Wood gasification

I started this page to promote interest and encourage sharing of knowledge of "Wood Gasification".

During World War Two, due to fuel shortages caused by the war effort, over one million vehicles in Europe were powered by wood gasification. When I was a child my dad took me in a 4 wheel drive jeep to an abandoned gold mine in the sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California. There was a diesel engine that operated a rock crusher, I said they had to haul diesel fuel a long way, he said no they burned wood. He then pointed to the wood furnace that was also still there and explained how the process worked and how the wood gas was supplied to the engine. I remember also watching a World War Two movie which had refugees escaping in a school bus powered by a gasifier on the top of the bus which was powered by burning coconut shells.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designed a working model available in pdf to use in case of emergency by average handymen with readily available resources. Many youtube videos are also available.

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