Why Don’t We Heat Our Homes With Banana Peels And Coffee Grounds?

(HIT) - Remember watching the popular movie Back to the Future in 1985? While Marty McFly struggled to find the fuel necessary to power his De Lorean time machine, the nutty scientist used a banana peel and other garbage to power a car from the distant future. With gas prices going through the roof, who doesn’t long for a car that runs off of anything other than gas? But how feasible is alternative/renewable energy today?

	MagnuM Baby Countryside Gold Accessories

Though it might be a while before the family ford is running off of empty cereal boxes and junk mail, people are already using alternative/renewable energy to heat their homes. Stoves, furnaces and fireplace inserts like the MagnuM Baby Countryside can already burn biomass and agri-fuels like corn, wood pellets, wheat, cherry pits and switch grass.

A great deal of research is going into the practicality of burning dried algae and farming by-products. Certain garbage such as waste paper, diaper clippings and cardboard is already being compressed into pellets and burned as fuel. But will there ever be a stove where you can scrape your dinner plates into or dump your newspaper before you run out the door in the morning?

You can go to the company that manufactured the first certified biomass burning stove 35 years ago for the answer. "Unlikely." says Rick Baron, Design Engineer for American Energy Systems Inc. "There are 2 forces working against burning household garbage: the moisture content of a fuel and the emissions it gives off."

"Most household waste is too wet and not dense enough to burn efficiently. The more moisture in the fuel, the more heat wasted evaporating it. And a pop-tart box isn’t going to burn very long. You would need a tremendous volume of garbage to generate the amount of heat that a hopper full of wood pellets generates."

"And of course most papers and packaging have printing inks and chemicals that emit harmful gases when burned." Rick points out. "The EPA is getting more strict on emission levels, not less. American Energy Systems already spends a great deal of time perfecting our units to meet these requirements. "

Cory Novotny, who does technical support for American Energy Systems has a 3rd reason for not burning garbage. "Size and consistency of the fuel is an issue. An auger can easily feed corn, wood pellets or other biomass fuels into a firepot without jamming. Cooked carrots and Pringles® cans don’t slide down a hopper very well" he says. "Not only does "dirtier" fuel generate more ash, but plastic scraps and metal that find their way into the appliance will plug the holes and jam the auger. Wet fuels (like bananas) can rust out the venting or even the unit over time."

A more realistic direction for alternative/renewable fuels in the future is specialty processed fuel like prairie grass and farm produced algae. "There’s a reason corn is burned in the Midwest; wood pellets on the east and west coast; and wheat up in Canada. Those fuel supplies are readily available and renewable" points out Cory. "But if bananas and coffee do become a practical fuel supply, you can bet American Energy Systems will have the first stove that burns them to heat your home."

For more information on practical alternative/renewable energy home heating appliances, visit www.magnumheat.com or the Hearth, Patio, Barbecue Association at www.hpba.org.

About American Energy Systems, Inc.:

In 1973, from a small town in South Dakota, Mike Haefner began American Energy Systems Inc. with the simple goal of providing a safe source of home heating for his customers. 35 years later, his mission remains the same, and American Energy Systems Inc.'s MagnuM and Country Flame lines remain leaders in the alternative energy home heating industry.

American Energy Systems Inc. has grown to 18 MagnuM models and 13 Country Flame models of stoves, furnaces, fireplaces and fireplace inserts sold through a global network of dealers. For more information, go to www.magnumheat.com and www.countryflame.com.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center