In my humble opinion, one of the best things to come out of England in the last century was the fine Stationary Engines produced by R A Lister. In particular the Lister CS range of single cylinder Diesel units. They have been known to run for thousands of hours without any maintenance other than topping up the fuel!

Below is a fine example of a well restored Lister running what appears to be a ST Type Generating Head, producing 230VAC.

Here at HBP we have 3 Lister CS Engines, 2 x 6/1 units and a 3/1.

Labels: Lister CS, Lister Diesel, Listeroid, Wind Turbine, WMO, WVO

Quite simply, geo-pressure is a tried and tested technology that is used to generate carbon free electricity. It provides guaranteed security of supply and could save the UK a minimum of one million tonnes of carbon (1MtC) per year. It is already in use in Europe and North America.
How does it work?A tiny bit of science; natural gas emerges from the ground under intense pressure and this pressure helps to drive the gas through the distribution network. Before the gas can be safely decentralised to consumers, the gas pressure must be reduced using a pressure reduction station (PRS). We can harness the energy created from this pressure reduction, and use it to generate carbon free electricity, merely by installing a turbine generation system at some of these stations. There are over 2000 potentially suitable PRSs in the UK and the energy created by them is currently entirely wasted.
What difference will geo-pressure make?If this energy were to be exploited fully, it would add a minimum of 1GW of extra carbon free electricity generating capacity to the UK - equivalent to the production capability of an average sized fossil fuel or nuclear power station. The amount of carbon emissions that geo-pressure could potentially save the UK - 1MtC per year – is equivalent to the amount emitted annually by the whole of the National Health Service and substantially more than the amount emitted annually by the likes of IBM, Kodak, Nissan and Proctor & Gamble worldwide (source The Climate Group). If the generating capacity saved came from a coal fired power station, the figure of 1MtC saved would increase as burning coal emits more carbon than burning gas, by a factor of approximately 1.7.
If the generating capacity came from a nuclear power station, the carbon saved would be one third of the carbon emissions of a gas fired generator; not nil as proponents of the nuclear solution would like us to believe. (Estimate calculated by Professors Smith and Van Leeuwen at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands). This, combined with the many other disadvantages of nuclear power, should make this option even less attractive than it has been traditionally.
Geo-pressure generates electricity at the most useful time, reducing the need for surplus capacity on the grid. This is because more power is generated when more gas travels through the system. As gas demand peaks, geo-pressure generation increases and gas demand is closely linked to electricity demand. In addition, the supply of electricity from a geo-pressure powered generator needs no backup supply in case of failure of either the primary energy source, or of the electricity supply; the only energy needed is the flow of gas through the pipeline.
Diagram courtesy Transco.
Geo-pressure and decentralisationFinally, not only is geo-pressure technology able to supplement significantly the UK’s carbon free electricity generating resources, it also fits well with the decentralised energy model being proposed – by Greenpeace and others - as a solution to the problem of how to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions on a permanent and sustainable basis.
Our highly centralised electricity generation model wastes two thirds of the energy contained in the original fuel source. In other words, for every100 units of energy put into the system, only 38.5 units are put into the national grid. A further 3.5 units (9% of the transmitted total) are then lost in transmission around the national grid with only 35 units eventually reaching the consumer.
Geo-pressure on the other hand operates at about 93% efficiency and - with more than 2000 locations potentially able to generate electricity in this way – could already be described as being a decentralised source of energy with the potential to reduce some of the 9% of electricity currently lost in transmission and distribution over the national grid. Thus, where a pressure reduction station is located at the site of a large gas consumer they will be able to use the generated electricity locally. Alternatively, electricity generated from pressure reduction for domestic consumers could be exported to the national grid, or decentralised locally as part of a decentralised energy strategy.
Why is all this important? It is important because we’re being encouraged by Tony Blair and George W Bush, amongst others, to believe that the problem of climate change will be solved mainly through the emergence of new low carbon or carbon free energy technologies. This isn’t happening nearly fast enough and the UK government is currently predicting a shortfall of 10MtC in their 2010 carbon reduction target; although they currently expect to meet their Kyoto targets.
So, in summary, 2OC is marketing proven technology, known as geo-pressure, able to generate carbon free electricity from any gas distribution network utilising pressure reduction stations. If properly recognised and supported by the UK government, this technology could save the UK a minimum of 1MtC of carbon emissions annually and make a substantial contribution to Britain’s carbon reduction targets, as well as paving the way for a more decentralised approach to energy distribution.

Labels: Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Wind Turbine

Alternative forms of energy are becoming more and more available to theworking man. One that is most common is solar power. Solar power usesphotovoltaic cells to turn sunlight into electricity, and as technologygets more advanced the return on investment of the system gets shorter.Solar energy can be used not only for electricity, but also for heating,and for generating hot water.

Labels: Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: CHAP, CHP, DIY Power, Electricity CD Rom, Generate Electricity, Generate Electricity For Free, How 2, Lister CS, Lister Diesel, Wind Turbine, WMO, WVO

Labels: Protos Burner, Protos Plant Oil Stove, Protos Stove, Protos Stove For Sale, Purchase Protos Stove, Purchase Protos Stove UK, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Alternative Energy, Alternative Energy Links, Homebrewpower, Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Database, Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Carbon Neutral, Free Energy, Protos Burner, Protos Plant Oil Stove, Protos Stove, Turk Burner, Wind Turbine, WVO Burner, WVO Stove

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Blogger, New Hosting Company, RIP Blogger, Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: DIY Solar Hot Water Heater, Lister CS Help, Solar Heater, Solar Thermocycle, Thermosyphon, Wind Turbine

Oil Crisis? The End? The Future?

Well we are now into 2008 on our humble home planet, Earth...

Some may ask why I created ‘Home Brew Power’. Was it to save the planet from self destruction? Was it for monetary gain? Was it to try and educate our children about the planet’s finite supply of fossil fuel? Could it have been to help others reduce their gross overuse of electricity and power in general?

All of the above are just some of the driving forces behind

www.HomeBrewPower.co.uk

Over 2007 I have actively been in discussion groups about the following topics.

1. CHP (Combined Heating & Power) Units using ‘Carbon Neutral’ Fuel Sources i.e. WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil), SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil), Ethanol, Wood, Wood Gas and more.

2. Generating Electricity with a Stirling Engine (Hot Air Engine) with the primary heat sources been either a ‘Wood Stove’ or a ‘Waste Oil Burner / Furnace’

3. The overall efficiencies of Solar PV ‘Solar Photovoltaic’s’ which currently runs commercially at around 14-16%. To put it in an easy to understand format, ‘If a 1000MM x 500MM solar panel facing the sun was receiving 1000W of radiant solar energy then of that we are currently able to harvest approx 140 – 160W in the form of direct current electricity.

4. Micro Co-Generation, on a domestic scale, grid-tied wind turbines producing mains electricity that in times of excess can be fed back into the national grid system automatically, crediting the consumer with a reduction in their electricity bill. Currently in the UK we are allowed to Grid-Tie up to 6KW (constantly) back into the national grid as domestic customers.

5. Learning how to live on a much reduced amount of fossil fuels for heating and power. It really has been an eye opener to see how much the average human consumes on a daily basis. We as a race are hopelessly dependent on fossil fuels; the things most take for granted consume huge amounts of power. For example taking a shower (Electric Shower), making a cup of tea (Electric Kettle) Central Heating (Gas / Oil Fired Combi Boiler) Watching TV for hours on end and leaving electrical appliances on standby 24/7.

The topics above have, for as long as I can remember, been extremely important to me but they are now making it into the mainstream public eyes via the TV, Radio & Internet. Right now the government are dressing up the ‘Green Schemes’ ‘Carbon Reduction Schemes’ creating yet another cash generating revenue for them.

Soon I imagine the hype will calm down and we will be back to the important issue of ‘Life After Fossil Fuels’

www.Homebrewpower.co.uk is currently decanting to a brand new Website Format, the existing Blog based website has served well for the previous 2 years but it is time to bring some new dimensions to our community.


Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: CHP, Fossil Fuel Crisis, Fossil Fules, Micro CHP, Wind Turbine, WMO, Wood Gas, WoodGas, WVO

Still claiming to be Y2K compliant, I've let the survivalist in me get get a bit out of hand lately. For the last 7 years, my "estate" has been equipped with an ONAN 15 KW gas generator. while perfectly reliable, it did burn lots of auto gas and make plenty of racket. As gasoline is getting so expensive, and it's difficult to store, I went searching for a low cost diesel alternative.
I decided to go with a very unique and proven old design. This engine, called the Lister CS (Cold Start) was invented in 1929. It's still in production today as evidenced by the photos below. Lister stopped making these engines in the '70s, but production continues in India. These engine are this very day powering rural villages in Alaska and third world countries far from the electrical grid. Documented cases have found them running 24/7 for over forty years.

This is over 100,000 hours TBO. Longevity of the Lister seems no problem.
Other features include a hand cranked, zero electrical system design. It will always start. The engine is rated at 16 HP at 850 rpm or 12 HP and 650 RPM. I'll be running it at the later as I don't need the power for my home. It will be coupled to a brand new MASSIVE 12 KW 1800 RPM generator. While it won't ever make 12 KW, the rotating mass of the assembly will make starting these big Florida Air-condition systems a breeze. After the compressor starts, powering the rest of the house should be no problem on 6 KW.
Buying the thing was a real headache. After searching the web, I found a place called LOVSON in Bombay. They export this line of engines. After a short negotiation, the deal was made. $960 for the engine and $200 to ship it to port of Miami. Boy was I dumb to think that's all it would cost. LOVSON totally misrepresented the cost to ship it to me.

The ship sailed to Port of New your, then was trucked by another cargo company to the Port of Miami for additional charge.
Personally I don't get it, a guy in India agrees to very carefully and specific instructions for shipment from one place to another, then doesn't do it. Here in the USA we call it integrity, doing what is promised. These Lovson people knew it would not be shipped as they agreed, and took my money anyway. I seems this type of dishonesty is rampant and an accepted practice in India, so "victim be ware".
Enter the Teamsters ET AL. At this point, the greedy hands came out in force. Within a day, the Cargo carrier, "ALLCARGO MOVERS" inc. appeared and trumped up another $240 in charges for everything from unloading the container to buying new nose pickers. Then the US Customs needed to inspect the crate, that's another $37.

Finally it is trucked to Port of Miami. Here the cargo was again hijacked and held for ransom by another host of crooks. This time a customs entry needed doing ($135) and finally the warehouse crooks in Miami extorted an other $125 for placing it in their warehouse for a week. No wonder a dockworker can make upwards of $150,000 per year in the US.
So even with all these OUTRAGEOUS charges, I still got my little (1400 pounds) engine for less than I could get it in the US and it seems to work just fine.
After spending three hours dismantling the massive packing crate and thoroughly prepping the engine, it fired right up and ticked along gently at 800 rpm.
Here the crate arrives home to my shop, all 1400 pounds of it.After two hours of pulling nails, my first peek at the beast. Got to love that "School Bus Green" paint. You can see the accessory kit and little green toolbox that comes with it. The engine is field serviceable and almost all tasks can be completed with the hand tools included. Man does this crate and contents smell bad, like old wood and yucky paint.All the goodies visibleFinally free from the crate. Check out the cool red trimmed pushrods and yellow valve covers. This design has an exposed valve train. You get to oil it every day with the little oil can that comes with the toolbox. I love tinkering with this kind of stuff.This thing stands 42 inches tall, The fly wheels are 20" in diameter. It took quite a bit of practice to start the thing, but now it seems pretty easy.

Starting goes like this:

Fuel onCutoff lever on (stop lever)Both exhaust valve lifters in (compression release)Start cranking and crank as fast as you can.Flick one exhaust lever to run and bang it slowly starts.

Labels: Lister CS, Wind Turbine

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Wind Turbine

CASE STUDY

Name: Chris Driver Location: Blackburn (UK)

Hobbies: Alternative Energy, Bio Fuel Production, Alternative Fuels For Engines, Diesel Engine Restoration, WVO As A Fuel, Fabrication & CHP.

Story By Andy Mahoney

I met Chris through http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk/ He shares many of my interests in alternative energy and sustainable energy. The thing that stood out to me about Chris was his genuine enthusiasm and interest into his hobbies, this trait has most probably developed from his profession in the police force.

I managed to drive out to meet up with Chris on the 13th of January 2007 to take a glimpse Into his achievements. The first thing that took me in awe whilst approaching his farm house was the 6KW Grid Tied Proven wind machine (Pictured) It is located adjacent to the main house and was in full swing the entire time I spent at his house. Watching such a machine in close proximity is something every enthusiast should try!

Chris encountered some problems with neighbours objecting to his turbine installation claiming that the noise would be excessive and that the shadows cast by the rotors would be problematic. On personally viewing his setup in action I can con-firm that the noise of the turbine is actually cancelled out by the sound of the wind itself and also the horses in the field adjacent do not seem to notice the turbine at all!

Chris explained that he was Looking into a future investment that would be beneficial later on in life, he finally chose to have the wind generator installed by Turbine Services http://www.turbineservices.co.uk/ The unit is a Proven 6KW Grid tied turbine which also back feeds the national grid in times of excess power generation.

Chris is very pleased with the installation and especially the after service received from Turbine Services. Any glitches with the setup have been addressed and resolved in a prompt manner. Whilst Chris is in his house he can monitor the performance of the wind turbine, the system came with an Electrisave wire-less power monitor, it shows constant readings of his power use and power generation at 1 second intervals.

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Alternative Energy, Off Grid Installer, Proven, Proven Turbine, Wind Turbine

How this 12inch miracle tube could halve heating billsAmazing British invention creates MORE energy than you put into it - and could soon be warming your home


It sounds too good to be true - not to mention the fact that it violates almost every known law of physics.
But British scientists claim they have invented a revolutionary device that seems to 'create' energy from virtually nothing.
Their so-called thermal energy cell could soon be fitted into ordinary homes, halving domestic heating bills and making a major contribution towards cutting carbon emissions.

Even the makers of the device are at a loss to explain exactly how it works - but sceptical independent scientists carried out their own tests and discovered that the 12in x 2in tube really does produce far more heat energy than the electrical energy put in.
The device seems to break the fundamental physical law that energy cannot be created from nothing - but researchers believe it taps into a previously unrecognised source of energy, stored at a sub-atomic level within the hydrogen atoms in water.
The system - developed by scientists at a firm called Ecowatts in a nondescript laboratory on an industrial estate at Lancing, West Sussex - involves passing an electrical current through a mixture of water, potassium carbonate (otherwise known as potash) and a secret liquid catalyst, based on chrome.

This creates a reaction that releases an incredible amount of energy compared to that put in. If the reaction takes place in a unit surrounded by water, the liquid heats up, which could form the basis for a household heating system.
If the technology can be developed on a domestic scale, it means consumers will need much less energy for heating and hot water - creating smaller bills and fewer greenhouse gases.

Jim Lyons, of the University of York, independently evaluated the system. He said: 'Let's be honest, people are generally pretty sceptical about this kind of thing. Our team was happy to take on the evaluation, even if to prove it didn't work.
'But this is a very efficient replacement for the traditional immersion heater. We have examined this interesting technology and when we got the rig operating, we were getting 150 to 200 per cent more energy out than we put in, without trying too hard.
People are sceptical - but somehow it works

'We are still not clear about the science involved here, because the physics and chemistry are very different-to everything that has gone before. Our challenge now is to study the science and how it works.'
The device has taken ten years of painstaking work by a small team at Ecowatts' tiny red-brick laboratory, and bosses predict a household version of their device will be ready to go on sale within the next 18 months.
The project, which has cost the company £1.4million, has the backing of the Department of Trade and Industry, which is keen to help poorer families without traditional central heating or who cannot afford rocketing fuel bills.
Ecowatts says the device will cost between £1,500 and £2,000, in line with the price of traditional systems.

The development of the groundbreaking technology results from a chance meeting between Ecowatts chairman Chris Davies, his wife Jane and an Irish inventor, Christopher Eccles, while the couple were on holiday near Shannon in 1998.
After the inventor showed the couple his laboratory experiments, Mrs Davies, immediately signed a £20,000 cheque on the bonnet of her car and handed it over to Mr Eccles.

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: EcoWatts, Energy Efficient, Energy Saving Trust, Free Energy, Immersion Heater, Over Unity, Wind Turbine, www.ecowatts.co.uk

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: Alaska Tent Burner, Alaska Tent Stove, SVO, Turk Burner, WMO, WMO Burner, WVO, WVO Burner

Kind regards


Andy Mahoney
Home Brew Power
Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)
www.homebrewpower.co.uk
Mobile: 07504 50 50 89
HomeBrewPower Yahoo Group On Carbon Neutral Power
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homebrewpower/

Labels: DIY, DIY Solar, DIY Solar Hot Water Heater, Solar Heater, Solar Hot Water, Solar Thermocycle