Now there is a phrase that should get your attention. While the fuel may be free there will be a cost involved in harvesting the fuel.
For example, you may be allowed to go and harvest slash and slab cuts from a logging or sawmill operation but you will expend fuel for the vehicle to fetch the wood and the chainsaw used to cut up the scrap wood into usable firewood.
If you live in an area where logging is not a big activity; another method of getting free fuel is called a methane digester.
This is a system whereby you capture the naturally generated methane produced from manure and composted biologic materials. In its simplest version it’s a drum or tank with manure in it and a closed top so the evolving gas is collected for later use.
This basic system has been in use in Asia among other places for many decades. Mostly it was used for cooking gas. However, the concept has never caught on in Morth America.
Any sort of livestock operation will generate a quantity of manure. If the livestock is sheltered part or full time in any kind of building, the manure will pile up and has to be dealt with. Why not turn this waste into an asset?
If you only have a dozen chickens you will only get a small quantity of bird poop but this is still enough to start with. It will provide enough methane to run a small genset for an hour or so each day. Surplus eggs can be sold or bartered if you do not consume all the eggs laid by your flock. If you have a ready market for selling eggs it’s a good reason to increase your flock. Adding a cow and pig(s) to the livestock herd will provide you with meat and more feed stock for fuel.
Although you may not have an unlimited amount of power available, it should be sufficient to power your essential needs. At the very least it will reduce how much conventional ‘fossil’ fuel you need to buy.
Methane produced from digesters is called ‘bio fuel’. Several companies sell conversion kits for regular piston engines generator sets. Some conversion kits allow you to switch back and forth between two fuels other kits make the change over permanent so you have to choose beforehand which fuel you intend to use.
In geographic locations where its cloudy for long periods of time solar may not be sufficient. After all even the biggest battery bank will become depleted eventually.
A back up generator becomes a necessity to supplement a solar or wind generator installation.
There is also the green aspect to consider. Methane is chemically the same as natural gas. However biogas contains a percentage or trace of other gases mostly Carbon dioxide. . Methane has been designated as a greenhouse gas because it contributes to global warming. What could be better than consuming this biogas and thus reducing the need to burn fossil fuel which is considered a worse source of air pollution?
Check out these links
This Jenbacher engine is an example of what we should be doing for domestic power.
CAUTION! This you Tube site is addictive. There are so many informative video clips you could spend hours exploring them while learning how we are literally throwing awa feed stock for FREE FUEL .
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Postscript
this a wood gasification stove
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