Wood-fueled car technology gained some use in WWII, especially in Europe when gasoline (benzin) was in short supply. Basically, the idea is to pyrolyze wood (to heat it in the absence of oxygen) to break down the wood without actually burning it. The end products of wood pyrolysis include charcoal and--- here's the thing--- a kind of biogas actually called "woodgas" that's rich in methanol. This latter can be burned, much like gasoline.
When I saw a new, current woodgas car video posted on Youtube, I clicked over, hoping to see an updated version of this venerable technology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8iR5DRLpw
Perhaps they have just a teensy bit more work to do.
The extra work will be no sweat for the clever Swedes. All they need to do is to hang another trailer (Uhaul) on the end and they get all their luggage space back.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge Publications, a company run by Steve Harris has lots of woodgas/alcohol/hydrogen info. They have some YouTube videos as well http://www.youtube.com/user/knowpub but ignore the swineflu vid, it is a bit ridiculous (IMO)
Mr. Wayne Keith is one of the people in the US that drives on wood gas everyday.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.woodgas.net/wayne_keith.htm
Starts his truck on gasoline for one minute, then runs on woodgas the rest of the time.
http://www.farmfoundation.org/projects/documents/WayneKeithFORWEB.pdf
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28861355@N05/sets/72157606336216961/