[GSBN] Baling thoughts + bagasse

[Bruce King]

Sidebar on bagasse, after Tim's comments:

Sugar cane is pretty high in silica, so the remnant stalks and fiber  
(bagasse) left over after you squish out the cane juice is a valuable  
feedstock.  More than anyone I know of, the Cubans have developed a  
wonderful small scale industrial ecology around this:  grow the cane,  
harvest the sugar, then burn the bagasse in small local kilns (ideally  
generating electricity), then grind the resulting ash to make a  
pozzolan.  Mix the pozzolan and some bagasse fiber in a mold, press,  
and you have durable roofing tiles .

You may also want to check out the forthcoming Ecomaterials Conference  
in Bayamo, Cuba (same people), which happens every four years.  I went  
to the last one, and it was fantastic, but must miss this one as it  
straddles a major US holiday (Thanksgiving) and I can't be away.

Thanks,

Bruce King
(415) 987-7271
bruce-king.com

On Feb 3, 2009, at 9:42 AM, Tim Owen-Kennedy wrote:

> Happy solar and lunar new years everybody,
>
> I've built with Hemp bales but neither corn nor Sugar. Though with  
> regard to structure, thermal performance, and ease of construction I  
> imagine they would be similar. I don't understand decomposition or  
> spontaneous combustion enough to comment authoritatively, but in a  
> few conversations I had at a conference with a delegation from  
> Brazil they felt that there is very little food source or nitrogen  
> left after the sugar cane is processed, and that the crushed,  
> extracted, and dry culms would fold easily into bales. I believe  
> they call the sugar cane waste Bagasse. I've heard of it's  
> exploratory use in clothing, packaging, and both as ash and  
> aggregate in concrete. The Brazilians seemed really eager to try out  
> the bale building techniques but I see no sign of them on the web.  
> Do we have a Brazilian contingent on this list?
>
> I personally believe that we need to diversify and localize our  
> solutions as much as possible, for so many reasons.
>
> thanks to you all for taking up the challenges in your way,
>
> Tim
>
> On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 7:51 AM, Mark Jensen <markj at redfeather.org>  
> wrote:
> Greetings everybody,
>
>
> I was in a meeting yesterday with a man who would like to see  
> sustainable housing in his home land of Kenya. He mentioned that  
> they grow a lot of wheat and rice there, however he asked if I had  
> heard of baling sugar cane or corn stalks. I have not heard of  
> anybody doing this, but have any of you heard of this or have any  
> thoughts of the plausibility of doing such. I'm thinking the culm  
> might be just too big for a baler. I would love to hear your thoughts.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Mark Jensen
>
> Construction Program Director
>
>
> Red Feather Development Group
>
> PO Box 907
>
> Bozeman, MT 59771-0907
>
> T: (406)585-7188
>
> F: (406)585-7187
>
>
> markj at redfeather.org   www.redfeather.org
>
>
> -Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
>
>
>
>
>
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