GAS-L: Re: Pellet stove and Pelletizing Switch Grass

["*.English" <english@adan.kingston.net>]

Dear Tom,
The stove you mention below  is not quite a "conventional" pellet 
burner. Aside from being clean burning and efficient, it has been 
designed to handle high ash pellets as well as the regular pellets. 
That's what  makes it even more  unique and relevant. 

It ties in with the recent conference in Pune on Biomass -based 
Fuels and Cooking Systems and the recent discussion about carbonizing 
bagasse and and other crop residues. Both the Appropriate Rural 
Technology Institute in India and  the Resource Efficient Agriculture 
Production Canada seek to bring new profitable opportunities to 
farmers in an effort to sustainably revitalized rural economies.  
REAP's new initiative in conjuction with DELL-POINT Bioenergy 
Research in Canada,  has also extended to looking at possible 
applications for pelletizing crop residues in the tropics (In this 
case the Philippines). It is clear from Elsen and co  at Chardust and 
from talking to the Karve's at ARTI that they consider these options 
expensive both in term of energy and capital. They both realize the 
enormous unused potential that is often going to waste when residues 
are burned in the field or harmfully for cooking and have developed
practical low tech ways of capturing some of that potential as 
charcoal. They  are looking at wroughly a 10% net energy yield for 
cooking fuel uses  while reducing pollution  when compared to field 
burning and tradition kiln methods and also reducing  pressure on 
wood resources. If REAP is right the 7% energy invested in pelleting 
could possibly double the net energy yield for cooking not to mention 
all the other higher efficiency applications which start to become 
possible when biomass is burned almost  as effectively as fossil 
fuels. 

I grant you that not all the pieces are in place in terms of 
appropriate technologies, but I know your working on it, and so am I 
for what it is worth.  I look forward to REAP's further exploration 
of the economies of pelleting and I hope that the folks at Chardust 
and ARTI will have a look at REAP's work and comment.
See www.reap.ca 

If all previous attempts have failed, why? and what might be 
different now?

One possible  difference is that if you could market to 
replace the now higher priced fossil fuels within the small 
commercial sector and then  the new fuels and technologies may spin 
off down to cooking stoves as the local economy starts to benefit 
from being it's own energy supplier.  Remember the man who builds the 
improved stoves in Pune, he installed one in his tea shop first, soon 
 the customers wanted more than just tea.

Alex English







> Dear All:
> 
> With gas prices doubling, you may be interested in a new Canadian pellet 
> stove/water heater (120,000 Btu/hr) at 
> 
> www.dell-point/1/1/*http://www.pelletstove.com
> 
> It is MUCH more efficient than the current models because it provides the 
> correct air/fuel ratio for combustion, rather than vast excess of air.  
> 
> It's called a Gas-a-Fire, but seems to be a more conventional pellet burner.  
> 
> With natural gas approaching $10/MBtu and pellets at $3 (by the ton), it may 
> justify its $2,000 cost.  
> 
> TOM REED
> 
> 
> Of course it isn't nearly as nice as our gasifier stoves....
> 
> TOM REED    
> 
> 
> Dr. Thomas B. Reed
> President - The Biomass Energy Foundation
> 1810 Smith Rd., Golden, CO 80401
> Reedtb2@cs.com;  303 278 0558;  www.woodgas.com
> 
> Research Director,
> The Community Power Corporation,
> 8420 S. Continental Divide Rd., Suite 100
> Littleton, CO 80127
> 303 933 3135;  treed@gocpc.com;  www.gocpc.com
> 
> Dr. Thomas B. Reed
> President - The Biomass Energy Foundation
> 1810 Smith Rd., Golden, CO 80401
> Reedtb2@cs.com;  303 278 0558;  www.woodgas.com
> 
> Research Director,
> The Community Power Corporation,
> 8420 S. Continental Divide Rd., Suite 100
> Littleton, CO 80127
> 303 933 3135;  treed@gocpc.com;  www.gocpc.com
> 
> 

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