There has been some discussion on the obvious generation of pollutants when plant material is carbonized. As I pointed out, we can sharply curtail that problem with an enclosed tightly managed oven system in the world of modern agriculture.
Where labor is available and near subsistence agriculture is practiced, then we want to apply the stack system that I have already described. This will produce a lot of out gassing of volatiles that then rely on atmospheric dispersion. These are no different than the gases generated by straight open burning with a lot less carbon dioxide.
In fact this system is a general improvement over traditional practices associated with slash and burn, while within the means of the family.
Obviously, no one has actually operated a corn stack for at least 500 years so we do not have the art of it yet. I suspect that it takes a good twelve to fifteen hours to run out of fuel and while that is happening someone is standing by to throw dirt wherever too much smoke is escaping. The next morning you would rake the soil, char and ash into a neat stack for distribution.
Where labor is available and near subsistence agriculture is practiced, then we want to apply the stack system that I have already described. This will produce a lot of out gassing of volatiles that then rely on atmospheric dispersion. These are no different than the gases generated by straight open burning with a lot less carbon dioxide.
In fact this system is a general improvement over traditional practices associated with slash and burn, while within the means of the family.
Obviously, no one has actually operated a corn stack for at least 500 years so we do not have the art of it yet. I suspect that it takes a good twelve to fifteen hours to run out of fuel and while that is happening someone is standing by to throw dirt wherever too much smoke is escaping. The next morning you would rake the soil, char and ash into a neat stack for distribution.
It would be fun to build out a number of stacks using a number of different dimensions in order to discern any particular favored style. Right now we must wait for test results!
