can improve water quality, increase soil fertility, raise agricultural productivity, and reduce pressure on old-growth forests.

Biochar can sequester carbon in the soil for hundreds to thousands of years, like coal. Such a carbon-negative technology would lead to a net withdrawal of CO₂ from the atmosphere, while producing and consuming energy". This technique is advocated by prominent scientists such as James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis, for mitigation of global warming by greenhouse gas remediation.

Researchers have estimated that sustainable use of biocharring could reduce the global net emissions of carbon dioxide (CO
2), methane, and nitrous oxide by up to 1.8 Pg CO
2-C equivalent (CO
2-C_e) per year (12% of current anthropogenic CO
2-Ce emissions; 1 Pg=1 Gt), and total net emissions over the course of the next century by 130 Pg CO
2-C_e, without endangering food security, habitat, or soil conservation.

Soil Amendment

Biochar is recognised as offering a number of benefits for soil health. Many benefits are related to the extremely porous nature of biochar. This structure is found to be very effective at retaining both water and water-soluble nutrients. Soil biologist Elaine Ingham indicates, the extreme suitability of biochar as a habitat for many beneficial soil micro organisms. She points out that when pre charged with these beneficial organisms biochar becomes an extremely effective soil amendment promoting good soil, and in turn plant, health.

Biochar has also been shown to reduce leaching of E-coli through sandy soils depending on application rate, feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, soil moisture content, soil texture, and surface properties of the bacteria.

For plants that require high potash and elevated pH, biochar can be used as a soil amendment to improve yield.

Biochar can improve water quality, reduce soil emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce nutrient leaching, reduce soil acidity, and reduce irrigation and fertilizer requirements. Biochar was also found under certain circumstances to induce plant systemic responses to foliar fungal diseases and to improve plant responses to diseases caused by soil borne pathogens.

The various impacts of biochar can be dependent on the properties of the biochar, as well as the amount applied, and there is still a lack of knowledge about the important mechanisms and properties. Biochar impact may depend on regional conditions including soil type, soil condition (depleted or healthy), temperature, and humidity. Modest additions of biochar to soil reduce nitrous oxide N
2O emissions by up to 80% and eliminate methane emissions, which are both more potent greenhouse gases than CO₂. 

Studies have reported positive effects from biochar on crop production in degraded and nutrient–poor soils.  Biochar can be designed with specific qualities to target distinct properties of soils. Biochar reduces leaching of critical nutrients, creates a higher crop uptake of nutrients, and provides greater soil availability of nutrients. At 10% levels biochar reduced contaminant levels in plants by up to 80%, while reducing total chlordane and DDX content in the plants by 68 and 79%, respectively. On the other hand, because of its high adsorption capacity, biochar may reduce the efficacy of soil applied pesticides that are needed for weed and pest control. High-surface-area biochars may be particularly problematic in this regard; more research into the long-term effects of biochar addition to soil is needed.

Slash and Char

Switching from slash-and-burn to slash-and-char farming techniques in Brazil can decrease both deforestation of the Amazon basin and carbon dioxide emission, as well as increase crop yields. Slash-and-burn leaves only 3% of the carbon from the organic material in the soil. 

Slash-and-char can keep up to 50% of the carbon in a highly stable form. Returning the biochar into the soil rather than removing it all for energy production reduces the need for nitrogen fertilizers, thereby reducing cost and emissions from fertilizer production and transport. Additionally, by improving the soil's ability to be tilled, fertility, and productivity, biochar–enhanced soils can indefinitely sustain agricultural production, whereas non-enriched soils quickly become depleted of nutrients, forcing farmers to abandon the fields, producing a continuous slash and burn cycle and the continued loss of tropical rainforest. Using pyrolysis to produce bio-energy also has the added benefit of not requiring infrastructure changes the way processing biomass for cellulosic ethanol does. Additionally, the biochar produced can be applied by the currently used machinery for tilling the soil or equipment used to apply fertilizer.

Water Retention

Biochar is a desirable soil material in many locations due to its ability to attract and retain water. This is possible because of its porous structure and high surface area. As a result, nutrients, phosphorus, and agrochemicals are retained for the plants benefit. Plants therefore, are healthier and fertilizers leach less into surface or groundwater.

Energy Production : Bio-Oil and Syngas

Mobile pyrolysis units can be used to lower the costs of transportation of the biomass if the biochar is returned to the soil and the syngas stream is used to power the process. Bio-oil contains organic acids that are corrosive to steel containers, has a high water vapor content that is detrimental to ignition, and, unless carefully cleaned, contains some biochar particles which can block injectors. 

If biochar is used for the production of energy rather than as a soil amendment, it can be directly substituted for any application that uses coal. Pyrolysis also may be the most cost-effective way of electricity generation from biomaterial.

Direct and Indirect Benefits

• The pyrolysis of forest- or agriculture-derived biomass residue generates a biofuel without competition with crop production.
• Biochar is a pyrolysis byproduct that may be ploughed into soils in crop fields to enhance their fertility and stability, and for medium- to long-term carbon sequestration in these soils.
• Biochar enhances the natural process: the biosphere captures CO
  2, especially through plant production, but only a small portion is stably sequestered for a relatively long time (soil, wood, etc.).
• Biomass production to obtain biofuels and biochar for carbon sequestration in the soil is a carbon-negative process, i.e. more CO
  2 is removed from the atmosphere than released, thus enabling long-term sequestration.

Research

Intensive research into manifold aspects involving the pyrolysis/biochar platform is underway around the world. From 2005 to 2012, there were 1,038 articles that included the word “biochar” or “bio-char” in the topic that had been indexed in the ISI Web of Science. Further research is in progress by such diverse institutions around the world as Cornell University, the University of Edinburgh, which has a dedicated research unit., and the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) of Israel, Volcani Center,  where a network of researchers involved in biochar research (iBRN, Israel Biochar Researchers Network) was established as early as 2009.

Students at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey are developing super capacitors that use electrodes made of biochar. A process developed by University of Florida researchers that removes phosphate from water, also yields methane gas usable as fuel and phosphate-laden carbon suitable for enriching soil.

Emerging Commercial Sector

Calculations suggest that emissions reductions can be 12 to 84% greater if biochar is put back into the soil instead of being burned to offset fossil-fuel use. Thus biochar sequestration offers the chance to turn bioenergy into a carbon-negative industry. 

Johannes Lehmann, of Cornell University, estimates that pyrolysis can be cost-effective for a combination of sequestration and energy production when the cost of a CO
2 ton reaches $37. As of mid-February 2010, CO
2 is trading at $16.82/ton on the European Climate Exchange (ECX), so using pyrolysis for bioenergy production may be feasible even if it is more expensive than fossil fuel.

Current biochar projects make no significant impact on the overall global carbon budget, although expansion of this technique has been advocated as a geoengineering approach. In May 2009, the Biochar Fund received a grant from the Congo Basin Forest Fund for a project in Central Africa to simultaneously slow down deforestation,  increase the food security of rural communities, provide renewable energy and sequester carbon.

Application rates of 2.5–20 tonnes per hectare (1.0–8.1 t/acre) appear to be required to produce significant improvements in plant yields. Biochar costs in developed countries vary from $300–7000/tonne, generally too high for the farmer/horticulturalist and prohibitive for low-input field crops. In developing countries, constraints on agricultural biochar relate more to biomass availability and production time. An alternative is to use small amounts of biochar in lower cost biochar-fertilizer complexes.

Various companies in North America, Australia and England sell biochar or biochar production units. In England Carbon Gold supply a range of biochar-based soil improvers, composts and fertilisers for arboriculture, horticulture and turfcare as well as to home growers. In Sweden the 'Stockholm Solution' is an urban tree planting system that uses 30% biochar to support healthy growth of the urban forest. The Qatar Aspire Park now uses biochar to help trees cope with the intense heat of their summers.

At the 2009 International Biochar Conference, a mobile pyrolysis unit with a specified intake of 1,000 pounds (450 kg) was introduced for agricultural applications. The unit had a length of 12 feet and height of 7 feet (3.6 m by 2.1m).

A production unit in Dunlap, Tennessee by Mantria Corporation opened in August 2009 after testing and an initial run, was later shut down as part of a Ponzi scheme investigation.

- Wikipedia