sawdust run engine

[JSNH]

Any news on  the demo???

[Al_Smith]

 
Well any "alternative " is just something kind of out of the norm .As such while it might be feasable for some it would not be expediant for others .

Low head hydro would work great in the PNW or east coast  mountains but wouldn't  be a grand plan in the center of Kansas where the ground is flat as a pancake .Wind power would not be so great in NYC .

If a person had access to sawdust and chips by the tons this gasifying thing would be a plan .Again though it's a limited alternative .Like my buddies with waste oil burners to heat their shops .Cheap yes but if everyone did it there wouldn't be enough used oil to go around .

On a larger scale alternative thing ,they are going to build a garbage/bio burner power house locally and dump it on the grid for electrical power .They've  been fooling with for 10 years though, politics evidently.I'd think it would be a better alternative than digging a big hole commonly called a land fill .At least get something usable from the stuff other than taking a thousand years to rot up in the ground .

Now that brings up something in my ramblings .I don't recall it such a big deal when 90 percent of the people had a 55 gallon drum in the back yard they burned their trash in .Of course there weren't the plastics but that can be recycled into astro turf if nothing else .Why do they always have to complicate the simple ?

[jpgreen]

No one shoe fits all.

You have to tailor your rig to your recourses obviously. I would run Hydro in a heartbeat, but the creek runs below our property. Not enough constant reliable wind.

For our needs it's woodgas and solar PV panels all the way, since we live in the forest.

As Rush coined, "Rugged Individualism". Where we are headed, and what we must become to survive in the USA.  For *DanG sure no .gov waco liberal, or career politician is going to save the day...  

[Ron57]

  What type of alternative depends on what is available cheap or free.In the area that I am from a lot of people burn scrap wood for heat in OWBs. There are a lot of cabinet shops that produce fine dry dust and it doesnt make good bedding for livestalk because it is dusty, but for this you would have to compete with the wood pellet mills that pay a premium for the dry dust.
    It seems that woodgas to produce electric, heat, fuel the truck, and cook with pretty much covers all energy needs.Unless I had a good stream for hydro electric, but living in Indiana some times you dont know which way the water is going to run or a vein of coal in my back yard.
  Just some thoughts.     Ron Lemler
 

[Al_Smith]

The Hooser is somewhat like the buckeye in that the lay of the land changes drastically within .Portions of the north are flat as a pancake while southerly they had to stack the acres on end to fit them in .

  I always joked that the wind  coming across north eastern Indiana picks up speed before it reachs north western Ohio .

[Lee McKnight]

Any news on  the demo???

Hi folks, sorry to go offline for a while. As you may have guessed, the vagaries of start-ups, and the complexities of negotiating joint venture agreements, have delayed things. The JV agreement is close to final, when it is final and I can talk about you all will be among the very first to know.

That facility is still incomplete but coming along.

We are now calling Summerhill fuel 'dry flowable fuel.' So yeah you heard the term here first.

A site for a second dry flowable fuel production plant and dry flowable fuel energy plant, possibly up to 2mw, is now under consideration. As soon as we can say something more there we will.

Of course in due time we will have solutions scaled differently but at the start we need to focus our efforts on these community/region-scaled systems; there will be plenty of opportuntieis for various partners in the supply chain and we continue to welcome all of your interest. Espcially f some of you out there are accredited investors and want your own - dry flowable fuel plant; and Summerhill exclusive license to service your home region. 

best,

Lee McKnight