himalayan balsam, not all bad

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himalayan balsam, not all bad
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Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 16 9:52 am Post subject:

buzzy wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

buzzy wrote:

Being a fast growing annual I expect the plants are of little use for biomass fuel.

Anything can go into anaerobic digestion to make gas...

I'm sure you are right. The question is "Does HB produce enough gas to make it worthwhile cutting, collecting and transporting it?"

The better question is: can we set up a digester at this place with a HB infestation?

The cutting and collecting is wanting to happen anyway to control the problem. The gas is a bonus.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 16 11:29 am Post subject:
Perhaps those eradicating it need a lesson on seed disperal of the genus Impatiens and why it would be inappropriate to just throw them around if you're trying to get rid of them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UiCRJE9e88

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Mon Oct 17, 16 12:41 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

buzzy wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

buzzy wrote:

Being a fast growing annual I expect the plants are of little use for biomass fuel.

Anything can go into anaerobic digestion to make gas...

I'm sure you are right. The question is "Does HB produce enough gas to make it worthwhile cutting, collecting and transporting it?"

The better question is: can we set up a digester at this place with a HB infestation?

The cutting and collecting is wanting to happen anyway to control the problem. The gas is a bonus.

I'm not sure it's a better question, just the same question asked in a slightly different way. Replace 'transporting' with 'setting up a digester and removing it when the HB is cleared'.

Henry

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 16 7:35 am Post subject:

Many years ago I thought that digesting waste rather than burying it was a good idea, and it seems to have happened. Sadly I have never had the knowledge or been in the right industry to make these things happen, but it is nice to know that they eventually do. Perhaps a small volume one to take round to sites with things like HB, severe ragwort infestations etc. might be a good idea. If all else failed, perhaps they could store the gas so that it could be used to power their transport, so apart from the cost in money and energy making the thing, it would be carbon neutral.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 16 6:25 pm Post subject:

buzzy wrote:

Treacodactyl wrote:

buzzy wrote:

As I recall, HB grows from seeds, which it produces in great profusion. Thus it is important to pull or cut it before it flowers. Stuff you pull just dies, but if there are seed pods close to ripening, they will help the spread! Being a fast growing annual I expect the plants are of little use for biomass fuel.

It can also root from broken pieces during the growing season, if you look at the stems they're covered in little roots waiting to come into contact with some soil. Whole plants can also get washed down stream only to wash up and carry on growing.

Thanks. I didn't know that - and I've not come into close enough contact with it to have seen detail of the stems. I just know it seeds very well.

Henry

Here's a pic of a small plant that's probably floated down the stream and re-rooted. The original roots on the right and the lower two nodes have sprouted roots. I snapped it whilst pulling it out so not a great photo.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 16 7:23 pm Post subject:
it is a very persistent and "enthusiastic" plant ,in the wrong place (most places are wrong ) it is a rather bad development but in some circumstances it does seem to enrich the biosphere rather than smother and monoculture it.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 16 7:26 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

There is nothing complicated about methane digestion: you can do it with not much more than a couple of buckets. It's not quick though: takes a week or few before you start getting useable gas.

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 16 11:42 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

Mistress Rose wrote:

There is nothing complicated about methane digestion: you can do it with not much more than a couple of buckets. It's not quick though: takes a week or few before you start getting useable gas.

Are there any plans available for a (reasonably) portable methane digester that includes efficient storage for the gas produced?

Henry

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 16 12:19 am Post subject:

buzzy wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

Mistress Rose wrote:

There is nothing complicated about methane digestion: you can do it with not much more than a couple of buckets. It's not quick though: takes a week or few before you start getting useable gas.

Are there any plans available for a (reasonably) portable methane digester that includes efficient storage for the gas produced?

There are plenty of plans available until you come to that last requirement. For that, the only one I've found so far is the one in my head...

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 16 8:34 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

buzzy wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

Mistress Rose wrote:

There is nothing complicated about methane digestion: you can do it with not much more than a couple of buckets. It's not quick though: takes a week or few before you start getting useable gas.

Are there any plans available for a (reasonably) portable methane digester that includes efficient storage for the gas produced?

There are plenty of plans available until you come to that last requirement. For that, the only one I've found so far is the one in my head...

I can't imagine the amusement is worth the brain cells lost when it comes to huffing methane

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Sat Oct 22, 16 9:03 pm Post subject:

Slim wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

buzzy wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

Mistress Rose wrote:

There is nothing complicated about methane digestion: you can do it with not much more than a couple of buckets. It's not quick though: takes a week or few before you start getting useable gas.

Are there any plans available for a (reasonably) portable methane digester that includes efficient storage for the gas produced?

There are plenty of plans available until you come to that last requirement. For that, the only one I've found so far is the one in my head...

I can't imagine the amusement is worth the brain cells lost when it comes to huffing methane

A plan you fool, not a storage for methane.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Sun Oct 23, 16 3:48 pm Post subject:
I first came across HB nearly forty years ago. This was when I was mink hunting with The Border Counties Mink hounds and it was on the river banks. I can well understand how it spreads down stream but where I live now, we even have it on the cliff tops.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 6:17 pm Post subject:

There are plans afoot to address a local problem with HB and other invasive weeds so I want to give this idea of digesting them some proper thought.
A digester is fairly easy to build: you can make one out of an IBC or an old barrel or whatever, but it seems to me the harder part is how to mash up the bulk of the biomass and get it in the tank.

I'm thinking that there could be a series of digesters, and one portable plant mashing device, but I'm not aware of any suitable machine...

Any thoughts?

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 6:22 pm Post subject:
A small wood chipper would do the trick I would think...

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 16 7:51 pm Post subject:

Slim wrote:

A small wood chipper would do the trick I would think...

For the amount of stuff I think we are talking about, a small chipper would be tedious, and a larger chipper tends to fling stuff about rather vigorously, but if the area is infested anyway, that latter shouldn't matter. Might be worth a try.

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