In the aftermath of disasters such as the recent hurricanes
that devastated parts of Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands,
it might be a good time to rediscover and relearn some of the lessons, tools
and processes that has served us well during past periods of crisis. It is an understatement to say that we simply
were not prepared for the level of destruction that came with these storms and their
aftermath. A 1,000 year flood event for
Texas, a 100 year storm in Puerto Rico, these are things that go beyond even
our worse case planning scenarios. But still, here we are and must now try to
deal with the aftermath. In Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean islands the
destruction is to such a level having totally destroyed the power
infrastructures that they are talking in terms of months if not years to recover.
In the meantime, millions of people are without shelter, power, food and water,
a definite humanitarian crisis. So even
as governments and aid agencies are all deployed trying their best, there are
immediate needs that need to be met.
With respect to power and fuel, it is said that it is going
to take months to rebuild even the most modest power grid a transportation
networks. Until such time as the
infrastructure is rebuilt, residents are being told “they are on their own”, not a very comforting prospect. So what can be done in the meantime?
If we look back to WWII, there were times of severe fuel
shortages in the US and Europe. People did not have fuel to run their vehicles
or farm equipment. This was one of the times that Wood Gasification was rediscovered. I say ‘rediscovered’ because this was not the
first time Wood Gasification was used.
The process of gasification has been known and used for over 200 years. In fact, before the
discovery of oil, gasification was used to light street lights, cooking and
heating. During the fuel shortage in
WWII, over 1 million vehicles were
equipped with Wood gasifiers, to run on wood gas. Wood Gas is a simple, efficient and clean
way to generate FREE fuel from wood.
As I watch the news stories about the destruction from these
storms and see piles and piles of storm debris as people stand nearby asking
for help, what I see is piles of wasted and potentially free fuel. The people responsible for cleaning up all of
this storm debris are likely going to pay someone to haul away all of this ‘debris’
to local landfills.
If we consider the same mindset as they did in WWII, we don’t
have to wait weeks or months for the fuel shortage to pass, or the power
infrastructure to be rebuilt, we can start to provide residents with some
education, information and tools where they can start to take control of their
own survival and sustainability. Wood Gasifier plans are readily available and
can easily be made from used tanks, barrels, and other recycled materials. They can be made quickly and be used to run
generators, which are now sitting idle due to lack of fuel. They can be hooked
up to standard gasoline engines as an alternative fuel source. Additionally, a wood gas generator provides
fuel that can be used for cooking or heat that can be used to heat or even
distill water. One residential sized
Wood gas generator can power up to a 25KW generator, which would be enough to
power a family and several of his neighbors.
I am amazed that even today most people that I communicate
with have never heard of Wood Gas, and are totally unaware that you can create
your own fuel for free with wood. I am
pleased to see that there is a growing interest in the US and other countries
for people to live more independent and self sustaining lives for the very
reasons we see people struggling to live in the aftermath of these storms. Wood gasification can be a key component to
providing some level of independence and self sustainability. I am seeing a
renewed effort to bring wood gasification back into our lives as source of primary
or emergency fuel for those that don’t ever want to be caught in such a life
altering situation.
As I mentioned, there are several sources of Wood Gasifier
plans, and YouTube videos on the subject. Here are just a few links that can
get you started:
http://www.femagasifier.com/ http://www.woodgasifierplans.com/ http://www.build-a-gasifier.com/https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wood+gasifier+plans&qpvt=wood+gasifier+plans&FORM=VDRE
I wish all of those adversely affected by these recent
storms a quick and full recovery. I also hope that we can use this as an
opportunity to relearn a valuable tool that will help those affected to live more independent and self sustaining
lives and that we won’t forget, only to have to rediscover this valuable tool
at some disaster of the future.
Steven Honkus
Empowering Independent and Self Sustaining Living
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