How Fast-Growing Weeds Become Charcoal And Eco-Bricks | Insider Business
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Locals in Senegal are turning an invasive weed called Typha into a source of energy. The weed has been destroying rice crops in rural Senegal for over 30 years, but it’s now become a source of economic opportunity.
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How Fast-Growing Weeds Become Charcoal And Eco-Bricks | Insider Business
My mon said when she was young, they harvested water hyacinth to feed livestock and chicken after brief fermentation. However it was labour-intensive and people mostly stopped doing that once industrially-scale livestock food became prevalent. Now some factories are making biogas from it, due to the growing costs of natural gas.
People had tried for a long time making coal from water hyacinth, but it was not financially viable. The plant contained too much water (about 90%), and the yield couldn't pay for the labour harvesting the plant.
Such a genius innovation of turning a problem into solution. Kudos to all involved in this project.
it would have been worth pointing out that reducing firewood and wood coal usage also combats desertification by saving trees. that's a verybig issue in a lot of african countries, and I'm pretty sure that includes senegal (it includes parts of the sahara and sahel)
It 's a source of natural enery capacity and sustainability! No extra fuel cost?
Sanctimonious much?
@@theloniuspunk383 Much? or Munch?
@@madararam2853 much, its a "turn of phrase" which is itself a turn of phrase
@@madararam2853 Looks like it is harvested, dried (presumably just out in the sun) and then run through the charcoal process, where it provides the fuel for the process itself. So, yes, saving trees and providing a very useful fuel and apparently without external fuel inputs for the production process.
I wonder how feasible it would be to find a market for biocoal made from water hyacinth. When I saw IBs report on the problem months ago, it never occured to me, but Typha in Senegal offers yet another possibility for using it productively. You could also turn both into fertilizer that can be sent around the world if you can make sure to deal with any bio-security concerns, as well as biogas that can provide power for entire communities.
Now the only problem remaining is costs of production, volume of output and transportation costs.
Extremely unfeasible because the water hyacinth is a bio accumulator it collects heavy metals which would then diffuse into the air.
@@shelldie8523yeah, I think that's a possible problem
I've seen a few groups in the Philippines turn water hyacinths into wicker.
I was NOT expecting to see my country in there I just clicked and Voilà 🤗🤗
hi
As an artist I love this, charcoal is one of my favorite things and these people are getting rid of a problem and making a profit from it, it’s great, good for them I hope they can continue with the business and pass on generational wealth to their families and communities ❤
Ps: also eco-bricks seems like such a great and innovative idea, and one that is actually useful, I’m sure other kinds of materials may not do the purpose as well as native materials to the land
Typha roots are rich with edible starch and a good biomass crop for making ethanol fuel
When we the people get together in a purpose, we are unstoppable.
And that's why Africa is such a wonderful place where people go to live... Oh wait
Very true.
@@nostro1940 nice nonsequeter. Also the diet racism, gotta love when people try to hide it.
But just like how diet coke is still coke, diet racism is still racism.
@@jambott5520 can you blame them? Black people are migrating everywhere and are seen as a invading pest
@@nostro1940 Guess whose fault it is famines and droughts are becoming more frequent in Africa? It's braindead people like you who live in North America, Europe and Australia that produce the most greenhouse gas emissions per capita.
when life gives you Typha, make biocoal
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel
That’s incredible turning an invasive weed into all those things!
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel
This is awesome! I love it when 2 problems can be solved at once
& my birds love eating placemats made out of water hyacinth. I never realised the source of them, I just buy them from Kmart regularly cause the birds love them, now I'm even happier to be buying them, wish they advertised on the product what it's source is to get even more sales
@@jannatunzaman3104 lorikeets :) 2 rescues that sat in 2 separate cages with nothing to do for a decade, so don't really know how to shred/chew for fun, so they need soft stuff for getting them to actually attempt to chew & even then, they often refuse, but for some reason the water hyacinth really appeals to them. That & mahogany pods (which cost much more). The placemats are a nice texture for the cage bottom too, only downside is the cotton tying them together that I have to check at least daily & cut away any exposed loops so they can't tangle themselves in it.
I've got about 10 placemats that I rotate for cleaning & then dispose of once they're largely gone & buy more to replace :)
Kmart still exists?
@@fahqfatgurls8479 I'm in Australia & yes, here we have Kmart, Target & Big W, no Walmart, it went bust decades ago. I think Kmart is our version of Walmart now, it's the one of the 3 that sell the most cheap stuff.
I heard Kmart went bust in the US recently, I didn't realise until then. Not sure if it's the same Kmart here that you had there or not
This is how “Mandela Effect” occurs where different countries have different versions of things with the same name 😅
@@fahqfatgurls8479 Exists and thriving 🤭
Amazing. These people are so smart and resilient. 👍 Merry Christmas everyone 🎄🎁
Bio coal is a buzzword name for charcoal. Very cool to see though.
Ive seen the same thing done with hemp and so many other types of plants turned into building materials
Yes. Plants like trees.
@@scam8818 hemp is fast growing therefore more sustainable... the way humans generally use trees, less so...
@@edwardness7497 You can plant trees on land not suited for growing even crops like hemp. And you can still maintain portions of a parcel to support native animals.
In Louisiana the timber companies rent land for hunting leases. Depending on what kind of timber you can even multi crop it, graze animals under/around them, hunt, trap or gather native plants. Timberlands can be incredibly productive, in terms of ecology and economy.
I respect everyone who were involved in this Seriously the best piece that i ve ever seen on TH-cam 💌 Hate off to well all 💟 love your videos
Hate off
Such an innovative and insiring project!! Well done, beautiful people!👍
Use the wood gas as fuel for a generator to run the additional machines and bring clean and reliable electricity to the people.
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can also be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel.
I love water hyacinth plants, have them in my pond. During their ideal growing conditions, I usually will have to cut them back every month during the warmer seasons here in Southern California. Water hyacinths and water pennyworts can easily become invasive during hot summer temperatures.
the ecological problem is that floating plants with the leaves in the air reduce oxygen levels in the water by blocking light from getting in the water, and using that light to oxygenate the air instead of underwater plants using it to oxygenate the water, but then when parts of the plant cover die, they rot in the water, feeding microbes that draw more oxygen from the water. this way, floating plants can dramatically reduce the amounts of both plants and animals that a body of water can support - plants lack light, animals lack oxygen.
so basically they are pretty, but you really want them to cover only a fraction of a pond.
Thank you💓🙏🏼
That's brilliant!
That is great!
Just like that wonderful thanks for teaching us great
This is why its important for entry into countries to dispose of any fruits, vegetables, and etc. Things that can contain seeds or spores of invasive species.
This could a great energy source of typha agricultural land expansion to keep humidity of the Grasslands and sustainability of the geographical topology.Happy Holidays!!
This & things like it stoke my ember heart.
Sell it to clay industries for the kilns and to eletrical plants that burn coal .you guys are very amazing apply this technique to bamboo or cud zoo. As far as cutting it underwater look at old farmming equipment there is a machine that has two large disk shaped bulges in the back housing 5 sickles mounted on a rotating platform and the other housing has the same set up you can literally pull it with tractor or ox or horse. Then it's just a matter of gathering the cut plants for processing. Please look into it this business must thrive oh i forgot sell it to water filtration plant . Compress the charcoal with hydraulic press to make pencils or paint good luck and god bless all of you.
We need more of this. We need the trees. This stuff might release carbon as it is burned but it absorbs carbon as it grows so that is carbon neutral. Using it in bricks is carbon capture. If we can also use fumes from it to make char-gas, we could have liquid fuel too.
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can also be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel.
@@Sixrabbbit Cool. It is so sad that we are basically raping mother nature when she readily provides so much for us. We need to stop the harmful mining and oil drilling.
This channel really changed its tune from "dont profit off of it" to "use it if you got it"
Adapt, overcome, thrive.
Glad to see them turn a problem into a benefit.
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can also be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel.
World is changing
Refreshing to hear a woman take pride in supporting her husband.
Fascinating
Happy Holidays everyone. God bless you all.
Absolutely brilliant!
Crazy creative whoever thought of this entire stream lined process with multiple uses!
I am amazed by how often I find this simple but genius solutions from Africans. Come on, everyone in the west talking about emissions, environment, etc, and then africans have plenty of cool solutions.
They can also use the typha cattail roots to make edible starch and also ferment them and distill it to make ethanol for fuel.
This is a case of lemons to lemonade.
This is good news!
When life gives you lemons! The invasive plant has become a solution, a blessing in disguise. Yes, it sucks that that they cannot grow rice, but this solution solves a CO2 problem.
The new green deal!
Really Great woman's of the world
dis is goodie innovation und using useleszs weeds make charcoal.
Nice.
So it burns faster, longer, and with less emissions... how do we not use this stuff all over the world instead of classic wood coal?
It' s a novelty ..we all just learn that's why..Happy Holidays!
Probably isn't enough supply, and it'd be dangerous if corporations got the bright idea to start farming it. That'd just make it invasive in even more parts of the world. I assume it could pretty easily get wildly out of control if a transport truck carrying its seeds crashed into a river.
Same goes for most projects that make use of invasive species. Seems like there's an endless supply, and the people using it can't harvest it fast enough, but once it goes large scale then you will quickly run out. And when you run out, you need more, so you plant more. And that runs the risk of getting out of control or jail breaking from it's confined growing area. A lot of fish invasions happen this way. Recently almost happened to the Seattle bay, when an Atlantic salmon farm had a good portion of their stock break free. The non-native domestic fish could have destroyed the native Salmon. Out competed or spread diseases. Fishermen from all over flocked with glee when the state issued a "no license needed please come catch these salmon". I wanted to go so bad... But I didn't have transportation to get there. Anyway anglers saved the day. But they wouldn't have if it weren't such a desirable product. You can look to the Asian Carp for example on that. They've over taken US rivers, and are on the verge of invading the Great Lakes. But they're endangered in China, where they're actually eaten. If Americans wanted to eat them, we wouldn't have this problem.
On a positive note, there are strong efforts going on to sell the fish to China. That will hopefully make a dent.
Because you can use Coconut Coal which would be the same. But its more expensive than Wood Coal
It has to be burned first to make it, then it's burned again when it's being used...
@@cchavezjr7 IT DOES NOT REQUIRE FUEL MEANING PETROL COST .. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ECONOMY.??
Do they use te Biochar as a soil amendment?
The fire at the top of the klin can be used to proppel a steam generator and creat electricity in the process
This Is WHAT I Like To See In World, Solving Problems With Using The Problem For Benefit
Once you have lived awhile you understand that invasive species advantage is limited in time... sooner or later some native species, a disease or other natural control kicks in.
The zebra mussels in Lake Champlain were a pestilence until the yellow perch realized they could eat the mussels. The upshot is, the mussels cleaned up the lake, (when I was a boy the lake was chocolate, not clear like today) and then they fit into the ecosystem.
Fire ants in the south are a pain, but it appears opossums or armadillos have discovered all they need do is open a small aperture in a fire ant nest, and they will march directly into its waiting mouth. Eating every single ant in the mound. I have personally run across many fire ant mounds freshly cleaned up this way. The number of fire ant mounds on my land has fallen off the table in the last five years.
Species have been invading new lands since the first cell divided.
I never knew any other animal actually ate fire ants!
@@intrepidfox37 Something is here in Texas. In mid summer, live and empty nests used to litter my fields... now it is rare to find any.
One too many native people of South America use Typha for a variety of reasons -from food to basket-weaving, house-building, boat making...
I always thought the Hyacinth was from SE Asia. Supposedly it's all over California because of chinese ships' ballast water
😊👍
Turning the problem into the solution - Permaculture!!!
Bio-coal... That just charcoal with a pretty name
W££ds can also be compressed into a different kind of 1kg bricks
Good news
This is what true sustainability looks like.
by burning coal?
so all they need to do now is develop some sort of aquatic combine harvester .. that would make for an interesting engineering challenge
Typha:- i m going to destroy u
Human:- say no more
Typha:- wait that’s cheating
How is the biochar kiln built and how does it work..... I would like one at my home.
If they caught the gases from the kiln amd bottled it, they could have another source for cooking, but keeping it simple is good to.
Looks like I gotta increase my carbon footprint to compensate for this. Another kid is on the way! Wish me luck
You mentioned that burning the coal is cleaner than burning wood. But does this also hold true if you also take the making process of the coal into account?
They would make wood into charcoal using the same process. So it’s a net improvement.
@@erroneous6947 But they didn't comapre wood-charcoal with this new charcoal. So, no it's not ensured that it's a net improvement.
Making charcoal is a very dirty process.
They can also acquire wood gas too if they invest more money into the place whete they burn the typha as well!! Best luck to them
good idea to utilize this biomass instead of just killing the plants with pesticide. This needs to be industrialised ASAP.
I bet if the worlds oil runs out these kinda countries will flourish bc this is a new resource for Tesla owners power production for their batteries
furthermore, typha angustifolia rhizomes are a really good source for human nutrition.
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can also be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel.
we got invasive wolfs but what can you make of a wolf
Strong, beautiful, brilliant, Africans!!
Why not capture the cellose gases which could be used to be a secondary product
It moved when she said "take care of our husbands at home".
As long as the governments don't get involved the people can figure things out and make use of a product that was a problem before. But, when the government steps in to "help" they regulate everything and stifle production with rules and restrictive regulations until it's no longer feasible for individuals to produce the product!
There's constantly amazing, environmental, and incredibly innovative stuff coming out of Africa. Imagine the kinds of things the people there would be producing if the continent hadn't been repeatedly invaded and harvested by outsiders.
The ideas they are using are their cause of those "invaders" you racist white people go hard as hell
WHat of the white slaves that existed and their people who were kill3d and yet their attackers didn't, are nearly as much and they hold no ill will think about that
Surfs existed long before and for far longer then African workers who were paid and volunteered to come. They didn't get forced by their leaders they were asked if they wanted a different life ,many blacks when given freedom' bought slaves to make profit showing they only had a moral quam with following through with their own work contract those with slaves even defended slavery as you would know it but what kind of slave is paid with spices suger meats gunpowder guns and other technology and asks to go.
Typha like in cattail. young shoots are edible. the plant's rhizome is very starchy apparently you can distill alcohol with it
These invasive species are sending a message, look at me I can be an alternative solution to your climate problems. I feel we should embrace change and stop fighting our environment, learning to adapt and live with other species will help us as humans
However, it's not invasive and it's likely native. The local government created two dams which created a more suitable ecosystem for the plant which allowed it to flourish... Fake rags to riches news story.
Can they cut the reeds with a scythe?
When life gives you invasive plants, make biocoal.
Carbon Monoxide is very environment friendly produced from burning it in low oxygen
CO is less dangerous where there is adequate ventilation. It’s no different than a slow burning wood furnace or meat smoker.
@@evilsharkey8954if you don't get the point ask again or shut the mouth
@@istoppedlaughing5225 If you make the point poorly you don’t get to be offended when people don’t get it.
@@evilsharkey8954 don't know why few people like you are now don't even getting serious comments in sarcastic way, grow up man get some common sense
@@istoppedlaughing5225 Well, your poor writing might have something to do with it. Proofread, man. I can’t even tell what you’re trying to say.
nice
Notice they could have updated the black and white past video when discussing the natives...but mmmmm ...clearly we see 👀 why they didn't
Is this the same plant as cattails?
I had to look that up. Turns out, you are right. Also called bulrushes.
Yes. There are several species of cattail, some of them invasive in different places. The US has native and invasive species of cattails.
god given resources are all around us,... only , one has to find how to use them,..
lol no imaginary skywizard puts rescources somewhere! no matter how hard you belive in it!
I don't believe the woman that says it leaves no ash. Charcoal making has allways burnt behind a good amount of energy, how is this different?
Weed: •fast growing and invasive•
Senegal: Alexa, play: Pharrael Williams - Cash In Cash Out (Official Video) ft. 21 Savage, Tyler, The Creator
Good idea, but I guess the project could use some engineer to improve the processes.
Looked a bit inefficient.
Now I would like to see a how-to, please. Not just a "this is great" propaganda piece.
How much firewood is needed to cook the weed?
I assume the burn dried weed too.
None, the whole point is to burn the dried invasive plant in place of wood. Then those ashes are then mixed with rice hulls (agricultural byproducts) and water. That slurry is then pressed and dried into fuel briquets that prevent people from burning the already scarce wood/ tree resources. It also produces income for the workers.
Permaculture mindset- there are only surpluses. Nature will produce an abundance. Maybe she is saying- hey dont bother with toxic manufacturing and plastics etc, just these free and abundant resources all around you.
Peace
👍
It really just shows you how plants affect their environment.
This is a beneficial plant in the americas (depending on your worldview. In terms of ecology it’s great in a natural undisturbed setting). Outside of its native range, it’s a noxious invasive plant.
(Typha are cattails for anyone too lazy too look up the Latin name).
Because typha is so good at growing it is sometimes considered a noxious weed, even where it is native. This is because disturbed areas basically have to restart from square 1 and are vulnerable to ecological disruption.
they're a native plant through much of the americas, eurasia, australia, and new zealand. They are also ecologically damaging in certain conditions (artificial lack of water fluctuations) Disturbed areas with natural water variation and long-term flooding have a better time dealing with cattails than areas with artificially stabilized water levels. They benefit from human influence in similar ways to white tail deer, with similar levels of harm done.
The typha (cattail) roots are rich with edible starch and can also be fermented and distilled to make ethanol fuel.
I thought “clean coal” was a trump thing. “Biocoal” is just charcoal and both natural gas and petroleum are far cleaner
no, they're not going to be buying gas & they are going to be burning this plant anyway, so finding a way to transport it to the homes of people buying solid fuel to power their cooking instead of just burning on site is obviously better. Delhi's air pollution comes from burning rice stubble, if they chared it instead of burning it, all that pollution would be removed from the air
@@mehere8038 i will agree that it seems like a very convenient energy source. However, it should be remembered the way plants are turned into charcoal is by burning off the contaminants leaving only the carbon. Im willing to bet little of that gets filtered.
@@tomsullivan5663 It's used to power the charcoal creation, they pipe it from where it comes out at the top to back under the container & ignite it there, so the gas heats what's in the container to make it into charcoal.
I don't know what's released in the gas burning, but I know when I experimented & made charcoal myself, while the flame was alight, there was no smell, when the flame went out, it stunk! I also used to live near a landfill (about 1km away) & we would know when their gas flame went out, cause it stunk! Garbage smell over the whole neighbourhood! One neighbour even had the misfortune of having an open house when it was out, needless to say, they didn't get any buyers. Was zero smell normally though & that site is now a super impressive sports complex & the methane gas from the landfill underneath is actually harnessed & provides gas for the facility, so I'm just all round not convinced there's serious issues with the contaminates in this process & even if there are, at least it's being done away from people's homes, not inside them as happens when using the solid wood/plants as fuel
Perhaps the term biocoal is a misnomer. However, given their circumstances, including loss of farmland to the invasive, the briquets are a viable alternative for fuel.
It sounds carbon neutral but what fuel is used to convert the Typha to charcoal?
It's a part of the energy load required to produce it. It's a concept called "entrained energy requirements."
You should check out how much energy is needed to produce everything necessary for an electric car.
Typha charcoal probably is zero, if it is including sustainable fuel to make it.
Feed them to cows, sheeps and goats
So it 3as a hidden gift of God then.
This isn't a new concept. In medieval times, much of Europe were "managed woods" where trees were grown for building material and fuel and pigs allowed to graze underneath.
They didnt have government taxing all over society for making coal back then tho.
Government today wants you on grid electricity, even on your own property out in the woods with plenty natural droppings to live on.
Many places even in the US it's illegal to harvest rain water.
But I do agree society was much more resourceful back then compared to today's plastic world.
@@noneshere Not an issue for these guy. They're just doing what they can with their limited gear and expertise.
Do you have the design of the burner?
huh? its a round drum with a fire below & a lid ontop... not rocket sience!
I hope when we use this as a burning agent, we don't get high.
What a bad idea...why not just dry it and make pelet?
No wasting energy and polution while turning it into coil
Combustion of any kind as an energy source is a bad idea
A fair few pitmasters would be keen on that charcoal. How does one get in contact with that business??
I don’t know if cattail makes good tasting smoke.
Soon senagalis will start cultivating them..,,,,,,😅