How to Generate Power from Garbage
Specific construction details.
May/June 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
Now that we have the general story from C.E. Burr, it's time to get specific. HOW do we - on a very personal individual, family, tribal or community level - recycle garbage into fertilizer and useable power? CAN we do it? Kieth D. Gilbert says, "YES!"
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Drawing on personal experience and-we believe - the World Health Organization's book, COMPOSTING, Kieth here presents a blueprint.
Please note that this system requires users to somehow physically move wastes into and out of the plant whereas C.E. Burr's design automatically transfers such wastes. Burr's ideas, then, seem - by far - the more practical, trouble-free and desirable . . . even if details - at this point - are a little sketchy. Perhaps we can build an ideal recycling unit by grafting onto Burr's design the following details on how to generate power from garbage.
This article is presented as an alternative to the usual wasteful disposal of manure, feces, and various other organic materials. By using the principles presented here for converting organic waste into methane gas, even the most remote wilderness cabin can have gas heating, refrigeration and electricity. All the home appliances and machines which run on butane gas can be made to operate on methane and by using a compressor you can probably convert your car or truck to operate on methane also. There is another point of view which you may also feel is worth considering: The gases which we harness and use in this fashion would have been released into the atmosphere anyway so we will be adding nothing to the pollution of our environment.
In fact, we will be doing considerable good if we harness and use these ordinarily wasted gases as a partial substitute for other power sources. We'll do even more good if we also use the residue from our composters as fertilizer for the land.
There are several basic factors which must be considered in constructing or purchasing a digester installation. These are: (1) Climate; (2) Single or multiple family installations; (3) Amount of wastes available; (4) Gas production; (5) Number and size of digesters; (6) Location of digesters; (7) Gas requirements and storage; (8) Materials and costs.
CLIMATE
Small digester plants can be used most effectively in temperature climates, where freezing temperatures are infrequent and of short duration. Decomposition and gas production are most rapid at about 35°C. (95°F.) but are satisfactory at temperatures above 15°-20°C. (59°-68°F.). Gas production practically ceases at temperatures below 10°C. (50°F.). The digester can be used satisfactorily in cold climates, provided the tank is properly insulated and/or heated. The additional heat required can be provided by burning some of the gas produced, by stacking manure and straw around the tank or by placing the tank above the ground so that it is exposed to the sun. When digester gas or an aerobic compost stack is used for heating the tanks, sufficient quantities of organic materials must be available to provide the additional heat as well as enough gas for other purposes.
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