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Stovers:
1. I am really having a tough time
keeping up with the dialog right now - a lot of very good material coming
fast.
2. I am also (limiting to things that
have taken more than a few hours this last week; no order):
a) working on renewable
energy (especially Net Metering) legislation for Colorado,
c) fighting local developers who
are (illegally) stopping the application of solar water and PV;
d) trying to design my own new
proposed solar home
e) working on energy
efficiency/solar options for our church
f) helping to get a new
system started for energy education in the state and to implement new projects
using pollution penalties
g) helping organize a state-wide
energy conference next June
h) responding to a local think
tank that has decided to attack wind power.
I list these to apologize for not getting much into
recent list discussions - just that other topics have had to come first.
Anyone with funds is especially welcome to respond on this list.
3. There has been a lot of good material
recently on what Tom Reed calls the IDD - but that I prefer to call a
Charcoal-Making Stove. When I first made one about six years ago - after
many failures, the main excitement for me was that it did what I wanted - it
made charcoal. I still think this should be a major focus of this
list - and I don't see enough on that virtue. There have been some good
suggestions on how to burn charcoal in situ - but I urge everyone to remember
that ordinary charcoal making is very harmful to the
environment. (and charcoal making is obviously of little interest in
the US and similar countries.) I tend to agree with those who have been saying
that forced convection is too complicated and expensive for those places where
charcoal consumption is high - but hope we don't drop that subject. I am still
hoping that either wound-up springs or falling weights will be able to work -
and haven't seen them on the list of options recently.
4. Today, Harmon Seaver sent in a
suggestion to look at the site
http://journeytoforever.org/at_woodfire.html
I hadn't been there recently and found a lot of what is either new and valuable
or I missed it earlier. It is operated by regular "stoves" list
contributor Keith Addison.
a) Harmon - you are doing
a great job getting us to good new information - please keep it up.
b) Keith - Your site is
great - please update us on your organization's present status and future
plans. And please keep sending in your observations on stoves. You
obviously are well versed.
5. One of the first items at Keith's site was
: http://www.rwedp.org/fd44.html This is a
lengthy report by Professor Sharma at Punjab University. I have only
skimmed it, but it looks like an excellent review of the world of
stoves. However, I am missing masses of Greek symbols because the original
was in Word Perfect. Any recommendations from anyone on how to retrieve
these? For those with a technical bent, I think this might be quite a good
overview-lots of equations. Can anyone report on how it has been received
elsewhere? (From 1993, so there will be nothing on charcoal-making stoves,
etc)
Since we have had so much
discussion recently on camping stoves I stayed for awhile at this site - which
deals only with liquid and gaseous fuel type camping stoves (more than 200
shown). I have these observations:
a) The only data was for
time to reach a boil for one liter (as low as about 3 minutes) [For others
skilled in camp stoves - doesn't this community care about the amount of fuel
needed to achieve a boil?].
b) None of the stoves seemed to
employ the "sleeve" that we have talked about for improving efficiency (and
presumably speed).
Any idea why insulating sleeves would not have
found there way to this market?
c) I have written to Shioshio (a
Physician doing this as a hobby) - but not yet heard back
7. I have recently finished reading a book on
large ceramic wood-burning stoves and will report soon. A few lessons for
stoves.
Regards Ron
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