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/

A while back, Robert Saunders sent us an article on a steam turbine he was working on. Then he sent another on solar energy steam electric. Well, here is his third chapter in this continuing quest. Hope you enjoy:

http://www.green-trust.org/wordpress/2008/12/07/solar-powered-steam-generators/

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/.

Convert your gasoline generator to clean burning propane. We document the steps, and it’s a easy 45 minute process. See http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/ for details

We are off on our trip to Anguilla to do a solar install. Be back in 2 weeks, and expect to have a tan. Will post pics when we return. The install consists of two 130 watt panels, 35 amp charge controller, 1 AGM 70ah battery, a 300 watt sine wave inverter, and a 12 volt shurflo cistern pump. See pics of last weeks solar install at Woodhenge.org

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.

A friend of ours turned us on to a simple and easy to build steam engine. Called the Green Steam Engine, it’s simple and novel design appealed to our DIY approach. We can burn veggie oil in a turk burner to produce the steam, or even boil water on a wood stove. The engine can then turn one of our axial flux permanent magnet alternators to charge our battery bank. Clean, quiet, and sustainable.

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.