Name your favourite BioFuel Technology
- Thread starter Singularity
- Start date
MetaKron said:
Metakron said:
Runs on fresh air, this chainsaw, does it?
Light said:
Ah, I envisaged him using a lot of chainsaw fuel chopping the tree into little pieces, and using a rucksack to get it all home! ;-)
Ophiolite
Valued Senior Member
On this occasion [the first in my memory] Metakron is correct. It is now recognised that the mono-culture forest projects of the last century were deeply flawed from an ecoogical standpoint. Coppicing, as practiced by our ancestors in the middle ages produces both valuable hardwoods in sustainable quantities, and biomass for fuel, within a rich biological environment.
Of course it is not the solution to our energy problems, but it could very easily be part of the solution.
Of course it is not the solution to our energy problems, but it could very easily be part of the solution.
The problem with wood as I see it is that it is heavy, it takes lots of energy to transport it, and many years to regrow.
The best application for biofuel I think is transportation (as opposed to hydrogen fuel cells),
for heating a lot more efficient is electricity (from nuclear or hydro plants and renewables like wind or sun).
The best application for biofuel I think is transportation (as opposed to hydrogen fuel cells),
for heating a lot more efficient is electricity (from nuclear or hydro plants and renewables like wind or sun).
Suppose it works - why isn't it widely applied?
And whatever you say - wood is heavy as opposed to algae or rape.
Of course that doesn't prohibit of using it all together in a system,
it's just that it is my impression that you can get more energy out of 1kg of oil than 1kg of wood,
maybe I'm wrong.
I grew up with wood heat, believe me, not very practical. you need a lot more than a couple of trees to get through the winter (where I live anyway). secondly, most people don't have those trees to spare. thirdly, if we take trees from areas with plenty to warm cities, you loose all your energy in transport. fourthly (is that a word?), asthma rates dramatically increase in children who live in homes with wood stoves. fifth, wood heat is a fire danger. most people can't get insurgence with wood heat, and those that can, pay through the nose. sixth, robbing the forests of so much wood would cause problems ecologically that would, more than likely, reduce the growth rate of the trees. seventh, there are just too many people in the world to make this practical.
Easy for you to say, mushroomhead. You've probably never cut and moved even a small load of wood in your entire life. So of course YOU would think it's interesting.duendy said:
Tell us something, come to think about it, have you ever done any meaningful work in your entire life?
Agree. I spent my childhood with wood heating. You need lots and lots of wood and be very careful with it.
With winters sometimes of -30C when you are snowed in it's not fun to go and get more wood,
besidesm as cato well pointed outm it would hurt our forests and be a cause for unknown environmental consequences. Copping cripples trees and the landscape where other animals have to live, find shelter and eat too.
With winters sometimes of -30C when you are snowed in it's not fun to go and get more wood,
besidesm as cato well pointed outm it would hurt our forests and be a cause for unknown environmental consequences. Copping cripples trees and the landscape where other animals have to live, find shelter and eat too.
Ophiolite
Valued Senior Member
Gentlemen, sometimes you are all capable of great dumbness and adherence to a preconceived idea. You are the smart ones, but sometimes I despair of you all, I really do.
Yes, Avatar, using wood as part of a system, which also happens to be an effective way of growing valuable hardwoods, and generates great biodiversity. And using that wood for local consumption, not transporting it far. And burning it in appropriate biomass furnaces, that maximise the energy extraction and minimise the waste, and then heat water, so we don't have the asthma problems.
And all this not instead of all the other alternatives, but in addition to it.
Yes, Avatar, using wood as part of a system, which also happens to be an effective way of growing valuable hardwoods, and generates great biodiversity. And using that wood for local consumption, not transporting it far. And burning it in appropriate biomass furnaces, that maximise the energy extraction and minimise the waste, and then heat water, so we don't have the asthma problems.
And all this not instead of all the other alternatives, but in addition to it.
Problem with wood burning is that most wood burning stoves (Aga and the like) are kept burning on a low ebb continuously. So that requires a lot of fuel, to keep your house warm, and make warm water, and make sure the house is nice and warm for when we rise in the morning.
Otherwise we have to get up to a cold house, prepare a fire, and wait for it to warm water so we can have a shower. Well, a scrub down with a warm bucket full of water, because my shower requires an electric pump! Sounds like my grannie's house, to be honest.
I far prefer instant, controllable fuel sources. Gas and Electricity, on demand, is less wasteful, because it's only used when needed.
Otherwise we have to get up to a cold house, prepare a fire, and wait for it to warm water so we can have a shower. Well, a scrub down with a warm bucket full of water, because my shower requires an electric pump! Sounds like my grannie's house, to be honest.
I far prefer instant, controllable fuel sources. Gas and Electricity, on demand, is less wasteful, because it's only used when needed.