[gsferrari]

Look at the food cycle that we follow at home in India -

Nature (plants, crops) -> Market (buy veggies, rice and spices fresh) -> Cooking (at home...wooden ladels and stainless steel vessels) -> Eat (banana leaf with hands) -> Disposal (only the vessels and ladels have to be washed...hands of course...and all waste is biodegradable 100%...most of it can be used to produce bio gas if your home is so equipped)

All our cooking is done with bio-gas stoves. No electricity...no LPG...no other fuel form. We even heat water with bio gas fuel. Our home is 50% liberated from all external forms of energy. We only use electricity for lighting and air conditioning (during summer) because we dont have the system to harness the energy of Biogas into electricity at home.

Once we figure this out we will be 90% self sufficient. All the organic waste (only food, cooking waste...no sewage stuff) comes to our home in drums to be used in the bio-reactor. The whole setup was planned by students at IIT Madras (top of the line university) and executed by an excellent architect with advisors. There is no effluence of any sort...no smell...

The biogas itself is clean and burns with a blue flame. No odours. Filters need to be replaced once every 3 months and the hard residue is cleaned out with a machine and disposed as organic waste - 100% biodegradable.

The biogas plant occupies its own underground space and we have a garage over it. It is completely out of the way...an excellent investment for those with the desire to be self sufficient and environment friendly.

We still depend on gasoline for the automobiles but I am convincing my dad to import a hybrid vehicle with a long term plan. Lets see...that will remove another 3% off the dependency margins.

We even grow most of our food at home - Spices, Coconuts, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Carrots and other veggies. We buy rice from the nearby farms and eggs from a nearby poultry farm (where we get our chicken from).

The whole project took nearly 10 years to realize...started by my grandfather and picked up by his son...and now me.

Anyone else have a story to share?

 

[mr.karmalicious]

That's really amazing

.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

All of those innovations are great for an economy that has not developed markets as most western countries have. In the U.S., it is cheaper and easier to buy food others have grown (and more convenient). As for the energy idea, it's a good one, but adapting an American home to use that sort of system would be costly, and the energy savings likely wouldn't make up the difference in the cost and upkeep for the system.

Interesting though that innovations like these will help developing countries like India level the playing field between westernized countries, because large energy distribution infrastructures will not have to be built to supply homes and businesses with power. Power plants and transmission lines are costly to build, and with all the innovations in wireless communications and at-home energy creation, it's much cheaper to stay in touch and get power now.

 

[nikongod]

whats wrong with stuff thats presently available?

our presidents home is almost entirely self-sufficent, with only the most nominal of wastes. it was built YEARS ago. look at that if you need an idea of a clean home.

 

[mbriant]

I order a lot of pizzas which I eat right out of the delivery boxes. The boxes are then recycled into toilet paper. The same natural tree fibres are used and reused at not just the beginning, but also at the end of a complete gastronomic cycle! That's efficiency!

Excluding the polution from the factories, warehouses, transportation, inks, chemicals, and bleaches ... all necessary for the production and distribution of the boxes ... the pizza box is every bit as natural and ecologically friendly as banana leaves.

 

[raisin]

Most people complain when I want to share my bio-gas... (rimshot)

 

[seeberg]

This topic reminds me of the potential of biodesel in cars. I'd love to see more applications with this kind of fuel(derived from soy oil), or make diesel fuel with bio waste , similar to what gsferrari mentioned.

Abe

mod edit: offensive humour deleted.

 

[KYTGuy]

GSFerrari: You could use a Stirling Cycle Engine to run a small 12V generator, if you choose a small enough capacity that it does not leave you without gas for when other needs require, and charge a bank of batteries. Then, use the 12v direct in LED light fixtures, for an impressive conversion efficiency, and use the 12V with an inverter to make whatever is the flavor of your mains power for the AC.

Front end cost will be high, especially if you augment with solar/wind power, but would provide all you need for lighting for sure...Air Conditioning could be too much a load for a reasonable system.

Another, perhaps easier/cheaper possibility: your frying/cooking greases are a perfect source of BIODIESEL - would run an unmodified diesel genset... you do separate the oils/fats from the bio gas process, don't you?

I admire your light touch on the enviroment, and your self-sufficiency.

Guy

 

[gsferrari]

thanks buddy.

We tried solar years ago when it was prohibitively expensive. The trouble in India is...you buy something and the seller vanishes...so if you need support

Also it didnt work too well and the wasted money left my dad a bit uncertain about solar. We have a solar unit imported from germany that heats water when we are out of gas...but it doesnt do much else.
Now that panels are cheaper and more efficient it would make sense for me to try and power things like lights, fans, radio/telephone etc. with solar power. Thanks for the tip.

Wind is not an option even though we are on the sea-side because it is simply not strong enough. We tried a small windmill and barely got 5-6A. Again...not worth the investment. More expensive options would be using the power of the sea and waves...considering that those very waves destroyed the walls of the farm when the tsunami hit

 

[KYTGuy]

Hey GS...

Are you aware of www.ccradio.com?

check out their whole catalog...lots of save power goodies there...

(added via EDIT): also www.harborfreightusa.com 5W solar panels/$39.00 ea.

GS