Biochar from banana peels breaks ground in Cameroon

[@universeslap]

Ingenious and very important work. Let's bring more people to the vision of the healthy future, not toxic dystopian nightmare.

[@seanhewitt603]

The tech is Millenia old, not a whiteman's invention.

[@Qce-i6d]

❤

[@jogadorquantico]

Dificult to imagine this future with poor people burning charcoal in a failed state

[@richardjohnson5529]

What a great thing he is doing thank you Steve

[@ttime9723]

This guy's amazing. Good to see beauty like this in the world! Keep going Steve!

[@ichifish]

Steve, you're a hero. I hope you get the funding you deserve.

[@Spike-ck5tj]

How interesting Innovators like Steve make the world a better place.

[@360sbs]

This is such an excellent video. Local talent solving global challenges! Thank you for the hope this inspires.

[@mel3256]

Great work by local journalists to share important, Inspiring stories of hope!...wgat a great leader for his community

[@marketmom5283]

Very good for the youth to be encouraged to stay in their country and be a mentor and run your own business ❤

[@alpanapatel4703]

Steve U are Truly a Hero! 😊👏

[@Qce-i6d]

Wonderful project! May God bless him! He is helping reduce pollution, and provide jobs and education in the renewable industry for his People! Best wishes from California. ❤

[@DBT1007]

bisa diterapkan di indonesia ini. sampah kulit pisang beserta batang dan gedebog pisangnya itu sering jadi limbah. dibuang aja. klo dibikin briket gini kan jadi lebih berguna. dan bisa utk bakar makanan.

[@JaceStream]

Amazing work and inspiration to so many. It shows what one person can do and we should all learn from Steve and so many others like him. Thansk

[@Enrico-o3c]

Awesome stuff. Thank you

[@rodrigo13121962]

Wonderful work. Well done!!!!!

[@theoriginalmonstermaker]

Just the kind of motivated people the world requires 👍

[@wailingalen]

1:23 i love how the dap is universal among men scross dif cultures 😊

[@colenip5384]

Great job, but this is just charcoal, not biochar. Biochar denotes adding in a micro-biome of beneficial fungi and bacteria, to be added into soil to aid in the proliferation of life. This is due to the surface area of charcoal, making it suitable as a ‘micro hotel’ for these organisms. What Steve is doing is the first step, and what I described could be done as well, and then grow more trees that can be coppiced for making charcoal for cooking and biochar, then the cycle repeats.

[@indujadiasnanayakkara7832]

why is biochar not that big an industry? is it because how african countries can't import it because of the pathogen and diseases that make the fertilizers of organic waste in africa risky to be exported to outside of africa? or some other reason all together.

[@tannerlane9669]

Same ish

[@MeMyrrh]

Thanks for clarifying

[@groovywaffle401]

WOW where can i get More info about this ? , i know some spores survives even 500° C ,this sounds amazing

[@Atta_ched]

Many people interchangeably use Biochar and Biocoal. You're right. This is Biocoal 👏

[@the_stoned_investor]

Steve is an absolute bad ass. More power to you my man!

[@BB-cb1ht]

Beautiful! Caring people making a difference.

[@ewelina3817]

Thank you Steve

[@sbdiaries]

How fascinating 🤔 and a great 👍 job Steve and his company,are doing with waste banana skins 👏❤️👏❤️👏❤️

[@SandhillGenetics]

Is there a way to donate to help better Steve's cause?

[@19Seth87]

I was going to ask this if no one else did! I would be VERY interested in doing that. Send me a message if you see this Steve!

[@MongabayTV]

Hi Sandhill and Seth! Thanks for watching, commenting and expressing your interest in helping Steve out. We made sure your comments reached him and here's what he had to say: "I am grateful for the words of encouragement! We do not have a donation request page, but you can contact me directly if you have any questions or want to help. My number is [phone]. Thank you!" We hope you get to speak with Steve and can somehow be a part of the process 🙌 Good luck!

[@Hemp.Nature....]

Excellent. Keep producing a vegan biochar and thriving your natural vegan plants as much as you could. Make sure the plants are uptake a natural vegan ingredients of nutrients.

[@BxBxProductions]

he's still going at it! great work my man!

[@lauralucca4184]

Steve! Man, you are making miracles! God bless❤

[@jontrimarco6205]

These are charcoal briquettes. Not biochar. Similar production processes, but very different uses.

[@allthingznatural5592]

How do you know? All that you know is the lies that they tell you in America! You can also make biochar from burnt coconut hulls then charge it

[@MongabayTV]

Hi Jon! Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment. Since quite a few people have made a similar observation, we reached out to Steve and here's what he had to say: "To obtain coal briquettes, the raw material is first converted into biochar. So at the stage when we introduced biochar, it was actually biochar. Then we moved on to the sieving, blending and compacting phase to obtain the coal briquettes." Some of this is also a translation issue since the original was not in English but was translated. So, "biocharbon" is charcoal briquettes used as fuel to replace firewood or gas but in translation, "biocharbon" is translated to "biochar", hence the overall confusion created. Thanks again🙏

[@jontrimarco6205]

@@MongabayTV Thank you very much for taking the time to look into this! I am actually a full time project developer for a biochar project under one of Africa's largest sustainable charcoal companies (Kijani Forestry in Uganda), and speaking for both the biochar and charcoal industries, the misuse of the term biochar (for any fuel-related purpose like the briquettes in this video) has created a lot of problems, especially when talking to stakeholders and potential investors who erroneously enter (or fail to enter) a conversation thinking we are talking about briquettes when we use the word biochar. There is consensus among biochar producers, professionals and researchers that the term biochar does not apply to material used to make briquettes (even though, as you rightly point out, the materials are one in the same for a brief period before the char is mixed with binding agents and turned into briquettes). As it stands, the title is still inaccurate and will add to further confusion among the general public, who the biochar industry increasingly needs to be versed in what biochar is and is not. this negatively impacts projects like ours if (and this happens all the time) stakeholders think we are proposing to burn materials and not that we are creating soil amendments/carbon sinks (those are very different things). Here's an analogy: I found an article about KFC the headline reads "VANCOUVER MAN RECIEVES RAW CHICKEN BURGER Now if they had written "Vancouver man receives raw DINOSAUR burger" they might still be technically correct, depending on what scientist you talk to... but the article title would be extremely misleading... Sorry to harp on this. I love and deeply respect the journalism at Mongabay... which is why I have to call for a true correction. Many thanks!

[@AaronFrederick843]

what are the Briquettes made of

[@rvrgrrl]

​@@AaronFrederick843 If I'm understanding correctly, it's just banana peels "carbonized" via heat in those barrels, then clay or starch is added.

[@sammovida1624]

Much love and respect for you guys❤

[@allthingznatural5592]

Wonderful! ❤️

[@GreenwoodHigh-g9n]

Lets go Steve!

[@evelyndorman5301]

So inspirational 👏

[@CreekLocseed]

Bless him. May he succeed !

[@Ocker3]

Steve should in front of the Cameroon Government, telling them how their country can preserve critical natural resources and export this knowledge to others

[@magic-eric7328]

The key here is that bioenergy from residual biomass is a decarbonization solution while bioenergy from whole trees is not a decarbonization solution.

[@markus_selloi]

It still depends on the situation. In most cases you are right though

[@markus_selloi]

It would definitely be the solution for palm oil problems.

[@magic-eric7328]

@@markus_selloi Agroforestry is the solution the the palm oil deforestation problem.

[@popandbob]

Whole tree energy is a decarbonising solution IF trees are replanted and they offset oil based energy. It keeps carbon in the small carbon cycle instead of moving long term to short term as oil and gas do.

[@magic-eric7328]

@@popandbob There is no need to use whole trees for bioenergy because hundreds of millions of tons of residual biomass are produced every year by agriculture and forestry.

[@mikelee9516]

The government should help.😎

[@chucktaylor4958]

What a great innovation.

[@HristosIisusEdomnul]

Grow Paulonia! Pray to God, bless and cultivate Paulonia

[@HristosIisusEdomnul]

Grow Paulonia. This tree grows superfast and gives tones of wood, good for everything( in Germany, they use the tree Paulonia for almost everything, including isolating houses and vans, furniture, charcoal, food for animals). Grow Paulonia!

[@owenramkeesoon4224]

Great stuff!

[@zimberryberry1714]

Wow this dude is on some next level brain reset... keep it up my man. Does he has a page? This is what I meant imagine giving this dude a factory that will employ 10,000 staff doing just that charcoal, that will impact the economy significantly

[@bebomora7391]

Whatever it is, he needs investors!! Get the rich to help. ❤

[@abelio3835]

Amazing! How can we support?

[@dasanoneia4730]

Go Steve!

[@rajeevs6276]

How to use the material

[@Despotic_Waffle]

Smart young men and women

[@SundryTalesOfConstance79WESTY]

Nooice! 😎 STOC

[@mrgomelonsolaris]

0:20 very nice voice

[@lovephotography1966]

God bless!

[@trinsit]

That doesn't look like biochar. That's just charcoal. I hope it works and does what they need it for. Great for sure. But biochar requires biology, microorganisms. Not just charcoal and a binder.

[@jeanrichardson2044]

What would happen if the briquettes were added to growing soil. Would it decompose to the extent that it would hold water and nutrients. After all it is made almost solely from banana skins which are already nutrient rich.

[@-e6195]

Cameroon Jesus here tackleing completly different areas of society

[@GM4ThePeople]

Did they calculate the net energy yield of the loop vs. wood?

[@Jasongy827]

Amazing

[@alexandralim3381]

I hope he gets the funding and resources he needs

[@rajeevs6276]

What is that liquid?

[@BryceGarling]

Biochar used for biology. That is just charcoal briquets

[@youarerich2711]

👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@Thereishope33]

Great work indeed can you please do a voice over in English? No possible to read the translation...

[@Hear4songs]

👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@simonphoenix3789]

This is way too small scale though. The problem with all these alternatives remains the same- they are more expensive than charcoal. I think the only real solution if you can't find an alternative source of fuel is to plant trees as you harvest older ones, and then some more. But even this won't work given just how bad their population growth is.

[@mikeymaven]

How can I invest in this?

[@jack1d1XB]

All the safety gear, impressive except: NO FACE MASKS, wow, the lunacy of all these Safer products but still the ignorance flows, 😖

[@petrbohacek]

Wouldn't it be more cost savning and beneficial to make biogas from organic material, rather than coal. They would get fertilizer out of it too, to fertile the ground, helping them in growing crops and be self sufficient and not so much dependent on the west. And Is it not more efficient/energy dense and can be used/converted for many other productive applications?

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Grow empress paulownia trees.

[@egonkirchof]

That can't scale to the whole country. They need electricity. They have plenty of sun and wind, I am sure. Not to mention natural gas.

[@QuietGrave]

probably be easier to work on electronics and high voltage stuff with your hair tied back and no acrylic nails

[@Ever1977-w6e]

❤

[@dieterjosef]

If he would give the cook bags for the banana peels he would save time when collecting the peels.

[@MistressOP]

Kind of waste of banana. Banana peal is such a special thing because Banana peels contain protein, starch, and soluble sugars, and are a good source of phosphorus and calcium. better to use it on the land or black solider fly projects.

[@goddammitboi]

It's just charcoal

[@jollyjokress3852]

Stop deforesting! It is criminal.

[@deejaytracksuit88]

what a legend!!

[@markus_selloi]

That's my shid

[@ThomasReginaThomaspresident]

Regina thomas president ugandans❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊

[@Dasani_water_drinker]

There is no emergency. How ignorant is the narrator

[@HideorEscape]

Very misleading title and click bait! This video is about charcoal briquettes not actual biochar. As a gardener I'm disappointed by this poorly translated video. Biochar actually means charcoal CHARGED with bacteria, nutrients, minerals, mycelium Bio = Biological

[@francescopaci9435]

But biogas homemade no?