I know the majority here probably tie a bag and throw it in the dumpster, but what do you see the future holding for spent biomass. Also is there anyone making waves using spent biomass in a regenerative way, I’ve read that hydrocarbon biomass can be great for crops because of the nitrogen. What would you set the national standard to be for spent biomass if you had the chance to make the rules. It was easy enough in my caregiver lab to give the spent to farmers and whatnot, but now that I’m licensed it seems less people try to be regenerative and just trash it because they don’t want to do deal with it. Hoping this changes for the industry and we open up more uses for spent shit.
Have a good Monday y’all, get out there and keep crushing
If it is butane/iso extracted, you are going to have to put it it in a vac chamber before use. If ethanol extracted, turning in a dark, dry surface may suffice for being food-safe.
Starting from scratch, it makes excellent compost. I have seen people do a long warm soak in solvent for full-spectrum oil (albeit lower potency like for the geriatric or sensitive demographic), It doesn’t have the fibrous content of straw, so cob material is somewhat out of the picture, but it may make a portiion of the mix.
We are also doing experiments creating HULIS (humic-like substances) from organic bio-waste. We are a little further down the production chain, but you can start your own humates with something like lactobacilus or oyster mushrooms.
**Let me give you the most basic crude humic acid supplement possible that will do wonders for your garden.
Cover biomass with 2x water in some kind of open fermenter.
Add leaf mould for microorganisms. You can add lactobacilus at this point… It will make the pH go up, but that won’t matter at the end.
Let it ferment! Once the biofilm breaks on top you are pretty much done
Adjust pH to 11 with potassium hydroxide. Stir it up really good, fermented goop and all. Make sure it is stable at 10-11 before straining.
*After straining adjust to pH 6-7 with citric acid. You will have fall out. Just strain and re-adjust until stable.
*add 2 tablespoons solution per 5 gallon bucket. Citric acid also works as a complexor (not chelator) Your garden will LOVE you.
Even if the pH is 3 from lactobacilus when done fermenting, humic acid is soluble at a high pH. Adjusting the pH also captures the carbon for a healthy rhizome and all the fulvic acid. This is a VERY crude non-commercial recipe, but works well. If someone can figure out a substitute for potassium hydroxide, it can be organic. Happy Gardening!
SECRET #2: The best version of this works with worm castings, aged compost and leached manure. You are essentially making a super-concentrate of the good stuff.
SECRET #3: I could care less if you buy my OMRI/FIBL listed AGT-50 Fulvic Mineral Complex. I just want everyone to grow the best chronic possible.
If you break down the cellulose with heat/enzymes/pH/mycelium maybe… You can convert that into carbs, then ferment, then turn it into a mix prime for distillation…
I.e. make more solvent from your spent stuff.
It won’t be likely as cost effective as buying commoditized ethanol… But… It’s cool af
further down the rabbit hole I go, soil science is fascinating. I’m slowly starting to grow my own food and its so satisfying learning about the soil. If it wasnt for future himself Id probaly still be eating all grocery store food haha. I like this option @AgTonik because you can truly be regenerative in re-using the spent biomass to fuel the garden for plants/food. Im an extractor and am actively trying to become better at the gardening side =) haha
I’ve heard people suggest this before. i’d LOVE having an in-house ethanol plant, like what could be more efficient? but i wonder the ROI-positivity/profitability of such an operation, and the back-end details, like disposal of waste from a new process (is THAT stuff safely compostible? dope if it is), additional permits, etc; like would i need to create a separate business or department just to perform ethanol generation?
i mean shit, if someone set up a business licensed to receive spent biomass from all the extractors in the land, make ethanol from it, sell it back to extractors (the potential deals around this are interesting), in a profitable manner, i’d think there’s mad potential there.
profit aside, imagine using biomass to generate ethanol to extract later biomass; then post fermentation, compost the now (doubly-)spent material. what could be more ‘regenerative’ than that? that’s a dreamy concept
Got published in an article talking about this topic:
Here in Colorado the need for good soil and compost is real. We had nutrition tests done on spent ethanol extracted stuff and it’s very similar to mid bloom alfalfa hay, we could monetize it to farmers really easily if the FDA would hurry the fuck up
Shred your hemp biomass and compost the material. This is your aeration and light nutrition component… Mix it 50/50 with leached cow/horse manure for a straight up potting soil. Mix is 50/50 with charged coco coir for a soil you expect to fertilize.
I’ve grown rich and I’ve grown poor. I’ve done both of these recipes and they kick out the nugs.
