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Home Biomass Power Generators
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."
Coconut shells? Darn. Too bad that in North America we don't have enough African Swallows to supply them.
Yes, I think it might be...
Mr Fusion!!!
Corncobs eh? Will there be a kernel patch to support this type of power?
I already have a home biomass generator. Oh, you mean a home biomass power generator....
It may be clean and efficient, but is it practical? Will it provide enough energy to fuel America, and will we be able to produce enough matter to fuel it?
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Burn AOL CDs or will we have to wait for the upgraded toxic waste burning model?
In short, natural sources of energy aren't enough. We will have to start getting creative soon.
Great for disposing of bodies, too.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
The California Energy Commission has some info on different types of distributed energy resources from solar/wind/fuelcells to good ole ICE and turbines; listing their fuel sources, efficiency, environmental hazards, production capabilities and current availability; along with best applications, costs, performance, strengths & weaknesses, future developments, and where to buy them.
The page for microturbines is currently down, but the rest are up.
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
Skeptics of wood gasification argue that it devours too much of a not-so-easy-to-replenish natural resource. Walt acknowledges that his BioMax machines aren't for every home or town but that they make most economic and ecological sense in areas where there's plenty of wasted wood that would otherwise be left to rot or tossed - at a cost - in landfills (producing methane and other greenhouse gases).
Rape is probably a more viable source of energy for the masses, growing much faster than wood, and also used successfully for power generation, though also on a relatively small scale yet.
Of course, my dual Athlon produces a lot of heat; there should be a way to make use of that. Uhm, well, ok, forget that :)
That's only 21900 pounds of wood per household per year!!! Yay!?!
Once the coal, oil and natural gas are depleted we will either have to give up most of our electrical devices or build lots of new nuclear plants most likely using PBR's. France already has 60 of them.
Is hemp woody enough? It grows like a... well... a weed, one might say.
CosmoFurthur
... but they've had these on Gilligan's Island for years!
"She's a West Texas girl, just like me" - G.W Bush Iraqis
FYI: I worked at this company a couple of years back.
Trusted Computing FAQ | Free Dawit Isaak!
GigaJoule Per Tonne
s .p df
chicken shit: 8.8
wood: 10.0
meat & bone: 18.6
coal: 30.0
tires: 32.0
diesel: 45.6
propane: 49.4
----
http://www.lowpay.gov.uk/energy/inform/calvalue
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
Or even the summary?
This is a gasifier. It doesn't burn the biomass directly. It converts the biomass into clean gas fuel just like it would naturally decompose. It's actually more enviromnentally responsible because it supposedly makes use of excess materials that would otherwise be left to decompose into the atmosphere.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Everyone knows the future of renewable energy is in chicken guts!
Seriously though, what a great use for all the agricultural waste sitting around the planet. Process the waste on site and use it to drive equipment.
Check out this book: Cradle to Cradle, also reviewed on Slashdot. It'll give you a great overview of the waste == food concept.
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
The technology I'm waiting for is something that would efficiently convert heat energy into electricity. If you think about it, heat is an abundant source of energy during the summer months. If we could harness that energy, it would go a long way towards providing additional electricity. Plus, extracting the heat energy from the air has the effect of cooling off the air; hence, our air conditioners could generate electricity instead of consuming it.
Unfortunately, current technologies leave a lot to be desired (but there may be hope). So for now, I'll continue to wait.
For every post, there is an equal and opposite re-post.
There is a huge amount of federal money that goes into maintaining a massive agricultural surplus here in the states - this could easily be switched over to subsidies for fuel crops instead of (for example) tobacco, as is presently the case.
It would not supply all the needs by any means, but would help.
At present much is shipped overseas as 'aid', but rarely is this the most cost effective way to get food to war stricken areas.
Roads? where we're going we don't need ...roads.
filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
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?
Giant stomachs digesting biomass, producing fuel gas. And now this Invention providing an "alternative" source of energy yet again fueled by generic biomass. so here's my generic pot-head rant: Just another reason besides the fact that it's the most reliable natural fiber, oil, medecine, food, soil-depoluter & recreational substance some political-industry-lobby made it illegal in the U.S. during the 1920's... (wonder why petrol, pharmaceutic, weapons-business & banks are doing so well!) Just my thoughts, but do not take it from me! If you read /. you must be able to make some kind of research about cannabis-laws yourself. (with some historical references)
... we can just strap an electric outlet to my son's head: he's got enouch energy to power a small city.
But seriously, if you've ever done "hot" composting, you know that this really can work - there's an astonishing amount of energy in a pile of grass clippings or a little cow manure.
You know, I think the Amish have it right - they don't use electricity unless there's no other way to do a job, and even then they won't rely on the power grid (it requires people to work on Sunday).
Biomass is just one way to (excuse the pun) take back power from the megacorps that dole it out in the current system. We can return to the Edison model of local power plants, local consumption - small scale, small bills.
Assuming, that is, that we're all willing to go on a power diet.
Bellhead
I dont think you can really demonstrate (conclusively) that power generation is always going to be significantly more efficient when done in One Big Place. I'm quite sure if you can extract X% of the energy from something in a Big Plant you can at least get damn close to that in a smaller one.
All you can really say is having Less People Profiting From It allows One Big Place to sell their energy off cheaper than if they were 10 separate places with totally separate staffs and blah blah blah. But if NO ONE is profiting from it, then your "economies of scale" stuff is not even relevent. As long as they all extract X% of the energy from their fuel, just like the Big Plant (which neither of us can really say is possible or impossible) then it really doesnt matter.
Economies of Scale, and just about everything in Economics, rarely applies directly to Real World stuff. People think it does, its their little religion thingy, but IMHO, its mainly crap.
Why stick up for big business?
Except that you are missing one important point. Coal (and other fossil fuels) release CO2 (and other gases) that are currently stored in the ground, so they are added to the environment. Biomass gases are created from the very plants that use them within the environment, so there is no net gain of gases in the environment.
There are Web sites telling how easy it is to make bio-Diesel. The process involves 10 parts vegetable oil plus 2 parts methanol plus some lye to make 10 parts Diesel-usable fatty esters plus 2 parts glycerine that you need to do something with. The process seems intermediate in complexity between soap making and running a meth lab, and these hippie types who say how easy it is to make bio-Diesel probably have some other mid-level process experience involving some mildly dangerous chemistry.
There is talk of running Diesels on straight vegetable oil, but there is caution that you can shellac up the rings and ruin an engine. Forget about Diesel engines -- the other big use of Diesel is in oil furnaces: apart from the road tax, #2 Diesel is the same as #2 home-heating oil.
What would it take to run an oil furnace on straight canola oil? An oil furnace repair requires a $100 service call, but it is nothing like rebuilding an engine, so could vegetable oil be burnt in an oil furnace if you could put up with more maintenance. I think the resale value of my house would increase if winter visitors were greated with the smell of french fries.
Well maybe it is in Iowa and Minnesota, but it has proven to be both efficient and profitable for small scale producers, as discussed here back in March.
The systems described in the main article do not sound very practical to me (800 degrees F. takes a lot of energy to maintain), but they are not the only example of biomass energy being put into practise, and they might be the right choice if you already have a lot of sawdust on hand (like in a lumberyard or a furniture fab).
Anything that reduces the dependency on foreign oil is good for the economy, and less dependency on large energy companies is good for the consumer. That these technologies allow small business to reduce thier cost of operation (or increase thier income) and are environmentally sound is good for everyone.
Read, L
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.
"New Scientist magazine reported that in the future, cars could be powered by hazelnuts. That's encouraging, considering an eight-ounce jar of hazelnuts costs about nine dollars. Yeah, I've got an idea for a car that runs on bald eagle heads and Faberge eggs."
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Innovations like fuel cell and biomass generators aren't only beneficial because they use renewable energy sources and/or produce less pollution. I think that there is an even more intriguing aspect--the implemetation of these new technologies in small-scale units. The possibility of a truly distributed power generation system is very appealing.
I look forward to a time when millions of homes/farms/factories/villiages have their own refrigerator-sized, low-cost, efficient heat/electricity generation units connected to the existing power grid. People could choose to buy electricity off the grid from any number of sources or produce their own power and sell the excess to the grid (imagine getting a cheque instead of a bill every month!).
Such a setup would make blackouts like the one on the US eastern seaboard and southern Ontario much less likely--less dependence on massive, central generation means less disruption due to a failure cascading through the grid.
More sources of generation might also make the electric energy sector truly free market. Deregulation was supposed to make the scenario I described possible, however so far it has been a disaster in its implementation--governments all over the continent lifted regulations, sold off government owned utilities where they existed and handed the whole market over to lumbering old monopolies to mismanage, while at the same time leaving barriers to entry for new players and technology. Politics royally shagged a potentially good idea--hopefully over time it all works out.
But can it generate the 1.21 Gigawatts necessary to enable time travel?
what's the point of touting a new excuse to chop down trees?
how about biomass consumption of hemp? or grass / lawn clippings? leaves? or seaweed? or cornstalks, or wheatstalks? (NOT COBBS, which need to come off your damn dinner plate, and find their way BACK to the biomass center)
you know, the whole OCEAN lives on SEAWEED!
to be helpful, this biomass thing would have to consume a waste product which couldn't be used in any better way.
so. does the gassifier FART after wasting 60 lbs of tree?
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." -Jesus Christ The Lord's Prayer
Can this generate enough electricity to power harvesting of the plants? Or will we need to end up burning tons of diesel to furtilize and harvest the biomass used to generate power.... *snort*
A related question: the article refers to wasted coconut shells. What does a coconut shell do to get wasted? After the robot Kama Sutra, coconut shell cocaine orgies?
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
Compare the machine to your average bovine gas generator. The bovine version:
... uhm, never mind.
- requires no input of inergy for hot composting
- can accept a wider range of biomass
- has a multistage biomass conversion mechanism
(i.e. multiple stomachs)
- requires no biomass harvesting and preprocessing
- produces firtilizer
- produces milk (with proper prep & handling)
- is self repairing
- is self propagating
All we need now is a way to harness bovine gas production! I can see it now! So we back the cattle into their stalls and shove the
English -- gotta love it! / The engineers refuse to refuse the rocket until the refuse is removed from the launch pad.