Defense with the BoomStick

Good afternoon everyone out there. How is today going for you? Well it hasn't been going too well for me and my group here, as we've had onslaughts of zombies constantly. I mean we can’t burn them fast enough. Hopefully everyone listening out there is having a better day then me but hey, you never know. And don’t worry about us...it's going to take a lot more then what we have seen to bring us down. For a bit of news, as I said last week the parts of New England that the government was fighting to retake is still dangerous to head to as there are just too many zombies. So just be safe if you're in that area or close to it as zombies will be passing through. That's that, so now onto the tip of the week.

Today I am going to talk about a new process to create a renewable energy source I learned from a group that passed through here. It's called wood gas, and you can use it to run a generator when you have no gas. Basically, it's a process of heating wood in an enclosed container and producing a gas that is possible to take the place of gas for an internal-combustible engine. When used in a stationary design, it is feasible to use it in small combined heating and power scenarios (with heat recovery from the wood gas producer, and possibly the engine/generator, for example, to heat water for hydronic heating). Larger-scale installations can reap even better efficiencies, and are useful for district heating as well. On the downside it does take a small amount of time to get it going, and if not constructed correctly it can explode on you. The process to make one of these goes as such. First, you get a large oil drum or some other sort of container you can build your fire in. Then, you find a secondary container that will be your chamber for the gas and fill it with wood.

Next, find some sort of pipe with a nozzle on it that you can affix to the container with the wood in it. This way you have a method to let gas out in a contained way so it all doesn’t just flood out. Next get the fire going nice and hot and have your smaller container sitting directly on top of the fire with a hose connected to the nozzle for the gas to go through to your generator. Finally, hook the hose directly into the carburetor and start it up; it should run off of the gas in it if you've done it right. That's it for today. Make sure to listen next week as well to find out more tips to help you stay alive and keep fighting. Remember: keep doing what you can to help us win. And so I leave you now until next week.