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Date Posted: 21:27:15 03/09/09 Mon
Author: SFO Mike
Subject: Re: biofuel substitutes
In reply to: Ari 's message, "Re: biofuel substitutes" on 10:09:54 03/06/09 Fri

Wood vs kerosene for fuel

It seems like kerosene may be a better fuel to carry than wood. Though wood can be free, it may be difficult to carry enough wood for long term use.

The energy density of kerosene is 46.3 MJ/Kg as compared to wood which is 15.5 MJ/Kg.
http://hypertextbook.com/physics/matter/energy-chemical/

Kerosene density is 810 Kg/m^3
http://hypertextbook.com/physics/matter/density/


Wood density is 600-900 Kg/m^3
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/ShirleyLam.shtml

So comparing energy to volume, 1m^3
Kerosene 46.3 Mj/Kg * 810 Kg/m^3 = 37,503 Mj/m^3
Wood 15.5 Mj/Kg * 600-900 Kg/m^3 = 9,300-13,950 Mj/m^3

Kerosene is 2 1/2 to 4 times more energy dense than wood per cubic meter.

The Pardey's use kerosene on their boat. They say 1/4 pint will burn for 30 hours in their anchor light. They also say that 8 gallons of kerosene will last them for 8 months for all of their lighting needs(The Self Sufficient Sailor). Besides that you can kerosene for heating and cooking.

And if you didn't want to use petro-chemicals, we could always take up whaling again!

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