Is There Nothing this Grass can’t do? Bamboo Charcoal
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 07.11.06
If there is one thing we wax lyrical about here, more than hybrid cars, it might just be bamboo. But strangely we’ve neglected to discuss bamboo charcoal. Seems that couple of decades ago some Japanese researchers discovered burning of bamboo at high temps (800 °C, ~ 1472°F) would yield a material that had a multitude of useful properties. So many, in fact, that one wonders if some might be overstating the benefits just a tad. Apparently bamboo charcoal can achieve the following impressive accomplishments: Absorbs 2,4-dichloro-hydroxybenzene, a pollutant in drinking water, as well as surplus chlorine, chloroform. Removes odour from smelly places like inside footwear, bathrooms and kitchens. Chemicals like formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene are also seemingly attracted to the porous structure of bamboo charcoal. Extracts humidity from the air and converts this moisture into negative ions reversing the onset of ‘stale air’ in indoor environments. It can even dissipate Electromagnetic (EM) waves, such as emitted by electrical appliances. Remember the EGG that you put into your fridge to absorb ethylene gas and extend the life of your fresh fruit and veg? Bamboo charcoal can do that too. Drop some in your fish tank to keep the water clean. The list goes on...
Green Yarn use some of these properties in the ‘nano-particles’ from a Taiwanese bamboo charcoal to create eco-fabric that is anti-fungal, deodourising, thermal regulating, enhances blood circulation and reduces the static electricity normally found in synthetic fabric. Oddly the sock fabric that their bamboo charcoal is applied is not bamboo itself, but rather rayons, polyesters and nylons.
Our original lead to this further development in bamboo's long and illustrious career via Bamboo-Charcoal.Net.
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I've used Greenyarn products, and they really are as good as they say they are.
At the moment I am walking through China, from Hong Kong to Beijing, helping China to 'Green The Olympics'.
I have been invited to Inner Mongolia to help a Japanese organisation ptomote and expand their tree planting activities and heard through them of the value of Bamboo Charcoal. I know China very well, and have a cough to prove it. As winter approaches more and more Chinese will stoke their coal fires. Does the burning of Bamboo Charcoal have the potential to reduce the pollutiuon in China - has it been proven? I understand the other benefits, but this one I have a fabulous aopportunity to promote iand advance if it truly is benficial to the Chinese air. What happens in China will have an impact on the whole world - one way or another.