Here is a way you can rid yourself from trips to the gas station. Well this gasification system isn’t magic you would still need a fuel source such as wood shavings. This is a waste material from lots of manufacturing facilities though. Congrats to this project winning the $20,000 Craftsman tool contest! If you are interested in installing this power plant in to your car All Power Labs has kits available. Will this system kill the electric car idea?
"Gasification is the use of heat to tranform solid biomass, or other carbonaceous solids, into a synthetic "natural gas like" flammable fuel. Through gasification, we can convert nearly any solid dry organic matter into a clean burning, carbon neutral, gaseous fuel. Whether starting with wood chips or walnut shells, construction debris or agricultural waste, the end product is a flexible gaseous fuel you can burn in your internal combustion engine, cooking stove, furnace or flamethrower. Or in this case, your DeLorean. Well ok, how about a Honda Accord . . ."
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Very impressive! Needs some refinements to make it fit within the vehicle so that it’s a little less conspicuous. I would have liked to see the honda go from a standing stop, under full or even half throttle.
Will it kill the EV? Probably not, since this vehicle still needs oil for lubrication, and EV’s while still using petroleum products (ie grease) use far less. It will be interesting to see how this power system works through it’s adoptive phase. I don’t think it’s elegant enough for auto companies to pick it up and mass market it in any of their lines. Comparatively, you can plug your vehicle in at the end of the day with EV, or refill it and stoke the fire before you leave with this. I’m not coming down on this by any means. I think it’s great.
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I’m a little confused. How can this be carbon neutral if it is burning wood chips as a fuel source? Call me an engineering idiot, but it’ doesn’t make sense to me…
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Where did the carbon in the wood chips come from? the air. Where is it going? Back into the air. That’s neutral.
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“How can this be carbon neutral if it is burning wood chips as a fuel source? ”
Well, the carbon acquired from the atmosphere of a plant is equal to the carbon emitted in the atmosphere when burned. In the case of oil this is obviously not happening.
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Gasification is not the same as burning, it’s heating up the waste until it’s hot enough to release it’s volatiles, but it does not burn. The volatiles are sucked into the engine and converted into heat energy and what’s left over in the bottom of the gasification chamber is char. The char is mostly carbon! It also makes great fertilizer, so you can mix it up in your dirt and grow stuff.
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Not quite the Delorean from the end of Back to the Future, but still impressive!
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This is nothing new. Wood gas conversions of both cars, trucks and tractors were widely performed in northern Europe after WWII and there are still enthusiasts keeping the knowledge alive. Here is the gallery of a Finnish club: http://www.ekoautoilijat.fi/tekstit/kalustoesittely.htm .
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This type of technology is quite old but gets little attention
due to the profits from crude oil. But today’s climate change,
environmental problems, and dwindling oil sources this is
going to catch up along with other renewables.