[R-390] R-390 Digest, Vol 65, Issue 35

[Robert Nickels]

frankshughes at aim.com wrote:
>  
> But I also realize that obtaining Diesel fuel is not going to happen. 
> Hurricanes here and in the Gulf a few years ago shut down the petrochemical infrastructure
> for a long time, a more severe event would take years to recover from.
>
>   
True, that. And solar is still over 10X the cost of other renewable 
energy sources, even at utility scale. It's hard to beat the energy 
density of chemical fuels! But as you point out, we've become dependent 
on commercial entities with massive infrastructure to produce them for us.

Anyone who is serious about having their own renewable fuel source 
should do some reading on biomass gasification, aka "producer gas" "wood 
gas" or "syngas" - (a google search will keep you busy reading for 
hours). Nothing new about it, as you'll learn the basic process was 
widely used during the gas shortages in WWII and syngas can be burned 
for heat, used to run IC engines or gensets (with some side-effects), or 
used to produce liquid biofuels when combined with the Fischer–Tropsch 
process. Feedstocks can be just about any kind of biomass such as forest 
waste, plant stover or corn cobs or even old tires, although the average 
person would probably have trouble keeping the lights on with just grass 
clippings!

Lindsay books has some reprints of books on the topic. Current interest 
in renewable fuels makes it likely that this technology will return, 
perhaps in the form of small, modular systems rather than big 
centralized plants.

73, Bob W9RAN