5 ms·
'off the grid' has gotten very overloaded because some people take it to mean the power grid, some people take it to mean all utilities, and some people take it
by byerley 12y ago
'off the grid' has gotten very overloaded because some people take it to mean the power grid, some people take it to mean all utilities, and some people take it to mean self-sufficiency for extended periods.
An engine that could run off a wood-burning fire and was built to last a couple decades would strike me as really neat - this not so much. I suppose other places have more issues with the power grid reliability, but it's presumably more efficient to maintain the current infrastructure than to get one of these into every house.
Natural gas is also going to get much more expensive if they ever push fracking regulations through - the current pollution from gas leaks is actually worse than burning an equivalent amount of petroleum.
- eru 12y agoWhy would you be interested in burning wood? > Natural gas is also going to get much more expensive if they ever push fracking regulations through - the current pollution from gas leaks is actually worse than burning an equivalent amount of petroleum. Interesting. Do you have links to further reading?
- byerley 12y ago> Why would you be interested in burning wood? Something you can stick in a cabin to power odd appliances or a computer and not have to worry about carrying fuel in (not very practical I admit). Simple thermoelectric generators are tricky because you have to maintain the temperature difference - generally only good for brief use or with a battery. > Interesting. Do you have links to further reading? To be honest, it's information I got second hand from some climate researchers I used to work with. I wasn't planning to weigh in with google results, but this blog does a very impressive job of documenting the back and forth with links to papers - http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/08/shale-gas-more-or-less-polluting-than-coal/ http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/08/shale-gas-more-or-le...
- ttctciyf 12y agoNot really directly supportive of Byerley's point, but this recent Cornell study on gas well leak potential might be of interest: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/06/four-10-wells-forecast-fail-northeastern-pa http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/06/four-10-wells-fo... > shale gas wells were six times more likely to leak, compared with conventional wells.
- maxerickson 12y agoOne reason people like burning wood is that it is inexpensive. There is also the pie in the sky reason that it is low-infrastructure.
- tlarkworthy 12y agoits also quite carcinogenic http://www.ehhi.org/woodsmoke/health_effects.shtml http://www.ehhi.org/woodsmoke/health_effects.shtml