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  • From: Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] gas prices
  • Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:32:51 -0700

At 6/6/2007, you wrote:
But my question was and
still is: is it feasible for a small farmer or
homesteader to have his/her own bio diesel plant?
When I googled it I didn't find a site that addressed
that issue in terms I was comfortable with.

Soybeans 48 gal/acre
Sunflowers 102 gal/acre
Peanuts 113 gal/acre
Rapeseed 127 gal/acre
Avocado 282 gal/acre
Florida Aspen 689 gal/acre

Subtract from the above the energy cost of production (tilling, planting, fertilizing, harvesting, and processing). To make bio Diesel you need to add the costs of production of about 10% methanol. Methanol in the best facilities returns about 15-20% over the energy invested. BioDiesel from Soybeans costs about $2-3 a gallon in facilities of 3M gallons or less. In larger facilities the cost can be driven down to well under $1.


Don Bowen Awl Knotted Up KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com
My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

I am omnivagant.
From don.bowen AT earthlink.net Wed Jun 6 11:38:27 2007
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Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 08:38:17 -0700
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From: Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
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At 6/6/2007, you wrote:
Research methane digesters. I have read of Indian farmers who use
dung to produce methane gas that is used for cooking and heating. A
gas would have to be compressed to operate a vehicle. Sounds to me
like a bigger project than the typical homesteader needs.

A methane digester for heating and cooking is easy and cheap to make, well within the abilities of a homestead shop. To compress the methane for auto fuel use is expensive and not so easily done. That is why the use in India is confined to mostly cooking. It is one of them most life improving activities of Indian housewives. Before much of the day was spent in gathering firewood and the smoke filled houses caused many breathing problems. The process drives off some carbon and most of the hydrogen from manure, leaving the nitrogen available for fertilizer.



Don Bowen Awl Knotted Up KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com
My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

I am omnivagant.
From shepperd AT austincc.edu Wed Jun 6 11:41:05 2007
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This discussion prompted a memory of an article about a home methane gas producer which appeared in Mother Earth News shortly after the 1973 oil embargo, which pushed energy prices up. The average homesteader may not have enough manure and garbage to make it worthwhile, but here is the link to the article:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative-Energy/1974-01-01/Mothers-Methane-Maker-Past-Present-and-Future.aspx

A list of Mother Earth News' articles on energy:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/article-categories.aspx?id=4


Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
-- Confucius

He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.
-- Epictetus

What matters is not what you learn but what you teach.
-- Michael Josephson

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God...








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