As the global adventures of Kon-Tiki kilns gain steam, we wanted to share some information and updates as well as invite you all to join us in participating in some upcoming events related to global environmental action.
There has been some robust conversation about terminology related to the Kon-Tiki in terms of differentiating this technology from other biochar production technologies (e.g. gasifiers, TLUDs, retorts, etc.).
“Flame curtain” is how we have been describing it as one of the key principles is that the flame curtain heats the feedstock and protects it from oxygen. Although Kon-Tiki kilns have now been built in many different shapes and sizes, some very low tech built with only a shovel, and others much more elaborate, all embrace the flame curtain technique. Having a clear technical terminology is important for scientific publications but for us the Kon-Tiki will always be the Kon-Tiki, a vessel that provides a place for everybody to discover new horizons and new ways to get there.
To show you where KT kilns are in use as well as variations on the original kiln, we’ve created a Pinterest Board showing pictures of Kon-Tiki inspired kilns in more than a dozen countries. If you’ve built a kiln but haven’t yet forwarded pictures, we would love to add a page with details of your own Kon-Tiki voyage. We’d also like to start sharing more details of your ‘charventures’ and have asked our intern, Maddie Brown, to assist with this so she will be reaching out to some of you over the next few months.
We’ve also been busy working on new kiln designs both bigger and smaller. Recently our first twenty-five Garden and Pro scale kilns were shipped to various countries throughout Europe. Although the original kiln is open source, these new kilns will be proprietary designs. Our decision to change course with these designs is largely based on our desire to find a sustainable funding mechanism to continue our biochar and kiln research and outreach efforts. Much as we’d hope a voluntary donation system would support these efforts, it has become clear that it does not. We are also in discussion with
Figure 1: Kon-Tiki Pro (1,600 liter)
various companies to license, manufacture and sell Kon-Tiki kilns in different countries and will share more information on that as it is available.
There are two events in June that we’d like to make you aware of and encourage your participation. June 18, 2015 is Live Earth Day, a day of global climate activism which will be broadcast across all major media platforms and supported by a yearlong campaign in partnership with the world’s leading brands, NGOs and non-profits. The initiative hopes to “bring together a billion voices to shine a global spotlight on the nations convening in Paris this year and deliver a single message to all leaders”.
The 21st of June is the solstice, also referred to as midsummer in the Northern hemisphere. Many cultures have a long history of bonfires being held during midsummer festivals and we’ve heard from one of our colleagues in Germany that they are planning a big charring party in front of the Reichstag in Berlin with a Kon-Tiki Pro.
We would like to encourage the growing Kon-Tiki community to host your own educational “Flame-boyant” fetes on either June 18th or June 21stwhere you teach friends and family the art and craft of making biochar using a Kon-Tiki kiln. We’d love to calculate how much material the Kon-Tiki community is able to carbonize over this thee day period and then provide a rough estimate of the CO2 the community will sequester once the biochar has been added to the soil (or building materials or other long term use material). We believe we can arrive at a good approximation if you send us information on the feedstock used and amount of biochar (volume) you were able to produce.
If you are interested in participating in either of these events, we would appreciate hearing from you. Please contact Maddie Brown, [email protected], with the details of your kiln(s), feedstock and estimate for biochar production. We’d also like to collect pictures from any burns done during these 3 days and share them on social media.
Let’s show the world what a small community of dedicated char masters can do!
The Ithaka team
Frank Strie
