Thoughts on biofuel from a biofool

Authors: David South
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2009, Issue N.Z.J.For. 54(1) 2009, pp 44, May 2009
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: Sir, Since I own a truck that is fueled, in part, by wood, I enjoyed reading the February issue on “biofuels.” Although my 1987 Dodge Dakota truck gets about 5.3 km per kg of dry wood, the engine has about 30% less power when running on woodgas. Surprisingly, the km per joule ratio for woodgas is roughly the same as with petrol. I purchased the truck from Wayne Keith who, in my opinion, is a leader in the development of wood-fueled trucks. Wayne recently used woodgas to drive across the USA (over 9,000 km round trip) and his 1991 Dodge truck came in second in a race of non-petrol vehicles (www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn/bio-truck). Photos of Wayne and one of his earlier trucks are at (www. farmfoundation.org/news/articlefiles/950-waynekeithforweb. pdf).

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