by Kobus Venter Well done to Troy Manufacturing for again being able to translate our drawings into workable solutions. Most components are laser-cut, but many add-ons are hand made. The quality of the welding is also top class. All components are in direct contact with fire so none will be painted. They all come together … Continue reading Sneak preview of our new IP
Author: Kobus Venter
Interesting observation – charcoal pile
By Kobus Venter The Vuthisa Biochar Initiative is progressing well thanks to the Energy and Environment Partnership Southern and East Africa funding. EEP-S&EA have partnered with us until July 2015 to fund 50% of our project costs. We were busy setting up a tent for Biochar storage when I noticed a pile of charcoal "fines" … Continue reading Interesting observation – charcoal pile
Employing aliens to capture carbon
By Kobus Venter (Extracted from a Green Times article published on 20 February, 2014: http://thegreentimes.co.za/employing-aliens-to-fight-carbon/) Imagine turning thirsty alien invasive trees into biochar. Biochar is charcoal created by pyrolysis of biomass. This differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture. If … Continue reading Employing aliens to capture carbon
My website in review (2013)
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 36,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many … Continue reading My website in review (2013)
The Vuthisa Biochar Initiative
By Kobus Venter Welcome to the 'Vuthisa Biochar Initiative' blog page. On this page you will learn more about our project and what we hope to achieve. The project officially kicked off in December 2013. The project actually has many outcomes, but the primary goals are: Create Employment - Up to 30 workers will be … Continue reading The Vuthisa Biochar Initiative
Vuthisa Biochar Trials Ivory Coast – Part 1
By Kobus Venter Here we have Ivoire Consommation from Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) using the Vuthisa 3-Drum Biochar Retort. A concerted effort was made by Kouamé Bahfi (owner of Ivoire Consommation) to make Biochar and promote it as a soil amendment in his region. In this video Gmelina was carbonized (bought in), using twigs and … Continue reading Vuthisa Biochar Trials Ivory Coast – Part 1
How to get people to know about your blog or website
by Kobus Venter Just follow these basic tips to get people to find your website. I hope others that start off on WordPress finds this and keep working at getting traffic. If your stats show only a handful of visits per month, it means no one knows about your website and it’s not showing up … Continue reading How to get people to know about your blog or website
Vuthisa Biochar Trials Guatemala – Part 1
Herewith Part 1 of the trials and tribulations of starting a Biochar project in Guatemala. Emphasis is on manufacturing Biochar from invasive alien species in the forests of Guatemala, without creating excessive air pollution. Using a retort system means that gaseous products that are normally vented unburnt are in fact now utilised to provide the … Continue reading Vuthisa Biochar Trials Guatemala – Part 1
Construct and optimize a Facebook Fan Page for your business
By Kobus Venter I have blogged about issues of interest to me and related to my business for the last couple of years and thought it was about time to venture out into the world of Social Media Networking. The first thing I did was to create a Fan Page on Facebook, before … Continue reading Construct and optimize a Facebook Fan Page for your business
WordPress.com for bloggers and small businesses
By Vuthisa WHAT IS WordPress.com? WordPress.com is a weblog hosting provider owned by Automattic and there are over 71 million individual blogs with the service as of March 2012. With WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org) you don't have to pay for web hosting or manage a web server and once you have registered … Continue reading WordPress.com for bloggers and small businesses
Energy saving 2-plate and 4-plate electric cooking hob
[Update 20/02/2023: We have added more information and confirm this product is still available] Cooking is a vital part of everyday life and there are a variety of methods to cook food or boil water. Using electricity is the preferred mode of cooking where it is available. South Africa uses an estimated 215 billion kWh … Continue reading Energy saving 2-plate and 4-plate electric cooking hob
Charcoal from invasive alien tree species
By Vuthisa We recently concluded a feasibility study into the viability of rolling out portable metal kilns to eradicate invasive alien tree species. The cattle farm in question is situated in Franklin, approximately 30 km North of Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. To achieve this task we adapted the Portable Kiln system and made it into … Continue reading Charcoal from invasive alien tree species
Charcoal gas stove
By Vuthisa Background This blog post aims to provide the reader with some background on charcoal stove usage as well as charcoal burn characteristics. Vuthisa developed a unique charcoal stove, able to extract and burn harmful Carbon Monoxide gases inherent to all types of charcoal. We discovered that charcoal use by households is not a … Continue reading Charcoal gas stove
What is a Rocket Stove?
By Vuthisa Dr. Larry Winiarski, now Technical Director of Aprovecho, began developing the Rocket stove in 1980 and invented the principles of the Rocket stove in 1982. The Winiarski Rocket stove's simple design and use of common materials make it easily modified for optimal performance. In the last 29 years, variations of the Rocket stove … Continue reading What is a Rocket Stove?
Biochar as a soil amendment and carbon sequestering tool
By Vuthisa It is surprising how many people cart away their yard waste (renewable biomass) to landfill sites or dispose thereof in open burns until only ash remains. I say: Make your own biochar instead. What is biochar and what is the difference between biochar and charcoal? They are identical in many respects, but the … Continue reading Biochar as a soil amendment and carbon sequestering tool
2010 in review
Just received this update from WordPress...I hope 2011 is just as congested 🙂 Thank you for your continued support. The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!. Crunchy numbers A … Continue reading 2010 in review
Briquette Producers Workshop – Arusha (Tanzania) 2010
By Vuthisa Vuthisa (South Africa) was invited to participate in the Briquette Producers Workshop held in Arusha, Tanzania between 10 and 14 November, 2010 at Olasiti Garden Lodge. Arusha lies at the base of Mount Meru, one of Africa's highest and most beautiful volcanoes. Apparently after scaling the summit one is met with stunning views … Continue reading Briquette Producers Workshop – Arusha (Tanzania) 2010
Development books delivered to your door
By Vuthisa With more and more communities having access to the Internet it would make sense to create a facility through which they can order informative books to assist them in their day to day lives. Unfortunately limited bandwidth and a lack of color printers means that e-books often remain either unattainable or less than … Continue reading Development books delivered to your door
Is it better to burn wood or charcoal?
By Kobus Venter Is it better to burn wood or charcoal? Half the World's population of nearly six billion people prepare their food and heat their homes with coal and the traditional biomass fuels of dung, crop residues, wood and charcoal (Inheriting the world: The atlas of children's health and the environment, by Bruce … Continue reading Is it better to burn wood or charcoal?
Air conditioners and the environment: Tips to improve indoor air quality
By Vuthisa My blog hopes to alert people's attention to indoor air pollution in the developing world - but what about the developed world? In the next couple of weeks I plan to post some more articles related to indoor air pollution in developed economies. Since most of us like to control our micro environments … Continue reading Air conditioners and the environment: Tips to improve indoor air quality