This week we’re talking about alternative alternative energy — ways to run engines and produce power that aren’t the usual solar panels or wind turbines. We go through waste vegetable oil and biodiesel, wood gasification, small-scale ethanol, methane digesters, and a few mechanical systems like wind pumps, water wheels, trompes, and Stirling engines.

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Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades.

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next week!

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CHAPTERS

00:00:14 Overview of alternative fuels and mechanical energy systems

00:00:58 Running older diesel engines on waste vegetable oil

00:02:02 Cleaning and filtering waste vegetable oil

00:03:30 Dual-tank veggie oil conversion with preheating and purging

00:05:07 Making biodiesel from waste oil

00:06:35 Sourcing methanol and its cost for biodiesel

00:07:50 Biodiesel compatibility with modern engines and seals

00:09:04 Mixing vegetable oil with diesel or kerosene as a simpler option

00:13:31 Using multi-fuel generators and military equipment on alternative fuels

00:16:41 Filtering methods and removing water from waste oil

00:19:04 Trade-offs between pre-processing fuel and engine complexity

00:23:54 Rebuildable injectors and choosing older mechanical diesel engines

00:27:00 Running tractors and farm equipment on vegetable oil

00:29:25 Do indirect injection diesels handle biofuels better than direct injection

00:31:00 Availability of waste vegetable oil

00:33:46 Wood gasification and producing syngas for gasoline engines

00:35:56 Small-scale ethanol production from sugar or starch crops

00:37:02 Fermentation, distillation process, and energy input vs output

00:40:34 Using solar heat to reduce energy needed for distillation

00:44:00 Dehydrating ethanol with molecular sieves for fuel use

00:46:57 Separating methanol heads and monitoring distillation temperatures

00:50:41 Ethanol yields per acre and the role of farm subsidies

00:53:35 Methane digesters that turn farm waste into burnable gas

00:56:20 Mixing manure, scraps, and fat as digester feedstock

00:57:45 Batch versus continuous digester systems for daily use

01:02:38 Mechanical windmills and water wheels for pumping and workshop power

01:05:07 Using water wheels to grind grain or run equipment

01:06:48 Trompes that use falling water to create low-pressure compressed air for forges

01:10:05 Stirling engines that run on heat differentials

01:13:55 Listener Question: Advice for starting out today

01:17:25 Tips of the Week: Trade school and trying new things