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The Forum > Article Comments > Mr Abbott as class bad boy > Comments

Mr Abbott as class bad boy : Comments

By Don Aitkin, published 3/3/2017

In fact, I think that Mr Abbott’s speech and its content deserve much closer reading.

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Yes Pete, my "silent" running 10KVA gen set is far from silent, but behind a small cement block wall shield, constructed for my old 2.5 KVA petrol generator it is about the same.

There are some almost silent units built for yachts as small as 45Ft, which are felt by their vibration, but not heard in the cabin if you want real quiet power. These are expensive of course.

When I lived on the yacht, [for 12 years] I had 12 volt lighting from a large deep cycle heavy duty car type battery bank, gas stove & fridge, with a main engine driven freezer. 2 hours of main engine every second day, [only 12 horse power actually], would keep the very carefully insulated built in freezer down, & charge the batteries, & 3 hours of small Honda generator on alternate days put more into the batteries.

Many of the luxuries like the electronic organ actually run on 6, 9 or 12 volts, so could be run from the 12volt system quite happily with adaption. You still need a full 240 volt system if only because domestic appliances built for this system are orders of magnitude cheaper than special stuff.

It is always a hassle, & either time consuming or expensive, maintaining a home power system, & some are almost a full time job.

My brother in law until recently commuted to Sydney from his off grid Upper Colo property. He assures me the best thing he ever did was take a big pay cut to move to Wyong, & get connected to the power grid. He never wants to see a battery again as long as he lives.
Posted by Hasbeen, Saturday, 4 March 2017 2:49:31 PM
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Pete. Methane only goes bang when mixed with 2 to 1 with oxygen! And enough explosive force to bring the house down literally.

But only if you create a system that also generates oxygen? True, the first aerobic part of the two tank system requires oxygen to prepare the "soup". In this part of the process the only gas generated is Co2. Which is relatively easily dealt with.

Tank #1 operates around 31C, tank #2 anaerobic stage, excludes any introduced atmosphere and operates at around 55C.

Should you want to warm a glasshouse or house, this system lends itself to either or both.

With the methane extracted, all that's left is sanitised safe carbon rich soil improver, and reuseable water, literally loaded with phosphates and nitrates.

Gas can be stored in bladder, after you've piped it through lime water, which reacts with the Co2 component to fix as a salt. A 44 gal drum all that's required along with routine water and lime renewal quarterly?

Methane is as safe as NG and one and the same thing essentially.

However, a house powering ceramic fuel cell, will run quite happily 24/7 and completely silently on scrubbed methane, where a flameless chemical process eliminates any unintended explosive outcomes.

Batteries have limitations, whereas energy can be stored as gas or in upland dams as pumped water, then run back down to turn the pump and the motor into a turbine and generator.

Some enterprising northers have created their own pelton hydro, powering everything 24/7. Also, a 2 metre high weir over a thirty metre span, enough to turn a tirty metre wide waterwheel, to power 20-30 off grid homes?

Thorium is interesting, with some scientists focused on miniaturization and walk away safe systems that cost as little as $10,000 and able to power around ten homes for 100 years with routine inspection triannually.

That's just $100.00 a year per household! And feared and hated by now cash strapped power companies the world over, given they could never ever compete, even subsidizes!
Cheers, Alan
Posted by Alan B., Sunday, 5 March 2017 11:41:05 AM
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Hi Hasbeen

As I'm not technical on battery hookups etc, moving to an isolated area with moderate climate seems a good idea.

Cheers

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Sunday, 5 March 2017 12:34:23 PM
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Hi Alan B.

Although I have reservations about Methane, tiny little Thorium reactors in every home, apartment and bakery across Australia sounds feasible and inexpensive.

Pete
Posted by plantagenet, Sunday, 5 March 2017 12:43:40 PM
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Pete. septic tanks produce methane and Co2, and as far as I know not illegal anywhere?

Digesters are used the world over, and a pig powered example on nearby Norfolk Island runs the farm. Also in england, where a council approved facility runs emergency generators for high rise towers.

The two tank system is Aussie innovation. And as far as I know, legal. And no more dangerous than NG, which by the way is also methane!

Which can also be catalytically converted to liquid methanol, which does burn with a clear colourless odourless flame.

At the end of the day, you could be killed by a silently dispatched and falling coconut, or a bunya pine cone. The latter large enough to pile drive you feet first into the ground.

Both of which can be found in warmer northern climes. And if your number is up you can be hit by a bus, a pine cone or asphyxiated by any one of a dozen gases, where the safety code and previsions are ignored!

We've been refining oil here in Australia for decades, where the tell tale flared methane is wasted over the world in millions of wasted tons. Minus any reported asphyxiation.

We use copious energy, to compress it into an incredibly volatile liquid, to ship it offshore up through the increasingly dangerous China Sea. Where one or two well placed RPG's could make a realy big bang, especially if followed by incendiaries/tracers.

As I understand it, sprinklers still operate even when a flame is odourless colourless. As do heat alarms. And essential if you want to include lithium batteries, some of which have apparently burst into flame, the consequence of overcharging?

A gas powered back generator is arguably an essential in the bush, even if only used to run the roof and other sprinklers, when ubiquitous bush fires threaten, and the best choice along with underground fuel storage, given gas alone doesn't sour with time.

Be careful around LPG as the vapor can asphyxiate, as can the unflued Co2, created in flueless LPG heaters used in unventilated rooms/houses.
Cheers, Alan.
Posted by Alan B., Sunday, 5 March 2017 1:43:53 PM
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