What's wine making got to do with electricity?, page
Pages:
ATS Members have flagged this thread 0 times
Topic started on 17-10-2006 @ 12:29 AM by cybertroy
So here we are scratching our heads on how to create power. Here is an idea that might work, and it's just one possibility, of course.

So, I'm trying my luck with making wine lately. My first batch is underway. The yeast is busily at work as I speak, bubbling out carbon dioxide and making alcohol. So, I've been doing my reading on wine making, and I've read about how pressure can build in a fermenting bottle, so much so that it can explode. And I read that you would create a lot of carbon dioxide if you provided your yeast with plenty of oxygen, but you might not get much alcohol. Ok, so it finally hits me with all this talk of pressure, carbon dioxide, and stuff, so I start thinking about cars that can run on compressed air. Ok, so you have enough pressure to create a "bomb" with all this carbon dioxide, so why couldn't you use this pressure drive an engine or a turbine or something?

We'll call it the "nature engine." Yeast needs sugar to ferment and/or release carbon dioxide. Ok, so we slap some sugary material in a container that can handle lots of pressure, throw in some yeast, maybe some water if needed, have a way to enter some oxygen into the mix, then bam, we have a pressurized CO2, which can drive things when the pressure is released and used. As far as CO2, we'll have a bunch of trees planted around the area, that will just love the extra CO2, and the trees can also provide at least some of the fuel for the engine(s) by means of bearing fruit. For electricity purposes those engines could just as easily be generators. Maybe we need many smaller generators for this to work. The left over pulp from the process gets recycled back into the earth for use as fertilizer for the trees.

We've used pressurized steam before with fire, but this seems very containable, unlike fire. Simple utilization of solar warming and/or having the "power plant" underground could help insulate and keep yeast at their best temperature for doing their jobs in different climates.

The cool thing about yeast, is that they can be taken from a one batch of wine to start a new batch of wine. And a yeast packet may not even be necessary to start the process, but I think it does help to kick it off.

The idea is kind of raw, and the concepts are kind of rolling around in my mind. A quick growing source of sugar would be good too.

Troy


reply posted on 30-10-2006 @ 01:11 AM by cybertroy
I have some mead bubbling now. I guess you could say mead is wine made from honey. Seems like there is some kind of energy potrntial here. It's been bubbling for two days now, and there is still a lot of honey in the bottom of the gallon container. I guess there is about a quart in the bottom.

Basically I have this balloon over the top of a gallon jug, with pin holes in it, to release the carbon dioxide. I have maybe a cup of sugar, some water, and about a quart of honey in the jug. I dumped in some yeast to kick it off. That balloon has sat there inflated for two days. I think it will be bubbling for quite a while now. Yes folks this is proof we have other forms of energy at our disposal. If this energy could blow up a container, then it could be released periodically and used. All the yeast asks is that it be warm enough to do their jobs. Some of the answers we seek might be right in nature itself. This may not be the perfect solution, but I think it points to options, which some folks would rather us not discover.

Think about these little tanks sitting there, bubbling, releasing energy and turning little generators and charging our electric cars, even on a cloudy day. Or helping to charge our batteries for our electric homes. Similarly to the previous example, no sun is needed for the yeast to do their job. All the while, your house plants are soaking up some extra CO2.

I guess the point is that I don't believe we are trapped by oil companies for energy. We could flip them the bird and find another form of energy to use, and it surely does exist. I think we could produce the energy we desire without belching nasty exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. You know the gas prices are just going to go back up.

Troy
Pages:     ^^TOP^^