Mike, >Whenever we talk about biofuels, we sometimes bring other alternative energy >technologies into the fold. For example, I remember discussing (maybe here, >I'm not sure) the use of heliostats as a possible heat source for >distillation. However, the use of windmills as a source of mechanical or >electrical energy has (for me) stayed in the background. I am not >knowledgeable at all in the commercial availability of windmills and the level >of sophistication of the ones most commonly sold. Can anyone help me on this? >
These sites may be of use for *other* sources of power http://www.otherpower.com/ http://www.scoraigwind.com/ I would love to make a permanent magnet alternator for use with either water or wind... but that's some time down the road for me. > >I'm also curious about something. I've been visiting JTF and reading the >sections on appropriate technology. Do you think that alternative, renewable >energy for the creation of biofuels merits a discussion as a kind of >appropriate technology? Does the level of complexity of these technologies >(like windmills, solar, etc.) cause the idea to diverge from the original >definition if they incorporate modern electronics (for example)? > I think the main issue is the source of production. Most things fabricated today use polymers that are derived from fossil fuels (plastics usually). So, devices used to tap into wind or hydro power rely on the petroleum industry. I have heard of research into polymers from renewable products but I'm not sure how far along such research. Perhaps someone else on the list knows more about such things. Once we can get polymers out of corn we will be able to further detach ourselves from fossil fuels. _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
