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Examples of fairly accessible technologies
Examples of fairly accessible technologies
This page is dedicated to Bio Fuels / green hydrogen / natural gas alternatives as a back up energy source
Wood Gasification, credit due to this article.
Cars That Run on Trees
Cars That Run on Trees
by Jonah Goodman
by Jonah Goodman
Wood-burning cars may seem like a steampunk fantasy or the backyard obsession of some mad tinkerer, but at one point they were commonplace in many parts of Europe, and the technology that powers them still finds practical applications today.
Deep in the forests of inland Sweden, Johan Linell pulls over, his engine dead. He and two friends leave the vehicle and fan out through the trees, returning with arms full of fir cones and dead wood. At the back of the car Linell unhinges the top of a tall steel box that towers from a hole in the boot. Smoke billows, and flames follow as he dumps the foraged wood inside. From the bottom of the tar-stained stack, thick, welded pipes clamber over the car’s body and snake to the front bumper, where they enter the engine like a patient’s feeding tubes. Within minutes, the car comes to life, smoothly running on solid wood.
For a brief moment, 70 years ago, nearly all civilian vehicles in Europe worked this way. As the Second World War dragged on and petrol became ever scarcer, wood emerged as the primary alternative transportation fuel. By 1945 around one million European vehicles were powered by wood gasification, using modifications similar to those on Linell’s Volvo. The operating principle is remarkably simple: by burning a barrel of wood or coal until it develops a core temperature of between 900° and 1,200°C (1,650° and 2,200°F), then restricting the fire’s supply of air, gasifiers produce flammable carbon monoxide that can be cooled, filtered, and delivered directly to a normal car engine. read more
More inspiring resources on Bio Fuel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyTqo4mCUUY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generator
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