There was a talk from the Royal Institution just uploaded yesterday (talk was in June), The Apocalypse and How to Avoid It[0], where Lewis Dartnell (author The Knowledge[1]) describes a gasifier stove you can make from a couple bean cans, and also brought up this gasifier engine technology and how it was used in London during the Blitz. This article has a ton of useful information that makes for a great followup.
Also at the talk were Vinay Gupta (Ethereum), Rosalind Eggo, and Hugh Lewis discussing different avenues to potential Apocalypse and their likelihood, etc.
I saw some of these in use while visiting DPR Korea. We weren't up close, but the government tour guide confirmed that they were wood-burning trucks. Sadly I was not allowed to photograph the trucks.
Like the article mentions, deforestation is an issue they can cause, something Korea suffers from greatly.
Important downside explained half way through: "if we were to convert every vehicle, or even just a significant number, to wood gas, all the trees in the world would be gone and we would die of hunger because all agricultural land would be sacrificed for energy crops."
Energy crops (subsidized by the government) has already replaced agricultural land for Ethanol fuel production, up to 1% of cultivated land worldwide being use for it.
Wait, what? There's absolutely no evidence that "Japan chopped down the last of its trees". Why would you say such a thing? You enjoy lying on the internet?
Politicians in Sweden after WW2 had interesting mindset. They really tried to prepare the country for various worst-case scenarios. Researching wooden gas for cars was one thing.
Another is how they investigated if they should make own nuclear weapons. They decided not to after getting assurances from industry that they can make an atomic bomb within months if needed.
I wonder what other possibilities or backup technologies they considered?
It looks like the author's first language may be Dutch, where carbon monoxide is "koolmonoxid" and "kool" can mean both "coal" and "carbon" (although there are more specific words for coal such as "steenkool" = "stone carbon").
In Russian, Carbon is "Uglerod", whereas coal is "Ugle". CO, when not referred to by its colloquial name, would be "Uglekislorod" - literally, Coal-oxide.
Possibly. But harvesting that heat directly to 'motion' would probably not be feasible. Storing that on batteries may be better, as they can be slowly trickle charged, but provide a lot of power when there is demand.
I think it's definitely common knowledge to Europeans who would have direct cultural awareness of this due to the impact of WWII, however this is mindblowing to a North American.
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Also at the talk were Vinay Gupta (Ethereum), Rosalind Eggo, and Hugh Lewis discussing different avenues to potential Apocalypse and their likelihood, etc.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPxBhqonZEQ
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Rebuild-Civilization-Afterm...
To be fair, that is something that almost every single developing nation in the history of human kind has suffered from greatly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RMVwbjp514o
Another is how they investigated if they should make own nuclear weapons. They decided not to after getting assurances from industry that they can make an atomic bomb within months if needed.
I wonder what other possibilities or backup technologies they considered?
Coal as in coal power, coal barbecue, and the element carbon use the same word. That’s not a coincidence.
Apart from some exotic forms like diamonds, trees or rabbits (less pure), coal is how we normally encounter carbon.