Noob EMP question

[E5RANGER375]

The Problem is Most People do not know how to Think their ways out of problems anymore...

I can walk out to my Garage right now, shoot I could probably walk into anyone's Garage, and within in an hour probably have built a working Generator. It would not be as good as Honda Unit, it would make Power though. But if I am Building something like that in my Garage it is because I need to...

I can have Fuel brewing within about 2 weeks...

People have to re-learn thinking...

bada bing! listen to this guy folks!

 

[BigMatt]

There is no question that you can brew your own fuel and make a generator. Alcohol won't be really viable as a fuel if we are growing food to live on. Don't think you are going to grow a huge surplus of crops for alcohol if you don't have equipment.

If you think you are going to brew enough alcohol to make your daily commute or power your house, you are sorely mistaken.

Most of us on this forum can build equipment that will make energy to light a light bulb, but when it comes to hand farming enough grain to brew enough alcohol to run your car for any meaningful distance, that is another story.

Also, gasoline doesn't store indefinitely.

 

[shibumiseeker]

There is no question that you can brew your own fuel and make a generator. Alcohol won't be really viable as a fuel if we are growing food to live on. Don't think you are going to grow a huge surplus of crops for alcohol if you don't have equipment.

If you think you are going to brew enough alcohol to make your daily commute or power your house, you are sorely mistaken.

Most of us on this forum can build equipment that will make energy to light a light bulb, but when it comes to hand farming enough grain to brew alcohol, that is another story.

Also, gasoline doesn't store indefinitely.

Gasoline doesn't store indefinitely, but it does store for several years under the right conditions (I've done 2 with no degradation).

You are right regarding what it takes to make ethanol from grain.

Right now I am burning about 300 gallons of gasoline a year for my generator to supplement my solar panels for my off-grid home. In a long term disaster scenario I could cut that in half.

I was getting about 2 gallons of 95% ethanol from a bushel of corn. Even with my most efficient distillation setup I'd need about 10% of that energy to distill it to 95%, though that fuel source could be wood.

Takes a whole lot of effort to grow 75 bushels of corn.

Me, I have almost enough gasoline stored to last the life of my generators, but realistically speaking my power will be coming from my solar panels. Learning to live on a much smaller amount of energy than most people do now is not that hard, it's just that electricity is cheap enough most folks won't bother. I'm going to be using my stored fuels for the tractor, and other power equipment, not for making electricity.

 

[jeremy]

There is no question that you can brew your own fuel and make a generator. Alcohol won't be really viable as a fuel if we are growing food to live on. Don't think you are going to grow a huge surplus of crops for alcohol if you don't have equipment.

If you think you are going to brew enough alcohol to make your daily commute or power your house, you are sorely mistaken.

Most of us on this forum can build equipment that will make energy to light a light bulb, but when it comes to hand farming enough grain to brew alcohol, that is another story.

Also, gasoline doesn't store indefinitely.

I bet on 6 Acres Farmed by hand I can raise enough Grains to produce a pretty fair quantity of Alcohol and still produce more food than A couple of Families are able to use and store. Enough, if used judiciously, would allow me to raise even more grain in following years on more acres...

Not saying I am going to live as comfortably as I am right now. But I bet I will still be using my Hydraulic Wood Splitter, and chainsaws until they wear out...

The mind is the best resource we have but so many People have chosen to ignore using it...

 

[shibumiseeker]

The mind is the best resource we have but so many People have chosen to ignore using it...

Training and education are the two most valuable resources that also happen to be the cheapest and easiest.

 

[BigMatt]

A chansaw would be my main thought for home-brewing fuel. I can split wood, I can walk quite a ways, I can build a fire for heat and light, but hand-sawing a tree doesn't look like any fun at all.

 

[shibumiseeker]

A chansaw would be my main thought for home-brewing fuel. I can split wood, I can walk quite a ways, I can build a fire for heat and light, but hand-sawing a tree doesn't look like any fun at all.

It's not bad. A good cross-cut saw works wonders. I once, just to see what it takes, cut an entire cord of firewood (a stack 4'x4'x8') composed of 16" lengths.

It took me a weekend. I used a bow saw. Biggest thing I cut was about 8" diameter.

 

[ATOMonkey]

There are better things to grow if you just want to make hooch, that won't affect your food supply.

Switchgrass, sugarbeets, sorghum, fruit trees, just to name a few that will grow in our climate.

Most fruits will naturally ferment just because of the bacteria and yeast provided by nature.

After that you can set up a solar distillation process and make your rum off the runoff.

Corn is not ideal, because you have to heat the mash, and of course, that is going to consume a good amount of energy.

 

[grimor]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0odJKYTzXg8]YouTube - EMP Pt 2[/ame]

 

[shibumiseeker]

Wow, that video has convinced me. Especially with the ominous music and the rather misleading changes of subjects...

An EMP that can take out your car's electronics is a completely different beast than a High Altitude EMP weapon, which will primarily affect power transmission systems and radio networks that rely on large antenna arrays but leave most personal electronics not connected to large antennas, alone. But the video leaves us with the impression that such a weapon could be the size of a beer can...

Directed energy weapons that could produce the effects like the video portrayed from the testing lab are much smaller scale weapons. There's also videos you can search around for where they drive different modern cars through the same facility and the car dies but can be restarted. Of course, that wouldn't fit the ominous theme...

 

[jeremy]

YouTube - EMP Pt 2

Ahhh....
WSMR!
Great place to have fun, if you can be cool to the right People...
By the way the Army paid me to go and play with Vehicles under that device. And once again I find another Former SEAL that is full of crap...

P.S. A Camera will die only if you are Directly under the sphere they showed...

Wow, that video has convinced me. Especially with the ominous music and the rather misleading changes of subjects...

An EMP that can take out your car's electronics is a completely different beast than a High Altitude EMP weapon, which will primarily affect power transmission systems and radio networks that rely on large antenna arrays but leave most personal electronics not connected to large antennas, alone. But the video leaves us with the impression that such a weapon could be the size of a beer can...

Directed energy weapons that could produce the effects like the video portrayed from the testing lab are much smaller scale weapons. There's also videos you can search around for where they drive different modern cars through the same facility and the car dies but can be restarted. Of course, that wouldn't fit the ominous theme...

If you notice the Car has Current Plates on it. Would you like to bet it is owned and driven by the operators of the Lab?!

 

[ThrottleJockey]

My primary use for ethanol would be to power my roto tiller and perhaps a home grown genny when needed, however one could also make methanol/wood alcohol without shorting the food supply. Just don't try to drink it unless you want formaldehyde instead of the blood our bodies are used to. If such a condition existed I doubt any of us would be making any daily commutes to begin with. My primary use for my 4X4 would likely be just pulling firewood. Yup, I'm old school with a touch of modern tech. A country boy can survive and THIS one WILL.

 

[griegeba]

It would depend on closeness of proximity to the cause.

 

[ATOMonkey]

My primary use for ethanol would be to power my roto tiller and perhaps a home grown genny when needed, however one could also make methanol/wood alcohol without shorting the food supply. Just don't try to drink it unless you want formaldehyde instead of the blood our bodies are used to. If such a condition existed I doubt any of us would be making any daily commutes to begin with. My primary use for my 4X4 would likely be just pulling firewood. Yup, I'm old school with a touch of modern tech. A country boy can survive and THIS one WILL.

I was reading up on methanol production, and you have to burn A LOT of stuff to make methanol. It's a very heat intensive process.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I was reading up on methanol production, and you have to burn A LOT of stuff to make methanol. It's a very heat intensive process.

But wood is free and my engines wont run on wood......I get what you're saying though....

 

[jeremy]

But wood is free and my engines wont run on wood......I get what you're saying though....

You could always build a boiler and convert them over to steamers...

 

[CVMA544]

Well I guess my electric (or the additional fuel to run generators) needs would have to be bartered for.

I have fuel and genny for the home and shop, but for shop use it will be barter method. You see I have a home machine shop, lathe, mill, TIG, MIG, etc.

SO I guess you need something fixed, bring some supplies, gas, material, etc, and I will do the work in trade.

Hard to imagine an absolute shut down for a prolonged time, so many things to plan and prep for so little money.

WATER, thats the thing I worry about most.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I'm not too worried about water here in Indiana. You can't go 100 feet without hitting a creek, river, or pond. After that, it's just a matter of processing the water.

You can also dig down about 30 feet and hit water anywhere in the state.

 

[ATOMonkey]

You could always build a boiler and convert them over to steamers...

That's what I'm thinking.

Subi says steamers take a lot of work to keep them running, but it can't be that much more work than refining fuel from AG products.