Wood Stove Technology Coupled with Off Grid Lifestyle.

[JA600L]

Hey guys,
I'm just curious where technology is at right now and if you see a future in creating electricity, maintaining appliances, running a water heater, etc..with some sort of wood stove generator.

Will technology get us to the point where we can move off of the grid and sustain a modern life style while generating power with common firewood?

Maybe firewood coupled with solar panels? Any thoughts?

 

[bobdog2o02]

not enough demand, build you own steam turbine and feed it with wood..........

 

[jebatty]

I think the first issues with generating electricity (from wood) are the laws of thermodynamics which result normally in energy conversion of one source to another of about 33%, with a little over 50% achievable with some pretty high tech engineering and CHP applications. Research is continuing on a number of fronts for small scale electric generation from woody biomass fuel. Have to wait to see whether it becomes feasible at the homeowner scale.

 

[renewablejohn]

This is the Finnish 40kw CHP plant where looking to put in to support our woodchip drying business.

http://www.volter.si/biomass-chp-micro-cogeneration-products-en-3.html

 

[begreen]

At 4.5 cu mtrs per day consumption this is going to eat a lot of chips, but not a big deal if you are in the business I guess. What is the source of the chip wood? I wonder what are the emissions from a setup like this?

more info here: http://www.volter.fi/

 

[renewablejohn]

Emissions for the 40kwe machine are supposed to be less than natural gas. From the sales brochure NOx 500 mg/Nm3 ,PM10 15mg/Nm3, Sulphur 50 mg/Nm3. The ash is collected in a 45 gall drum and needs emptying once every 3 months. The woodchip will be from forest brash with the round wood used for logs. The quality of woodchip for this machine is critical with moisture content less than 18% and we will screen out the fines which we will still use for wood pellet production.