Biofuels: Journey to Forever - how to make your own clean-burning biofuel. Both biodiesel and ethanol are clean, grow-your-own fuels that can be made on-site in villages or local communities from renewable, locally available resources, for the most part using simple equipment that a local workshop can make and maintain.
These fuels are among a range of sustainable local energy options. Others are methane (biogas) digesters that turn livestock, crop and food wastes into cooking and heating gas, solar energy (see Solar box cookers), wood gas, charcoal and fuelwood (good fuels unless overharvesting destroys the trees themselves), wind power, water power. Usually the "answer" is in a mix of technologies. Biofuels can be used to power small-scale farm and local workshop machinery and electricity generators as well as vehicles. Knowing how to make biofuels provides a useful set of ecological questions in investigating local energy options, questions that are worth asking even if the final answer is "No". The anti-biofuels controversy Are biofuels really to blame? Practical Action - use of jatropha flowering plants cultivation processing. Practical Action - liquid bio fuels ethanol, biodiesel for sustainable development. Practical Answers - Biodiesel renewable fuel and its advantages disadvantages.
Shamengo - Bioéthanol à partir de vêtements. UMD - How Microbial Fuel Cells Work? Engineering for Change - Multifunction Platforms (MFP) Pilot. Return to all Solutions Multifunction Platforms (MFP) Pilot In Soroti, Uganda there is little access to affordable energy.
Milling and grinding food, pumping water, and other agricultural processing tasks are done by hand. The multifunction platforms project uses small diesel engines that run on locally available vegetable oil to power agricultural machines, water pumps, and even electric generators. These engines can be used to power almost any small machine with the proper attachments and can be easily switched from one machine to another. The diesel engine is mounted to a fixed frame which can be permanently set in a building for a single purpose or it can be transported to the field for onsite use. Petrol can be expensive and hard to get in some communities, so the team at Columbia University modified these diesel engines to run on straight vegetable oil.
The source for the Soroti project's vegetable oil fuel comes from locally grown jatropha seeds. Instructable - Make Your Own Biodiesel Processor. In a world where environmental awareness is becoming increasingly important for individuals, businesses, and mankind as a whole, it's always important to be looking for ways to re-use waste and cut carbon emissions.
Biodiesel is a great way to do this. You're reusing waste oil and reducing your impact on the environment. This Instructable will take you step-by-step through the process of making a BioDiesel processor. This type of Processor is called an appleseed processor. It uses an old (or new if you feel like dropping the money) water heater. Before you do this project you should research the process and dangers involved in producing biodiesel at home.
Before you run out and buy $100+ worth of plumbing materials, I should say this: As biodiesel becomes more and more popular the resources available become more and more scarce, and people are starting to charge for things that used to be free, specifically Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). GERES - expérimentations sur les agrocarburants paysans. Note de positionnement GERES/IRAM sur les agrocarburants en Afrique Alors que la dénonciation des agrocarburants industriels par de nombreuses ONG de solidarité internationale bat son plein, le GERES et l’IRAM s’associent pleinement à ces critiques.
En effet, il est maintenant largement reconnu que la production d’agrocarburants en monoculture intensive pour un usage non local engendre des effets dévastateurs pour les populations et les écosystèmes : déforestation, logique abusive d’accaparement des terres, mise en péril la sécurité alimentaire… Le GERES et l’IRAM souhaitent cependant attirer l’attention sur le cas des agrocarburants paysans. Loin des approches industrielles, diverses initiatives visent à tester en Afrique des modèles alternatifs d’accès à l’énergie pour les populations rurales.
La distinction est claire entre les agrocarburants en culture intensive et une production paysanne pour des usages locaux. Agrocarburants paysans : une piste pour concilier alimentation et énergie. Makezine - DIY: Biodiesel processor.