Green-Trust.Org

From Kinetic’s web site:

This is MAX, which stands for Mother’s Automotive eXperiment. No, we’re not done with it. It needs a streamlined body, for one thing, since we’re shooting for 100 miles per gallon. The engine is a turbocharged 1100cc Kubota diesel, and and even sans streamlining MAX is surprisingly peppy. Peppy enough to win the inaugural Escape from Berkeley race in October ‘08 (Berkeley to Las Vegas without petroleum fuel) thanks to good performance, great mileage, and the ability to run on cooking oil straight out of the bottle. We intend to run the same team this year, when Escape from Berkeley takes us from Berkeley to Mexico; Yours Truly behind the wheel and Sharon Wescott behind the map…unless by some fluke we get a diesel motorcycle whipped together for Sharon, in which case we’ll be calling for volunteers in the right seat.

http://kineticvehicles.com/

More references:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transportation/100-MPG-Car.aspx
http://www.locostusa.com/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Locost_North_America/

Shell is investing heavily into fuel efficiency and alternative energy solutions. Please comment on how you perceive the traditional oil companies are moving towards efficiency and environmentally friendly solutions. Read more about Shell’s Alternative Energy Projects.

Melvin Martin was over last night. He’s greatly recovered from his accident, but still has a ways to go. We were discussing home built NiFe (Edison) batteries and how to make your own. These batteries have the ability to last 50+ years, and we have a bunch of info on them in the files section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/12VDC_Power/files/. We were also discussing human powered devices, specifically pedal powered water pumps, grain mills, and electrical generators. I have had a very good resource for this for 20 years called “Pedal Power: In Work, Leisure, and Transportation”, and just picked up a wonderful companion to it produced in 2008 called “The Human Powered Home”. Detailed drawings and parts lists for mixers, pumps, grinders, and many other projects where fuel or electricity may be in short supply, or you just need to lose 50 lbs. These books and more can be found it the Human Power section at http://www.green-trust.org/bookshop/.

DJ MacIntyre from Leboise.com donated an 6/1 listeroid diesel engine to us. Jim Juczak from Woodhenge and I will be traveling to Belleghuan to pick it up in a couple of weeks. We will be building a 3kw Axial Flux permanent magnet alternator for the engine, which will charge our battery bank. This engine will also heat our hot domestic water. Fuel usage will be approximately 1/4 gallon per hour of used fryer oil.

Dharam has returned, and the conversion picks up where it left off. A new connection plate was created for the heat exchanger, with 90 degree elbows, since there was not room for the old one which was straight up. The pipes would have kinked in the space above the tank. It’s in the 20’s (F), and with snow on the ground, makes life interesting for an outdoor conversion.

We are making some plans for some projects, and going over other projects with some friends. DJ MacIntyre of Le Boisé Alternatives and I are planning a trip to John Ferguson of Belleghuan Ltd., to convert his diesel truck to run on vegetable oil. DJ runs a Renewable Energy business in Ontario Canada, John sells listeroid diesel engines, among other things, also in Ontario, less than 2 hours north of us. Both are interesting folks to know. Larry Barr of Rebelwolf/ESSN fame has started some new RE projects, including a solar power mobile (HAM) radio shack, and a new RE Blog, which you can read about at http://offgrid.green-trust.org/. The guy piling holes are filled with concrete and dirt for the new wind tower, so Jim Juczak from Woodhenge and I will be raising the wind machine shortly. Dharam had a death in his extended family, so he will be cutting short his stay here to be with his people, and we will finish his veggie bus when he returns. Combined with a stomach bug that flowed through here and hit a few folks, it’s been a busy week.

Follow along at Green-Trust Offgrid as we convert Dharam’s Schoolbus to Veggie Fueled RV. Today we are building the heat exchanger for the fuel tank, and splicing into the coolant lines for heat.

Last night our friend Dharam arrived with his school bus. We are helping him convert it to an RV, and will be converting the diesel to run on Used Fryer Oil (UFO). Dharam is a house washer by trade, so hopefully, weather permitting, Green-Trust will get a fresh coat of paint, and look a bit more presentable. Pictures of the bus and conversion will be posted as the project progresses. We hope to take Dharam down to Woodhenge to pick up a set of used deep cycle batteries as a house bank for his bus.

Dharam obtained his bus from a friend of ours, Greg Archambault, from FloridaChurchBus.com. Greg is bringing us a bus next month for our church.

Today we took steps towards the retirement of our Detroit Diesel VeggieGen. While looking for it’s replacement, a Lister 6/1 (VeggieGen Version 2), we heard that our friends at the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum were having the ribbon cutting ceremony at their new, and first, permanent home in Madrid, NY. The museum has ambitious plans for working farm villages spanning the 200 years of the north country. We have donated the Detroit to the museum as a working display piece, and the power source for their community.

Additional note:

Saturday, September 2, 2006 – Saturday and Sunday. 16th Annual Old Fashioned Harvest Days, by the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum. At the Hutchinson Farm, Route 15 between Heuvelton and Rensselaer Falls, NY. Field harvesting demonstrations; antique gas and steam engines, tractors, trucks, and cars; sawmilling; flea market; Bluegrass music; super food. Saturday antique tractor games. Sunday tractor pull. Exhibitors welcome. Contact Roger Austin, 315-344-7470, email rsaustin123@earthlink.net or visit www.slpowermuseum.com.

We received the CD from George at Utterpower.com. This is an excellent reference for those who are looking to build a cogen (Heat & Electric) power source for the off-grid home. The lister type engines are designed for continuous duty for many years, and use a lot less fuel (used fryer oil, diesel, kerosene, used motor oil, etc.) than our Detroit.