The Lawn-boy's 2-cycle engine is a mostly marvelously simple, low maintenance machine. You get a power stroke every other stroke instead of one in every every stroke for a four-stroke engine. Dump a small can of 2-cycle oil in the gas and you never have to worry about oil changes. They even put stabilizer in the mix so that winterization is automatic for the forgetful. However, by nature of burning oil in the gas creates more pollution than a 4 stoke engine and the 2-cycle has been phased out of the lawn mower market in the US. Shame on me... but it was free!

My first experience with an electric lawn mower was when I was a kid. A neighbor lady in a house dress had this orange Black & Decker. I stood mesmerized waiting for her to mow over the cord, just waiting for the explosive lawn show. It never happened.

Posted in All posts from the start Electric Innovation

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I was stretched out on my deck tonight gazing at the sky while a storm rolled in.
I came to the conclusion that only the sun and the rain, as long as they fall above my property, are free. What comes from the sky above my head cannot be taxed nor can it be repackaged, marketed and sold back to me at compounded profit and then taxed.

Harnessing these things in my backyard, I could take control of my increasingly squeezed and controlled by corporate entity - life.

The secret is in the invention, not buying the product.

I am going to build a rain collection system to water my garden. I can tell you right now that it will probably take 40 years to pay for the parts since water is pretty cheap, but it will be an exercise in securing freedom and independence. A working sculpture of hope for my future.

Posted in All posts from the start Innovation Oil Machine/politics Solar Water Power Wind Power

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Once upon a time, the philosophy behind letting a diesel engine idle was that it did more wear and tear on the engine and the fuel cost was marginal. Plus, long haul drivers sleep and relax in their trucks so it becomes a home away from home that needs power and climate control for a good night sleep.

Local New Oxford blogger (youngtrucker.blogspot.com) reminds fellow drivers to use an auxiliary power unit (APU). The small motor generator combination powers the mobile home of a driver while greatly reducing fuel cost by not running the large engine.

Each year, U.S. Trucks consume more than 1 billion gallons of diesel fuel without even moving. More specifically, the University of California, Davis estimates that each year the average truck consumes approximately 1,818 gallons of diesel fuel while idling. Under this assumption, those calculations result in over $6,000 in fuel costs at a national average of $3.00/ gallon per truck, per year. peakpowertools.com

And that was last week the current average price for road diesel in the US is $4.15 (5/5/08) That is an increase of $1.36 in the past year. In York County, $4.29 is about the lowest price today for a gallon of diesel.

Posted in All posts from the start Diesel Innovation MPG

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The concept of a fuel cell for fueling cars and small electronics is just waiting to come of age.

Sony has combined a Lithium-polymer battery with a new hybrid fuel cell. The methanol powered fuel cell also recharges a battery during operation allowing the 1.2-inch by 2.0-inch power pack device to shed off excess power to the battery and power on after the fuel source has been depleted. intomobile.com

Posted in All posts from the start Innovation

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Hyundai Motor Co. said it will enter the hybrid market in 2010.

Hyundai is expected to begin its first mass production with the compact-sized LPG model, the Avante, or Elantra Liquefied Petroleum Injection hybrid (UPI)

LPG or Liquefied Petroleum Gas is the same stuff that is bottled for stoves. It is manufactured during oil refining process or as a gas stream from the ground. It is a vapor at room temperature and therefore is stored as a compressed liquid. The storage ratio is about 250:1 so it offers a more efficient storage profile than compressed natural gas (CNG). It burns more cleanly and is non-toxic as compared to gasoline.

it may run at a higher fuel consumption than gasoline, because it has a lower energy density, but because of the tax structure of gasoline it may be more competitive.

Though not common for use in cars LPG is available in most communities and has an entrenched infrastructure nationally. It's an interesting niche innovation to spread out energy demand among resources and reduce demand on oil.

Posted in All posts from the start Hybrid Innovation

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I was working on a post tonight for my village website emigsville.org. Just a simple add to a recipe series. The author of the recipe remembered parents and teachers building a Victory Garden at the old Roundtown school in Manchester Township during WWII.

The idea of a Victory Garden was a government sponsored idea to help support the food supply during a time of intense wartime demand and empower communities to feel rewarded for their war effort during WWII. A simple concept that built a community and increased supply of food.

Corn ethanol, a government/tax endorsed plan - this time to wean us from foreign oil, stretches the food supply and drives up prices isolating the public and giving them less control over their destiny.

It is a curious evolution, whether of human nature, community or the role of government, that empowerment of communities and individuals goes largely untapped with this latest struggle. The price of fuel may bring new innovation.

Posted in All posts from the start Ethanol Innovation

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Hot water for your house typically is heated in a hot water tank or a coil that transfers the heat from your boiler. However, in many parts of the world tank-less water heaters have been the choice for decades because natural gas is expensive.

The design of the typical tank home water heater isn't very efficient. A tall tank filled with water is kept hot by a burner below. The flue gas and heat rise up through the center of the tank and exit the chimney. Since you have to keep about 40 gallons hot all the time, the burner fires even when yur not home. That flue that carries gas out also carries your heat out when the burner is shut off, while you are at work. You may take a shower in the morning and not use hot water for 12 hours, but that tank is kept at the ready keeping your chimney nice and cozy.

Tank-less water heaters fire only when needed. Water enters the heat exchanger and is heated instantaneously. A modern, computer controlled unit meters the flame to match the water flow, some units approach 95% efficiency. Units can be ganged together, their computers networked, for large houses so that they fire in sequence to exactly meet demand and use only the gas that is needed instantaneously.

Tank-less water heaters are most efficient over tanks in houses where hot water isn't used much, because of the "standing loss" of traditional hot water tank systems.

Posted in All posts from the start Environment Innovation

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Ben Caire, vice president of engineering for United Biofuel, Inc. in Manchester Township , referred to algae-derived biodiesel fuel as the holy grail for bio-fuel producers during a panel discussion tonight at Martin Library.

Could the answer be in a place we didn't think to look...Algae is the original oil producer on planet earth... Algae can double it's mass every few hours...The process compresses a 150 million year process into 3 days, states this video from the algae-derived biodiesel fuel company Solazyme

Successful powering a factory-standard automobile for long distances under typical driving conditions has been completed. The car and fuel will make their public debuts at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

More information.
prnewswire.com

Posted in All posts from the start Biodiesel Innovation

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The success of Plug-in hybrids hinge on the development of lithium-ion batteries. Some interesting inventions that will make your cell phone battery ready to drive your car. Differences in chemistry and structure will depend on application.

The most promising electrode chemical makeups, then, involve nano-engineered materials like phosphates of iron, lithium-titanate spinel and, most recently, bundles of silicon nanowires. Making an electrode out of these tiny particles increases the available surface area for the ions to bond to and exchange electrons, avoiding a bottleneck that used to result in deformation (and diminished effectiveness) of traditional materials like graphite.

Posted in All posts from the start Electric Hybrid Innovation

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Researchers from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia have developed a device worn much like a knee brace that generates electricity from the natural motion of walking.

The device harvests energy from the end of a walker’s step, when the muscles are working to slow the movement of the leg, in much the same way that hybrid-electric cars recycle power from braking.

Wearing a device on each leg, an individual can generate up to five watts of electricity with little additional physical effort. Walking more quickly generates as much as 13 watts of electricity: at that rate, one minute of walking provides enough electricity to sustain 30 minutes of talk time on a mobile phone.

There is about as much useful energy in a 35-gram granola bar as in a 3.5 kg lithium-ion battery." sfu.ca

images at news.com

Posted in All posts from the start Human Power Innovation

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