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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!!!
I already have a home biomass generator. Oh, you mean a home biomass power generator....
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...
That's only 21900 pounds of wood per household per year!!! Yay!?!
Dude, you're talking about methane emissions (surplus methane generated by other processes).
This would be BURNING the methane, which would produce CO2 and H20, similar to burning natural gas.
I have never heard that burning methane is any worse than burning any other carbon-based fuel.
Nothing to see here; Move along.
Is hemp woody enough? It grows like a... well... a weed, one might say.
CosmoFurthur
FYI: I worked at this company a couple of years back.
Trusted Computing FAQ | Free Dawit Isaak!
Not only that, but biomass is essentially a closed cycle. All of the CO2 that you're generating is coming from plants that recently took that same CO2 out of the air, so there's no net addition of greenhouse gasses. This is a direct contrast to fossil fuels, where the carbon was previously buried in the ground for millions of years.
There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.
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"
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.
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?
... 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
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.
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.