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Home Biomass Power Generators

Posted by michael on from the not-just-for-compost-any-more dept.

TLouden writes "The Rocky Mountain News had an article today about Community Power Corp. and its new BioMax unit which uses renewable resources such as corncobs, sawdust pellets, and coconut shells to produce electricity. This gasifier unit isn't commercially available yet but we might be seeing it sometime in 2004."

5 of 264 comments (clear)

  1. Sooner then later by mao+che+minh · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is probably where things are going (albeit in the distant future). Most of our power comes from sources that aren't feasibly replenishable, such as coal and oil. There aren't a whole lot of huge waterfalls around or places to build dams, so hydro-electric plants aren't going to solve the problem. Solar power is a way to go, but it is rather expensive. Wind power is always uncertain.

    In short, natural sources of energy aren't enough. We will have to start getting creative soon.

    1. Re:Sooner then later by DakotaSandstone · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Could we keep using oil forever? Sure. Heck, even if we ran out of traditional oil, there'd be almost limitless oil shale deposits. We'd just need to get an economy of scale going to make them cost effective.

      But should we continue using oil, coal, etc? When we have purple air quality days in cities where it's unsafe even for olympic atheletes to exert outdoors? I sincerely hope you aren't so blind to the effects oil and gas consumption have on our air that you have never noticed how the air sometimes turns yellow in some cities??

      "Not in some sort of crisis?" I suppose next you'll tell me fresh drinking water isn't a big 21st century issue, since "I can obviously just go turn on the tap and get clean water."

      Open your eyes. It's a big world out there.

      --
      Nothing is so smiple that it can't get screwed up.
  2. That's ALL!?! by dubbayu_d_40 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "60 pounds of wood chips morphs into 20 kilowatt-hours of energy - sufficient to run a typical three-bedroom home for a day."

    That's only 21900 pounds of wood per household per year!!! Yay!?!

  3. I think its the decentralization thats the kicker by mary_will_grow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I, for one, think that this is a GREAT idea because it helps decentralize energy production. That way we dont have a few people feeding ALL INDUSTRY, getting BUHZILLIONS of dollars, and the totally obscene amount of influence such money grants you.
    Then, we wont have our country's policy being written by people who have been hammered by lobbies representing people with endlessly deep pockets.
    Of course you can pick flaws in this. Maybe the corn co-ops will become the next big bastard. Whatever. If you think people becoming empowered to power their homes themselves is a Bad idea, you are on crack.

    --
    Why stick up for big business?
  4. What about human waste? by mellon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One of the puzzles about this article is that this biomass generator doesn't use one of the most significant sources of biomass in a typical household. I know it's icky, but there's energy in it. Plus, if you live in a place with a serious septic problem, extracting gases and composting what's left would be big win.