Using plants for energy can basically be broken down into two categories: for fuel, or for electricity. Fuel, sometimes referred to as biomass or biofuel, is an alternative to traditional gass and oil, broken down and primarily for use in various engines. For electricity, the plant remains in it's whole, growing state and naturally creates energy that is harnessed to create electricity. Let's start with fuel.
Right off the bat, here, let me tell you straight up that I am not talking about ethanol. My personal opinion is that ethanol isn't really that great of a thing. For the most part, it's made from corn. So using it as a fuel source would actually redirect a major food source to be used as fuel. This would also end up using huge swaths of land to grow the corn for fuel. It tends to be corrosive, making transport an issue. And there are concerns that it wouldn't lower greenhouse emissions, but rather just trade off for different ones. Not real great, I don't think. Yes, there are other ways of making ehtanol rather than corn. Cellulosic ethanol might have some merit. But I'll leave that for you to think about yourself. What I'd rather talk about is algae. Have you heard about this? It's really brilliant. First looked at as a potential fuel source during the 1970's under President Jimmy Carter, there is serious potential here. Now if you're anything like me, algae is something you generally fight with trying to keep out of your swimming pool. It grows fast, seemingly out of nowhere, sometimes. But the truth is that algae has very high concentrations of lipid oil. This is what makes it so great. Well, that, and the fact that it is, after all, a plant. And all plants eat up carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Yep, it's a great little plant. To use it as a fuel source, it is compressedor centrifuged. This results in a thick oil that can then be used as fuel. Easy breezy. Ok, so that's a bit of an understatement. There is a bit more to it than that. But really, it is a simple process. There are some big businesses that currently use algae for fuel. And there are companies, like Exxon-Mobile, who are looking into bringing it to market as a biofuel. As of right now, however, it isn't commercially produced for you to go out and buy as you would gas or oil. For that reason, the only option truly available at the moment, is to make it yourself. Again, it's an easy process. There are tutorials online. Some are relatively simple, while others are a bit more complex. First, you must decide what type of algae to use. There are thousands of types. Some need lots of sunlight, whereas others need very little. It just depends on your needs and environment. The beauty of this is that, as a fuel, it can be used for anything from fueling your car to running a generator. To get an idea of what it can do, check out this building that is already up and running completely off of algae fuel. Or the new micro-country of Liberland that plans to run the whole country off of algae.
The use of living plants directly for electricity is a much newer idea. The basic idea is that when a plant processes nutrients, what's left over is excreted through the roots. Electrons are one of these "waste products". If an electrode is placed near the roots, giving the electron a place to go, it creates energy. There are some studies underway in which the electrons are collected before ever leaving the plants. That process seems to still be in it's early stages, and quite frankly, seems a little unessary to me. Why? Well, because of a new Dutch-based company called Plant-e. They have marketed a system for harvesting the electrons after they've left the plant, leaving the plant unaltered in the process. While this may or may not seem important, think of this. While the electrons are still in the plant, part of their job is to create sugars in the plant. If the plants in question are edible, I kind of like the idea of leaving the sugars in place. I highly recommend checking out their website. They explain it much better than I can. Now, just a heads up, in case you can't read Dutch, you will need to translate the page. Their prices range from roughly $150.00 to just over $700.00. They are modular, so you can build based on your needs. They're even working on large-scale projects like this. If you were to do a search for how to make electricity from living plants, I'd say well over 90% of the links that pop up would have some connection to these guys. The only other system I could find was this one at Cambridge University. It's the same basic idea, with only slight differences. Plant-e recommends plants that are in wetlands or marshes, while Cambridge is using a vertical living wall. While I, unfortunately, have not been able to locate and DIY tutorials for how to do this yourself, I would think that if you can grasp the basic concept of how it works, then it shouldn't be too difficult to build a system yourself. This is a system that would work anywhere you have access to plants. It could, theoretically, have issues during the colder seasons when the plants die back. But that could be avoided if you use a hydroponic or aquaponic system, a greenhouse, a walipini, are planning to build an Earthship (I'll talk about those in a later post on building styles), or even a natural pool.
Plants are amazing, aren't they? They give us oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide, food, shelter, and now, electricity. There is a lot of potential in these green gems, some of which we are only now beginning to tap into. I do highly recommend looking into plants as a source of energy in any and all it's forms when planning to build an off-grid homestead.
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