Got to be careful when groping for the next rung, that the bloke above doesn't step on one's fingers ... trust is always the issue with a fiat currency, it's what Bernanke and Trichet et al are up against, the question of whether or not their money-construct will be trusted by enough humans to keep its value up, or at least prevent its value from falling more than the prescribed few per cent per year ... how to set up a system that will inspire trust, even though it was designed by and is perhaps 'adjusted' from time to time by other human beings - that's a hard one, Mq, best of luck
In re this post - Message 24709043
During the war there were several woodburner cars and trucks on the BC coast, petrol was rationed of course and many bush mechanic types quickly cobbled together working designs ... on wikipedia there are old german drawings, under 'wood engine' or 'wood gas' likely ... principle is, in roasting and/or partial burning of wood a mixture of combustible gases is driven off, with minor adjustments to carburettor these can serve as fuel for an ICE, and of course could easily be used to generate electricity in a large plant, more efficiently
So you roast wood, use the gases driven off, you're left with charcoal ... ever hear of terra preta? ... biochar, agrichar? ... it seems bits of charcoal in the soil help immensely with plant health and growth, preserve/improve soil structure and fertility, in impressively lasting ways ... wikipedia has a decent page on terra preta, googling with agrichar brings up lots of hits, people have been playing around with this for some time, a friend is sort of indirectly involved in one effort, i'm thinking of running an experiment here on a quarter acre or so ... we're going to need healthy soil, as important solar collector as well as to grow food, now that we've burnt up near all the cheap liquid sunshine that millennia left for us |
