Energy Solutions: What to Do?

I am recycling used cooking oil from local restaurants for use as a supplement for diesel fuel. I filter several times going from 150 microns down to 1 micron before using as fuel. I use a Greasecar system with auxilliary fuel tank for the filtered oil in a 1984 Mercedes 300 SD turbodiesel.It works best on trips than for short local drives. I have gotten as much as 277 miles per gallon of diesel fuel with the rest coming from cooking oil! It smells like Bar B Q behind the car. The system has a copper heat exchanger in the aux tank. I believe this is causing a skin to form on it which occasionally peels off and blocks the fuel intake. I think a stainless heat exchanger would be better. We are also looking at Brown's Gas generators.

Brown"s gas generators or HHO generators have been thoroughly discussed on the thread "Water for fuel, scam?" and they are a scam. When the used cooking oil supply goes elsewhere try buying vegetable oil by the gallon. Ouch!

One should realize that creating electricity without burning anything is expensive and difficult; it takes essential skills and determined consistency to install and maintain alternatives. Understand this before hanging photovoltaic or erecting a wind turbine tower and the like.

We consume enormous and excessive amounts of power unnecessarily . . . unwittingly. So, consider first the many ways to eliminate your power and consumption needs. The most power consuming is heating or cooling anything. So first figure how you can eliminate having to use electricity to heat or cool the home.

I believe the most natural and efficient ways to do this to tap the temperature of subsoil earth. It's always within 15 degrees F of the human comfort zone. Building partially underground or berming the residence into the side of a hill is one way; another is to use a slab to act both as a thermal mass and to store heat (or absorb heat) stabilizing the building temp. Thermal masses like fireplaces (heat providers) or stone walls, cisterns and trombe walls absorb and retain heat. Use flat plate collectors for hot water and run it through the slab with PEX tubing for radiant heating if needed.

Google "Passive solar." Orient the building toward the solar south to capture heat, or orient away from solar south in hotter climates. Deciduous landscaping provides shade in the summertime. South facing windows should be shaded overhead considering solar inclination bringing in more sun as it declines in winter. Solar facing window area must be limited by established conventions of passive solar. Glazing should be doubled and of the highest (affordable) technology to limit heat exchange. Natural light should be maximized to limit the use of power for artificial lighting even when provided by LED or compact fluorescent.

Insulate and seal the house well and measure transpiration with a vacuum door test. Make sure ventilation is adequate with heat exchanged recirculation. Consider natural convection; empower circulation of air with a solar chimney, or cupolas and assist the process with thermal mass. Consider prevailing wind currents in the placement of windows and doors. Use air locks (mudrooms, breezeways, enclosed porches).

If motors are employed such as for well pumps, consider the most efficient load or process for the motor design as well as the efficiency if the motor. Consider Energy Star appliances which squeeze the most efficiency out of any process.

Compare energy efficiency as well as prices in appliance or electronics value. Compare the time that an appliance is used as well as the current when comparing power consumption.

If all these measures were to become convention, pollution and the use of fossil fuels could be cut in half immediately. They can drastically reduce the use of power and a small energy source could easily achieve the Net Zero home.

Oh, and by the way, did I say Inflate your tires?

cornelius