This bit of news is a nice breakthrough for rice hull earthbag building. Using a suggestion from Richard, a long time reader, I made a test bag using raschel mesh and rice hulls. I had previously ruled out using rice hulls in mesh bags, because it seemed certain that the hulls would fall through. Well, it turns out some hulls do fall through, but not many. The hulls naturally jam up against each other and only a negligible amount (say 3% or so) fall through.
Richard, a long time reader, is really excited about building with rice hulls. He’s especially interested in using this method after learning from Maggi of Chiang Dao B&B in Thailand that rice hulls are more durable than previously thought. So, not only do rice hulls save lots of time and hard labor, and create a highly insulating walls, they should also last a long time with proper precautions. Richard sent Maggi a list of questions to learn more details.
“Husk Power Systems designs, installs and operates biomass-based power plants. Each plant uses proprietary gasification technology to convert abundant agricultural residue (procured from local farmers) into electricity, which is then distributed to rural households and micro-enterprises through a micro-grid system – providing a better quality, cheaper way to meet their need for energy.