Steve recently started a thread that says “Wood is the Freedom Fuel.”
I agree.
In that thread, there is some discussion of the fact that today’s cheap gas prices might be pushing some people away from woodgas technology and other alternative energy sources.
That may be true. However, I look at it as more of an opportunity to stockpile some fossil fuels at cheap prices. Like all Walmart shoppers, I like falling prices.
At some point in the future, I expect a deflation followed by a hyperinflation. Although my crack-pot economic theories are beyond the scope of this article, my point is that you might as well take advantage of cheap prices to convert your paper money into useful tangible assets when the opportunity comes up; It sure beats earning a quarter percent (or a negative quarter percent as in Japan, etc.) on your savings.
The Achilles heel of this strategy is that long term storage of refined fossil fuels is problematic.
However, various people report much longer term storage than normal. For example, the military drops some kind of chemical brick into their diesel tanks (and probably does some other stuff) to extend their shelf life up to 10 years or so, if I remember correctly.
Anyway, this thread is an invitation to share your knowledge and experiences with storing traditional fossil fuels (or other liquid fuels) for long periods of time.
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My favorite is propane. You can bury a thousand gallon tank today, and come back in a hundred years, it’ll be there waiting. I intend to to exactly that one of these days…
Today’s gasoline goes bad too quickly. Diesel is better, but watch out for water and bacteria/mold.
I say charcoal also fits this list. It’s not a liquid, but it will store for thousands of years, far surpassing wood. It’s a refined fuel, in that good quality charcoal is highly valuable for smokeless cooking and small engine running.
Yes, Charcoal does fit the “Long Term Storage” requirement. It is a bit bulky,but not heavy. I enjoyed the Charcoal history in Japan documentary video that Don M. just put up. I am beginning to think we need wood chunks and charcoal, with maybe small engines on charcoal and big engines on wood chunks. Stationary power plants on wood chunks. Pickup Trucks on wood chunks. Propane while we can get it.
Gasoline is qualified by it’s octane rating. Diesel fuel is qualified by it’s cetane rating. If you are going to store diesel fuel, you should make sure that you have an older diesel engine to run on it. The new ones are just too finicky. The rise of the fracking industry was propelled by the junk-bond market. Both are now failing. Chris is obviously correct about propane. I’m working on woodgas because the unfolding collapse is going to be one for the history books. It isn’t going to be short term. I have 3 diesel vehicles and one diesel tractor and a couple of diesel generators. I have a stack of drums filled with diesel fuel. I WANT WOODGAS.