43 days of fuel left or Australia

And, this might be the reason for the shortage - meaning - to get popular opinion to bring back a refinery, maybe force the government to do it. Seems to me every country should have enough refineries to produce at least a good percentage of their needs...but what do I know.

 

But it might be required to keep it

 

Australia has large reserves of natural gas....which may be useful for power generation, and may have some application in powering some forms of motor transport....notably buses and some commercial vehicles. Australia has huge reserves of coal....so we may see a return of coal / wood gas driven vehicles.

Gasification - Wikipedia



Military applications?



I also foresee a massive growth in remount and veterinary units in the army....


US 3.2 Inch M 1885 Limber (Spanish American War Era)

?

 

Wood gas goes back to WWI ,Germans had develop it for use during the war.
It is a reasonable alternative for things that need vaporous fuel even cooking for that matter. The draw back is that it requires filtration that ends up being water, as it gathers particulates with out disturbing the flow like a paper filter will. Now if you can combine distillation along with what ever your using the gas for, you will have averted a contamination issue .
But like many alternative energy resources it takes getting personally involved and not something you start and walk away .
Making alcohol or methane require the same attention and have very similar processes but it's what your willing to become proficient in .
The area I currently live is in the wine country and orange groves, so in theory because these depend on wells that need electricity to bring the water up, much of it will all sadly die off providing a surplus of wood .
Methane usually requires a lot of organics that quickly break down on their own and are produced in sealed containers producing about 5 PSI on it's own ,much like flatulation through gastro intestinal indigestion . (If the body is digesting things properly you don't get gas .)
All over the world people are turning to methane gas ,it is a practical resource .
Alcohol is well known for the use of a distillery but it requires a lot of attention .
It's advantage is being able to store it much like gasoline ,though not exactly the same character
its a reasonable resource as well . It too needs the resource of organics like methane to break down. Only it is accelerated with heat .
Hydrogen is another controversial resource due to mixed press concerning those that seem to have a handle on it, but it seems that they have been silenced .
I've tried to do some experiments on my own but I lack enough information and equipment to pursue more thoroughly . But electronically separating the molecules of oxygen and hydrogen with a fairly low energy consumption is attractive ,, not just for the hydrogen but for the oxygen which has many other valued uses as well ,both medical and industrial .
All of these require a significant measure of devotion ,it's not like you can just hand over the keys to your car to a kid .
Or that a making Hydrogen for dummies is going to pass for a comprehensive understanding of the process . You may only be allowed one mistake .
Post SHTF If you attempt to bypass certain protocol, there is no books no internet emergency room to fall back on.
And you can also bank on this, "after a post apocalyptic event no one is going to freely share how they do things ". A wise man does not give away his competitive edge, unless he has nothing to loose .
Trade secrets are the key to survival in a desperate world .

 

The was a wood gasifier pickup at the Mother Earth News Fair in Belton Texas this year.

I spent some time with the owner. It was fantastically interesting to an old mechanic like me. Much simpler than expected, as well.

 

After our old house is rented out and I sell our POS VW I'm getting a leaf.
That way next time there is a fuel shortage I will laugh while our cars and truck, generator, riding lawn mower, diesel tractor and fuel jugs all stay full.

 

There is nothing like having one's own reserves when times are dark .
It took years to build up my reserves ,buying extra gas each time I filled my vehicles tank, and it payed off repeatedly ever since ..
Had I done nothing, I would be paying the high prices every one else is right now . As the dollar devalues my investment becomes more substantial .