In Ohio and in other low wage areas like Mich, need to do things
like that. If there are not jobs, make them. And now but even before, making RE
can be very profitable almost anywhere.
One thing really needed is a solar thermal engine/collector, basically a
5-10hp steam engine/gen could be made for $3/watt, sold for $4/wt and many
places have $4/watt tax credits, ect so basically free to home/business owners in
some places. But worth it even without credits, ect.
Another is a good low cost windgen. The ones available are too expensive and
can be profitable at 1/2 their costs.
Everyone is always going to need energy even in depressed areas, a job they
can never export and you don't have to work for anyone, just sell your
product.

Funny you should call this a low wage area, we used to think of
ourselves as a "Unionised, high skilled high paid workforce". Up until lately,
Dayton, Ohio, had more engineers and patents per capita than anyplace in the world.
Now our biggest growth industry is just building hospitals for the retired
and elderly. So sad.
I have about 2000 sq ft of greenhouses to heat with the waste heat. I
also can utilize up to 100 gallons of gasoline plus some diesel for the Skid
steer loader every week. I always try to vertically integrate my business. My
goal is to close the loop with my landscape customers as the production
fields. This has been my concept since entering in landscaping at age 19 in 1980.
Portability in such devises assists in dodging permits, reduces the
apparent use of the devise, puts the converter at the site of the supplies ( such
as hurricane swaths or ice storms) and all you have to say is " what
devise?" " I didn't see anything like that." Yet it can show up on short
notice for "demonstrations." Remember that permits are only needed to operate
such things, not to own them. We float licence tags amoung little used specialty
trailers to reduce costs. Trailers are cheaper to licence than trucks.
Trailers need no separate road insurance to travel. I wonder how many F 250 truck
bed trailers I can keep on inventory? Also, don't forget that emissions are
less of a problem when they are remote and scattered.
Charcoal will be sold as cooking fuel , used for smithing, and maybe a
little melting- of anything. Kept on reserve for fuel shortages. I prefer
cooking my char to burning it. A pressure cooker is more efficiant. Moisture
content of inputs can determine the outputs. The idea is to use trash wood to
cook good wood in the retort. Remember, any heating devise producing less than
200,000 btu is unregulated, no matter how many such devises you have ;-)
Man I wish I'd had a windgen running this last year. I'd bet this has
been one of the windiest periods on record for this area. Maybe with weather
patterns changing this will be more common. I think the guys who draw the wind
charts in this area are hiding down in the valleys in September, not standing
on the lips of the valleys in March. Climatologists are classifying this
area as the center for straight line damaging winds. Now you know why the trees
don't get as tall here as they should. We have a lot of 50- 60 mph winds with
thunderstorms in the summer and snowstorms in the winter.