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  1. #1
    mangyhyena
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beprepared View Post
    All great points, thank you for the post. I've been interested in the wood gasification for some time know. Quite viable for us rural mountain folk. I need to brush up on my fabrication skills a bit.

    I also like the the idea of horse/livestock/dog teadmills to charge batteries.
    http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showth...t=20019&page=3

    I haven't seen a treadmill that charges batteries for sale. I'll have to do a search for it. I like that idea a lot. Would be nice to get some use out of my dogs for a change. Food in and energy out instead of the usual crap I get from those mutts.
    Also, I've had this crazy idea to make a long treadmill, put it on an incline, then have the family take turns riding it down. If I had enough people and pets I could keep it going for hours without anyone getting overly tired. Would keep the kids busy (Out of my hair!) charging the batteries with enough energy to run their nightly video/gaming entertainment. Don't know how that would work out, but it seems possible.

    For the wood gasifier, you might contract a local welder. Bet you could find a few that are out of work and who wouldn't mind doing some welding for cash. There are a multitude of DIY plans for them online. The more current plans are more efficient than the earlier models, but any of them will get you a working unit. Also, look up wood gas storage. It's possible to store the gas in pressurized cylinders via compressor for later use, like driving or running a generator when solar panels or windmills aren't working up to par due to weather conditions.

  2. #2
    Machine Gunner Hoosier's Avatar
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    You might consider a Stirling engine for creating power. DEKA has one but I don't know if it's available yet: http://www.dekaresearch.com/stirling.shtml They convert any heat into rotational energy using a closed-loop internal expansion system. They need a hot source and a cool source to work efficiently... if you had a wood powered fireplace for heat/light, the exhaust gas just up the chimney could power a Stirling engine. Kamens is designed to be used in the 3rd world, powered by cow paddies, and used to power the Slingshot, http://www.dekaresearch.com/water.shtml which will turn any water into pure drinking water efficiently.

    You could also capture surplus power and convert it to hydrogen through the relatively simple process of electrolysis, and store it for later use either to be burned or fed into a fuel cell. The fuel cell is expensive, but has the benefit of producing pure H2O as a byproduct. Storing hydrogen requires a double walled tank with water in the outer layer, as it likes to sneak through even the smallest of cracks in a weld. Turbines, internal combustion, and even open (invisible) flame can also harness hydrogen.

    H.

  3. #3
    QUITTER Irving's Avatar
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    How can you make such a long statement about bucking old methods, then suggest 100 year old wood gasification?
    "There are no finger prints under water."

  4. #4
    Stircrazy Jer jerrymrc's Avatar
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    just fixed your quote Offgrid.

    Here in Colorado I would agree that the no sun/no wind is a very short time span. I remember Offgrid's setup and as I remember there was enough capacity to go a number of days without both.

    Even on the worst days there is still some output from solar. It may not be what ya want or could use but it is still there.
    I see you running, tell me what your running from

    Nobody's coming, what ya do that was so wrong.

  5. #5
    mangyhyena
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart View Post
    How can you make such a long statement about bucking old methods, then suggest 100 year old wood gasification?
    LOL. Because wood gas can run your vehicle and a generator, covering transportation and electricity if the power company fails and/or gasoline and diesel are not resupplied to the gas stations. Out of curiosity, why does an old technology like wood gas, and perhaps alcohol, sticking with your line of thought, fall short for the purpose of providing fuel? Both alcohol and wood gas can be produced at home and can run internal combustion engines.

    If you've know about newer technology that can do what wood gas does and can be done at the home level, please share what you know. BTW, a wood gasification unit costs about 5K if you buy it new. Is there another way to ensure you can still run your vehicles and a generator for less money should our energy systems fail us all?

  6. #6
    QUITTER Irving's Avatar
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    I was just commenting on the dichotomy of your statement. I don't think there is anything wrong with wood gas generators. I've heard of people putting one on a trailer and using it to power the vehicle pulling it during the Great Depression.
    "There are no finger prints under water."

  7. #7
    mangyhyena
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stuart View Post
    I was just commenting on the dichotomy of your statement. I don't think there is anything wrong with wood gas generators. I've heard of people putting one on a trailer and using it to power the vehicle pulling it during the Great Depression.

    Ah, I see where you're coming from. It does seem to contradict what I was talking about. I meant we should be looking for ways to keep our current technology up and running if things go South. Here in Colorado, solar and wind can accomplish much of that, when it comes to powering a home. I'm still interested in running my vehicle and a generator for high use appliances as well. A more hands on approach might be necessary to produce fuel for internal combustion engines. It would be great if solar and wind could be made to fuel an engine, but hydrogen is the only way I know of to accomplish that and at this point, pressurizing hydrogen in tanks to run vehicles seems too dangerous. But I heard they have tanks that use metal shavings to store the hydrogen and those tanks don't explode, so perhaps we'll have a way to produce and store hydrogen at the home level yet.

  8. #8
    QUITTER Irving's Avatar
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    Don't forget nuclear. Pretty sure the technology has already existed for years for entire neighborhoods to be powered by a vehicle sized reactor buried at the end of the street. And who wouldn't want a motor sized reactor that would power your vehicle for 20 years?
    "There are no finger prints under water."

  9. #9
    mangyhyena
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoosier View Post
    You might consider a Stirling engine for creating power. DEKA has one but I don't know if it's available yet: http://www.dekaresearch.com/stirling.shtml They convert any heat into rotational energy using a closed-loop internal expansion system. They need a hot source and a cool source to work efficiently... if you had a wood powered fireplace for heat/light, the exhaust gas just up the chimney could power a Stirling engine. Kamens is designed to be used in the 3rd world, powered by cow paddies, and used to power the Slingshot, http://www.dekaresearch.com/water.shtml which will turn any water into pure drinking water efficiently.

    You could also capture surplus power and convert it to hydrogen through the relatively simple process of electrolysis, and store it for later use either to be burned or fed into a fuel cell. The fuel cell is expensive, but has the benefit of producing pure H2O as a byproduct. Storing hydrogen requires a double walled tank with water in the outer layer, as it likes to sneak through even the smallest of cracks in a weld. Turbines, internal combustion, and even open (invisible) flame can also harness hydrogen.

    H.
    Hoosier, thanks for the info. I had never heard of DEKA before. That Stirling looks promising. Hope they wind up manufacturing it in the future. I'll keep an eye on them in case they do manage to pull it off.

    I looked into hydrogen several years ago. There were a lot of warnings about storing home made hydrogen in pressurized tanks as the tanks would explode if the hydrogen was not pure enough. I hadn't heard of storing it in a double walled tank with water in the outer layer.

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