What Time Is It? Time for Clean Energy

"Wood Burns Cleaner Than Oil.

A prototype residential cook stove developed by Northern Light R.&D. (named "Helen") was officially tested by OMNI Environmental Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy/Bonneville Power in 1986, burning green sawdust of 44% moisture content, with no catalytic afterburner or stack cleanup of any kind.

Its particulate emissions were 65 times cleaner than the average state-of-the-art woodstove, several times cleaner than the best pellet burner, and considerably cleaner than the average oil furnace.

Carbon Monoxide emissions in the stack gases were 1/7500th of the Federal Auto Emissions standard, 1/100th of the gas industry's standard for "CO-free combustion", and 1/2 of the EPA's standard for acceptable 24 hour indoor air quality."  -- Larry Dobson, "Biomass Energy - State of the Technology" - 1993

Wood Powered Truck - Less Emission than All Electric Vehicle

Wayne Keith accepts award from EPA

It was estimated that Wayne's truck, powered by wood, produced less net emissions than an all electric vehicle powered by the Alabama grid (primarily coal based).

The latest micro-gasification designs such as Wayne's set new standards for clean energy while creating a value added co-product, biochar.  Carbon smart vehicle power is not only possible, it is being practiced today by early adopters.

Cleanest Known Single Meal CookStove Saves Biochar

Source - GA Tech Presentation by Hugh McLaughlin, Phd, PE and Paul Anderson, Phd (DrTLUD) October 2010

The cleanest known biomass cooking technology is a Top Lit Up Draft Pyrolytic Gasifier saving the charcoal (biochar).  The obvious feature when witnessed is that a lit cigarette in the room makes more noticeable smoke than this cookstove boiling more than a gallon of water.   

Equally important, perhaps more important economically speaking, is the creation of a high value product (biochar) from the low value waste biomass that went into the stove.

The magic is made possible by loading, lighting, and leaving it alone.  After operational temperature is achieve, no additional fire tending is needed.

“We are powerfully imprisoned in these Dark Ages simply by the terms in which we have been conditioned to think.” – Buckminster Fuller