[TheForge] Charcoal

[John Husvar]

Y'all ain't been close by Abilene, TX, Have ya? Mesquite is a weed down
there comparable to kudzu in other southern areas. Came up on cow feet from
Mexico and loved the place so much it's trying to take over the whole
Republic of Texas! Well, it and Prickly Pear cactus.

If mesquite charcoal gets more popular, y'all could stop an ecological
disaster. :)


On 9/17/08 1:06 PM, "Andy Gladish" <gladish at cablerocket.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:56:24 -0700, Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:
> 
>> Andy, charcoal is actually quite a sustainable resource, unlike coal
>> which will be gone when it's gone.
> 
> Yes, you're right- I was responding to his "now talk me out of this"
> comment by saying that there's a downside to anything. Most of the
> charcoal in stores comes from areas of Mexico and the American southwest
> that are more or less strip mined for wood.
> Sure it comes back, theoretically, but the habitat destruction is
> significant, even though most of us don't have to look at it. If you make
> your own, a charcoal burner almost by definition produces a large amount
> of particulate matter and wastes much of the potential heat energy of the
> wood.
> 
> There are ways around this, and I personally think that charcoal produced
> with all this in mind is the best possible forge fuel.
> We either pay the price by making it ourselves in a responsible way, or we
> all pay in the long run because we treated our planet unkindly.
> Now to walk my talk and make charcoal in the winter, using the burnoff to
> heat my shop!
> 
> Andy G.
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