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The Basics
How it works
History (and Future)
Biomass as Solar Energy
Pathways of Biomass Conversion
Workshops
The Mechabolic Hypothesis


The Science of Gasification
Four Core Processes
How a Match Burns
Product Gas/Char Variability
Biomass Fuel Variability
Terra Preta


Gasifier Types
4 Problems, 1000 Solutions
Updraft
Downdraft
Crossdraft
Fluidized Bed
Top Lit Updraft (TLUD)
Entrained Flow
Kalle
Mason


Demos and Experiments
Quadrafier (4 in 1)
Gas-can-o-fire
Cigifier
Toilet
GMC truck

How to Build a Gasifier
One Minute Designs
One Hour Designs
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One Weekend Designs
Design Your Own
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Other Designs Online

Full Gasifier Systems
What is Needed
Particulate Filtering
Coolers/Radiators
Carburetors
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Engine Modifications
Fuel Pre-processing

Technical Resources
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etc
etc
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Fuel from Waste Biomass:
Experiments in Pyrolysis, Gasification and Combustion

Gasification is the general term used for processes where heat is used to tranform solid biomass into a "natural gas like" flammable fuel. Through gasification, we can take nearly any solid biomass waste and convert it into a clean burning, carbon neutral, gaseous fuel. Whether starting with wood scraps or coffee grounds, municipal trash or junk tires, the end product is a flexible gaseous fuel you can burn in your gasoline engine, cooking stove, heating furnace and/or flamethrower. Apply a little additional effort and various liquid and solid fuels are possible too.

Sound impossible?

Well, over one million vehicles in Europe ran onboard gasifiers during WWII to make fuel from wood and charcoal, as gasoline and diesel were rationed and/or unavailable. Long before there was biodiesel and ethanol, we actually succeeded in a large-scale, alternative fuels redeployment. That redeployment was made possible by the gasification of waste biomass, using simple gasifiers about as complex as a traditional wood stove.

Gasifiers are easily reproduced (and improved) today by DIY enthusiasts, using simple hammer and wrench technology. The goal of this site is to show you how to do it.

But a small warning before you start. . .

Those who venture into the realms of pyrolysis, gasification and combustion, seldom re-emerge unscathered (if they ever re-emerge at all). For soon after the heat is applied, the LEGO box of organic chemistry always unwraps itself, and pieces start falling out all over the floor. Through we are given only three easy pieces with which to work, (carbon, hydrogen and oxygen), the potential "solutions" to the puzzle are near limitless. Most soon find themselves deep in wondering about the elegance of the carbon based energy system, as well as the many ways in which a gasifier can be designed to transact the puzzle pieces towards a multitude of desired end products.

May the reassembly be for you, as deeply revealing of the larger biological and energy systems around us, as it has been for me.