Jerusalem artichokes are good but there are many other highly efficient plants that may not even require propagation or if they do they do not have to be replanted for each crop. Two of them are cattails and Mesquite.

I recommend David Blume's book; "Alcohol Can Be a Gas" it is the definitive work on how to grow cultivate and produce ethanol efficiently and in a sustainable manner. It can be used in current cars and vehicles including diesels and airplanes etc. and is a high performance renewable clean burning fuel.

No new technology is required and most of the negative stuff you have heard about ethanol is not true.

----
Three key items need to be added to the design and the Development Work Template.
Safe handling of the protein by-products. This is what the Bush government botched (to George W screaming horror) in the 2005 corn ethanol boom. For every ton of fuel you get a ton a Dry distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillers_grains
This is food and always was but it was not cleared fast enough be the FDA for human use so much of it wound up pet food. In Europe more of it made it into the food chain. The food vs fuel debate is moot if your handling the DDGS properly and using it as either human food: Bread, gravy mix, vegemite, boveral, etc or stock feed [its a safe protein source].

A village scale ethanol plant can easily get its DDGS or even wet distillers grains -- the raw beer -- back to live stock. An optimal means of storing is to dry wet distillers grains to 15% moisture content and freeze it for storage in a cold cellar. Don't try to augur DDGS it turns to glue. In the Ethanol boom FDA mandates that demanded augurs destroyed dozens and bankrupted some producers. We can have our fuel and eat it too. This allows most grain and starch crops to be used as fuel and food crops simultaneously.

Should I add all this to the main page or is a new page 'ethanol by-products' needed?
[[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 05:00, 12 July 2011 (PDT)
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If ethanol is used to power a stationary engine or a tractor that needs ballasting then an engine block still should work. The beer mash is plumbed through the engines cooling system, if your brave, or through a heat exchanger with the engine coolant on the other side. A thermostat keeps the beer at the boiling point of ethanol by diverted some water to the radiator. The ethanol vapour is condensed in a tower condenser on the vehicle or beside the stationary engine. A small insulated tank holds the 100 proof (100%) ethanol for start up in hot or cold weather.
Advantages: The engine is the still using heat that would otherwise be wasted. There's beer on tap in your tractor.
Disadvantages; The beer fuel tanks need to be much larger your carrying around a lot of excess weight as water. It smells like a brewery. and there's beer on tap in your tractor.;-)

The extra weight problem can be solved by partly distilling the beer to 60 Proof (34%) ethanol. It will re-absorb water but that's not a problem if your using an engine still. A properly insulated flat plate solar collector like a solar hot water system will achieve 60 proof easily.

None of the above is new every thing has been tried in the 1970's oil shock, the patents if there are any are not a problem they will have expired and any slight plumbing change with a real effect will allow a new patent, etc. Should I add all this to the main page or is a new page needed? I'm a Noobie.
[[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 05:00, 12 July 2011 (PDT)
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Can I suggest a book to be added to the library: Sustainable Ethanol by Jeffrey and Adrian Goettemoeller. http://www.sustainableethanol.blogspot.com/
[[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 05:00, 12 July 2011 (PDT)
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Yes, all of this is good stuff and should be added to the main page. Don't be shy, this is a meaningful contribution. Thank you for your efforts! [[User:Mjn|Mjn]] 05:51, 12 July 2011 (PDT)
PS. Shift it into third person. It doesn't need to be a personal account of your experience. State the faces and include linked references. [[User:Mjn|Mjn]] 05:54, 12 July 2011 (PDT)

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Is there a reason why Fuel Alcohol does not show up in the Category Energy listing on http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Category:Energy page. It also does not show up in searches or give an error. The fact that there are two spellings may be the problem. [[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 04:20, 13 July 2011 (PDT)

Fuel Alcohol

2011-07-13T11:01:41Z

Wesley bruce: /* Collaboration */

{{Category=Biofuel}}
Biofuels - for the temperate climate, alcohol derived from Jerusalem artichokes or waste orchard fruit appears to be the proven, sustainable route of fueling cities. Crop productivity and fuel usage calculations indicate that most cities, worldwide, scale in size in such a fashion that they can produce all their vehicle fuel needs from a land area equivalent to the size of the city - as long as this calculation is not based on the inefficient, though touted, alcohol from corn - but on perennial crops such as Jerusalem artichokes. This would not contribute to the food-or-fuel scenario that detractors of this proposition point out. Key: this is proven technology, and vehicles can run on alcohol with minor modifications. In the tropics, palm oil appears to be the solution for fuel needs, based on yields.

=Collaboration=

==Engine stills.==
If ethanol is used to power a stationary engine, or a tractor that needs ballasting, then an engine block still should work. The beer mash is plumbed through the engines cooling system, if your brave, or through a heat exchanger with the engine coolant on the other side. A thermostat keeps the beer at the boiling point of ethanol by diverted some water to the radiator. The ethanol vapour is condensed in a tower condenser on the vehicle or beside the stationary engine. A small insulated tank holds the 100 proof (100%) ethanol for start up in hot or cold weather.

Advantages:
*The engine is the still using heat that would otherwise be wasted.
*There's beer on tap on your tractor.
Disadvantages;
*The beer fuel tanks need to be much larger your carrying around a lot of excess weight as water.
*It smells like a brewery and the fuel tanks will need cleaning.
*It could fail in cold weather if too much heat from the engine is diverted to heat the cabin of the vehicle or tractor,
*there's beer on tap on your tractor.;-)
The extra weight problem can be solved by partly distilling the beer to 60 Proof (34%) ethanol. It will re-absorb water but that's not a problem if your using an engine still. A properly insulated flat plate solar collector like a solar hot water system will achieve 60 proof easily.
None of the above is new every thing has been tried in the 1970's oil shock, the patents if there are any are not a problem, they will have expired and any slight plumbing change with a real effect will allow a new patent, etc.
[[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 04:01, 13 July 2011 (PDT)

==Ethanol protein by-products use and safety.==
One key to considerations is the safe handling of the protein by-products. For every ton of fuel you get a ton a Dry Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillers_grains
A little history: This is what the Bush government botched (to George W's screaming horror) in the 2005 corn ethanol boom. This is food and always was but it was not cleared fast enough be the FDA for human use so much of it wound up pet food. In Europe more of it made it into the food chain. The food vs fuel debate is moot if your handling the DDGS properly and using it as either human food: Bread, gravy mix, Vegemite, boveral, etc or stock feed. Its a safe protein source: no chance of mad cow disease or problems with toxins in fish meal or overfishing.

A village scale ethanol plant can easily get its DDGS or even wet distillers grains -- the raw beer mash -- back to live stock after ethanol extraction. An optimal means of storing for human consumption is to dry wet distillers grains to 15% moisture content and freeze it for storage in a cold cellar. Don't try to augur DDGS it turns to glue. In the Ethanol boom FDA mandates that demanded augurs destroyed dozens if them and bankrupted some producers. A village can have its fuel and eat it too. This allows most grain and starch crops to be used as fuel and food crops simultaneously. If 50% of the effort is put into managing the protein then these by-products can be over 50% of the profits.
[[User:Wesley bruce|Wesley bruce]] 04:01, 13 July 2011 (PDT)

==From unidentified collaborator==
It is legal to make alcohol for fuel - illegal to make it for beverages without a licence.
An engineering diagram is available on the web for building a distillation unit. Plans are $30. Materials are $600. The unit was designed about 30 years ago and can be found in assembled form on Ebay & Craigs list for less than the cost of materials. You simply Google the model number <charles 803> to find one. The equipment could easily be modified slightly and added to the open source inventory.

I've spent the last six years trying to develop gaseous fuels into a viable, decentralized fuel source. These include biogas, process gas and Magnegas. While useful for many stationary applications, I've found them to be impractical for transportation because of their low power density. The cost of increasing the power density - compressing them or cryogenically condensing them, makes them impractical in my view.

In reviewing the possibilities of liquid fuels, I learned that my bad impressions of ethanol were the result of oil company propaganda - especially the "food vs fuel" issue. I learned this from Permaculture designer David Blume who wrote the book, [http://www.permaculture.com/ "Alcohol can be a gas"]. See his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jew3ah24Zj4 YouTube interview] if you wish to pursue this.

I'm writing to you specifically because there are no commercial engines designed to exploit the high octane ratings of alcohol. There are custom-designed units used in racing. Saab makes a 2-liter roadster that puts out 300 hp. (150 hp/liter) Any ordinary IC engine will run on alcohol but the low gasoline compression ratio penalizes its fuel economy. Increase its compression ratio and it approaches diesel in fuel economy.

The Charles 803 allows you to make consistently pure E85 at the rate of 7.5 gallons per hour from sour milk, cattail rhizomes, fruit processing waste - any source of sugar or starch. Fuel production is now included in David Blume's permaculture garden designs.

See Also: http://permaculture.org.au/2010/06/02/biofuels-and-confirmation-bias/ Biofuels and Confirmation Bias

==Review of Project Status==
== Biofuels - Current Work==
== Biofuels - Developments Needed==
=== Biofuels - General===
=== Biofuels - Specific===
==== Biofuels - Background Debriefing====
==== Biofuels - Information Work====
What is required to distill the alcohol?

Where will the energy come from to distill the alcohol?

What is the fruit to alcohol ratio?

I've visited plum brandy distilleries and they said that it was a 50:1 ratio...--[[User:Dennis|Dennis]] 08:15, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

==== Biofuels - Hardware Work====
== Biofuels - Sign-in==

=Development Work Template=
#[[Biofuels - Product Definition]]
##[[Biofuels - General]]
##[[Biofuels - General Scope]]
##[[Biofuels - Product Ecology]]
###[[Biofuels - Localization]]
###[[Biofuels - Scaleability]]
###[[Biofuels - Analysis of Scale]]
###[[Biofuels - Lifecycle Analysis]]
##[[Biofuels - Enterprise Options]]
##[[Biofuels - Development Approach]]
###[[Biofuels - Timeline]]
###[[Biofuels - Development Budget]]
####[[Biofuels - Value Spent]]
####[[Biofuels - Value available]]
####[[Biofuels - Value needed]]
##[[Biofuels - Deliverables and Product Specifications]]
##[[Biofuels - Industry Standards]]
##[[Biofuels - Market and Market Segmentation]]
##[[Biofuels - Salient Features and Keys to Success]]
#[[Biofuels - Technical Design]]
##[[Biofuels - Product System Design]]
###[[Biofuels - Diagrams and Conceptual Drawings]]
####[[Biofuels - Pattern Language Icons]]
####[[Biofuels - Structural Diagram]]
####[[Biofuels - Funcional or Process Diagram]]
####[[Biofuels - Workflow]]
###[[Biofuels - Technical Issues]]
###[[Biofuels - Deployment Strategy]]
###[[Biofuels - Performance specifications]]
###[[Biofuels - Calculations]]
####[[Biofuels - Design Calculations]]
####[[Biofuels - Yields]]
####[[Biofuels - Rates]]
####[[Biofuels - Structural Calculations]]
####[[Biofuels - Power Requirements]]
####[[Biofuels - Ergonomics of Production]]
####[[Biofuels -Time Requirements]]
####[[Biofuels - Economic Breakeven Analysis]]
####[[Biofuels - Scaleability Calculations]]
####[[Biofuels - Growth Calculations]]
###[[Biofuels - Technical Drawings and CAD]]
###[[Biofuels - CAM Files]]
##[[Biofuels - Component Design]]
###[[Biofuels - Diagrams]]
###[[Biofuels - Conceptual drawings]]
###[[Biofuels - Performance specifications]]
###[[Biofuels - Performance calculations]]
###[[Biofuels - Technical drawings and CAD]]
###[[Biofuels - CAM files whenever available]]
##[[Biofuels - Subcomponents]]
#[[Biofuels - Deployment and Results]]
##[[Biofuels - Production steps]]
##[[Biofuels - Flexible Fabrication or Production]]
##[[Biofuels - Bill of materials]]
##[[Biofuels - Pictures and Video]]
##[[Biofuels - Data]]
#[[Biofuels - Documentation and Education]]
##[[Biofuels - Documentation]]
##[[Biofuels - Enterprise Plans]]
#[[Biofuels - Resource Development]]
##[[Biofuels - Identifying Stakeholders]]
###[[Biofuels - Information Collaboration]]
####[[Biofuels - Wiki Markup]]
####[[Biofuels - Addition of Supporting References]]
####[[Biofuels - Production of diagrams, flowcharts, 3D computer models, and other qualitative information architecture]]
####[[Biofuels - Technical Calculations, Drawings, CAD, CAM, other]]
###[[Biofuels - Prototyping]]
###[[Biofuels - Funding]]
###[[Biofuels - Preordering working products]]
###[[Biofuels - Grantwriting]]
###[[Biofuels - Publicity]]
###[[Biofuels - User/Fabricator Training and Accreditation]]
###[[Biofuels - Standards and Certification Developmen]]
###[[Biofuels - Other]]
##[[Biofuels - Grantwriting]]
###[[Biofuels - Volunteer grantwriters]]
###[[Biofuels - Professional, Outcome-Based Grantwriters]]
##[[Biofuels - Collaborative Stakeholder Funding]]
##[[Biofuels - Tool and Material Donations]]
##[[Biofuels - Charitable Contributions]]

2011-07-11T05:20:21Z

Wesley bruce: solar sintering wih a fresnel lens

Solar Sintering is a technology that is particularly useful for crafting objects and at the large scale, structures, in dry environments using only sunlight and sand or regolith (rock dust).

Solar energy is simply focused on a small volume of bedded granular material to heat the material to a point where melt occurs and either the grains are bonded at the surface by micro melt grain welding or the whole grain melts and forms a crystal.

Markus Kayser - Solar Sinter Project

http://vimeo.com/25401444

See also the Gizmag report: Solar-Sinter 3D printer creates glass objects from sun and sand http://www.gizmag.com/solar-sinter-3d-printer/19046/

He can be contacted at [http://www.markuskayser.com/
]
Markus Kayser's creations are rough with some non sintered sand bonded to the surface. In theory this can be fixed by quickly passing the work though the focal point with the plain of the focal point normal to the internal or external surface. A sand blaster could also smooth the works. Markus is an artist, his works will sell better if its clear how they are made. So perfectly smooth is not optimal for him. Nor is it optimal on all sintered applications particularly external bricks. A rough surface casts complex shadow's on its self when the sun is at an angle to the face this cools the face and reduces glare.

The advantages are that you don't need water or cement to make solid objects in the desert. The resulting ceramic is one of the strongest known and a refractory material. It endures for millennia and is water proof if crafted properly. The process is not fast; you will need more than one unit to be productive. However the Fresnel lenses are cheap and all the other parts can be built using the existing OP village technology. This technology will not work well above 40 degrees latitude but near the equator, at high altitudes and in most of the worlds sandy deserts it is a game changer.

For efficient village industrial scale production of quartz glass materials, particularly tiles and blocks, several solar sinter units along a conveyor belt would be optimal reducing man handling of hot quartz. Each lens does one layer or one melt width. In some cases three dimensions are not needed I.E. tiles.

Shade in the desert is all important. Deserts are not just dry because they get little rainfall. Dew fall in the cold nights can often be high. They are dry because evaporation rates exceed the little precipitation they get. Creating shade creates oasis's. With shade water can be accumulated and stored. Plants can grow well if they are shaded in the hottest part of the day, often the afternoon not midday.

There has also been work on solar sintering Luna regolith (moon dust or simulated moon dust.) Designs are generally much larger with one design using a mobile mirror array to sinter a road surface! Others are designed to print structural elements. On the moon the light level is several times higher, luna regolith has a lower melting point and there is no atmosphere to carry away heat so its a much more powerful technology on the moon.

With this technology its possible for a tropical or desert village to make tiles, refractory bricks, bowls and pots, quartz structural elements, rids, blocks, and mouldings. It could even, with a little more work be possible to make linear bearing surfaces, metal casting moulds and fibre glass like sheets with or without perforations.

Markus' process should work on some other material including small grain gravels, scrap glass, and Calcium carbonates making lime or flint depending on the pressure. It may also be used to cook ores, cracking them, prior to smelting. Milled metal powders and scrap chips should tested both in atmosphere and in a inert or reducing gas to see if the process works for them. It may be possible print (weld) the shape and then pack in sand a heat in a furnace to finalise the form.

Proper care should be taken: shade for the workers, protective gloves and tongs, protective goggles or a welders mask may be wise. Markus made his work in the desert look harder than it was to add a little drama.