During the weekend of January 26th-28th a couple of colleagues and I went to a conference in Kirkland, Washington to discuss pyrolysis unit designs for the most efficient, cleanest model to produce biochar. Little did I know that we would be introduced to a lot more than that. ETHOS is a conference that brings together researchers, humanitarian organizations, as well as farmers to have an open, constructive discussion on methods to fine tune the many types of cook stoves and pyrolysis units. ETHOS stands for Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service. Each year they hold conferences and relay some of the newest information pertaining to public health, efficiency, and social impacts in relation to cook stove production and distribution.
Not to mention, the people that I was fortunate enough to meet
were of the highest caliber. It was truly inspiring to meet so many others that were there simply to share information and help their colleagues in succeeding. Almost immediately the group and I were welcomed with open arms, with each interaction leading into another gracious welcoming. From Friday until Sunday, we sat in on many different speakers each with incredibly helpful information that will help our Evergreen biochar group better develop methods of production.
Friday was actually a short day, but it proved to be incredibly insightful from the beginning. Starting at 1:30 in the afternoon we opened up with Cookstoves 101 which was also partly an informal “hello” and getting to know everyone. This was helpful in that it helped me fully understand their specific scope of utilizing a pyrolysis unit for a variety of functions. This really got my brain flowing and showed me just how you can design a TLUD that can act both as a cookstove as well as a biochar production unit. Following this session was Stoves 101 which broke down more of the science and related health hazards associated with cookstoves. One thing that I had to keep in mind while at this conference was that their goals, although similar, were different in the end from what exactly I was looking to do. My goal is to find the most efficient pyrolysis unit to produce biochar, solely. Their goal is to be able to use the same feedstocks I would use, but as a usable fuel to prepare food or water as well as produce amounts of biochar. Finally ending around 8:00 for the night, we began to network and meet a few more people. Day 1 was a success.
Both Saturday and Sunday were packed with speakers each bringing up the most pertinent information. Topics such as; large scale TLUD units, monitoring systems, marketing methods, health risks, open discussions, and much more were covered. If you’re interested in reading the Abstracts from each speaker, feel free to check out this attachment!
http://www.ethoscon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ETHOS-2018-Abstracts.pdf