I think about this so often that I forget what I've documented where. I know I mentioned this topic in the project details, but I'd like to go into further detail on a very important topic. When I tell people that I will be able to produce my own fuel for a vehicle I get some really obnoxious responses. People that pretend they're interested but have lost all respect for me and are failing to hide that fact. I'm not sure what they think I'll be doing, but most people are rather unimaginative so I suspect they think I'll be drilling for oil and refining it to run in modern cars. I've tried to be kind to "normal" people, but I'm sick of their ignorance and arrogance. The people that write me off as crazy don't know anything about their car other than what type of fuel it takes and who to call when it breaks. As a tow truck driver I spent countless hour helping clueless people with their cars. Pardon my negativity here, but I'm quite sick of the judgement. These people that think I'm insane have no idea that many vehicles were run off wood gas during World War 2 when there was a massive fuel shortage. I bet most people have never heard of it. You can burn wood in a special way to where it creates a flammable gas that will run internal combustion engines. You can literally run a car on fire wood. It's old technology that's had modern technology applied to it recently. It may not run a modern computer controlled engine very well, or small engines very well, but I have neither. My truck is a carbureted 1983 Chevy C10 with a decent sized 250 cubic inch straight six engine. The bed has plenty of room for fire wood and a large wood gasifier. I can convert the engine to wood gas by literally just pumping the gas into the air intake on the carb and controlling airflow to the engine. When everything else fails, or I just don't want to use gasoline anymore, I'll be able to fuel my truck with wood scraps and logs. I'll be able to produce my own fuel. Same goes for running a gas engine on wood gas for generating electricity. I'll be able to convert wood into power to charge a large battery bank. That alone would make my power and transportation sustainable. 

Aside from wood gas, there is also biogas. Just like wood gas, biogas will run gasoline engines. To produce it requires breaking down organic matter under water and capturing the flammable gas that comes out. Many people fill large air mattresses with biogas and compress it into propane tanks for storage and use. If I convert the truck to run on propane, I could run it on biogas. I'd have biogas, wood gas, and gasoline as fuel sources for this truck, making it a multi fuel sustainable vehicle. Replacing the two 20 gallon gas tanks on the truck with large propane tanks would make it easy to fuel the truck on biogas and hide the fact from others. Adding a massive alternator or two onto the engine would let me generate significant amounts of electricity from fuel I make myself. The engine in it is known for being used as a stationary power source on farms. They run for decade straight with nothing but maintenance and fuel. 

Another sustainable fuel option is of course electricity. Chevrolet has talked of releasing a drop in electric conversion kit for their vehicles that would boot right onto my truck and give me an electric truck. This is a great option, but charging such a massive 62KWh battery would take an immense amount of power. I could pull the old engine out and use it to generate electricity from biogas or wood gas to charge the truck or other electric vehicles. 

An even more interesting option is steam power. Though seen as entirely outdated, steam is quite sustainable and powerful. It may not be too efficient, but in an emergency, a steam engine would run when nothing else would. A good steam engine is very complicated and requires expert design and construction. Far beyond what I could manage. If I ever come across a good steam engine and have the budget for it, I'll pick one up. If just burning wood to make steam, much of the heat would be wasted. It may be possible to generate steam with the waste heat generates from a wood gasifier. The gasifier would make fuel gas for storage or immediate use, and the excess heat would go to things like heating water and running a steam engine that generates electricity or runs heavy machinery. 

Those are the sustainable fuel options that would be within reach of most crafty people. There is one more that would be I credibly difficult to produce, but that will likely be available for quite a long time: diesel. I suspect that gasoline will be long gone before diesel. Diesel runs the entire world's heavy industry, and there is currently no good replacement for it. Refining one's own diesel is not practical as far as I'm aware, but it should be for sale for a very long time still. Small diesel engines are excellent power sources and can be cheaper to run that gasoline. The diesel tow truck I drove went further per dollar of fuel than any gasoline pickup truck is ever seen. Massive truck with a massive diesel engine, hauling other large trucks. I'd put about $70 in it and be able to go a few hundred miles quite easily. Maybe even 500 or more. The fact that diesel engines will run on used vegetable oil also makes them very sustainable. As terrible fried foods are for the body, the waste oil can be used to offset fossil fuels and fuel costs. I suspect many places pay to have the oil hauled off and would happily give it to you if it saves them money. It would be as simple as buying quite a few of those large plastic liquid storage tubs and just stashing oil. Filtered and warmed, it will run a diesel engine in a vehicle, tractor, or stationary generator. When biodiesel becomes more common,the switch could be made there as well. I have a 5KW diesel heater on its way to heat my camper. I chose it for the same reasons mentioned above. When all other fuel spruces are gone, diesel is likely to be available, or have an alternative I can run. 

I almost forgot about this one, but it has its place as well: animal power. A human on a bicycle can get quite far. A horse even keep so. A good strong work horse, like a Shire, can do the work of many humans and feed itself fairly easily. They're fuel is very sustainable and they can love long service lives and reproduce. Here in Ohio we have many Amish. They still use horses and get around just fine. I'm often surprised at how fast those horses can pull the buggies. The Amish are part of what has inspired me over the years with their simple and effective ways. They ride bicycles constantly as well. Many have very nice electric bicycles. They'll ride dozens of miles every day and are much healthier for it. An ebike can be nearly as effective as a car, especially for short trips. Being able to charge them overnight or when not in use makes them very useful. When it comes to leg power, the cheat, but they have their place. 

I feel I've covered all the basic locomotive methods I've been researching over the past few years. There are some oddball ideas like compressed air and hydrogen fuel cells, but neither seem practical to me at this time. I have seen an entire Amish workshop run on compressed air generated from windmills, but they have massive stationary air tanks Thomas wouldn't fit onto a normal vehicle. I hope you've enjoyed this read and that it's got you thinking of the various ways we could make our own fuel and energy in a natural and sustainable way. 0