Turning Grass into Gasoline: Green Fuel Revolution

[@Randomdude-i8x]

I know of a self moving bioreactor that automatically mows your lawn, ferments the gras, is powered by the grass, fertilizes it and if you let it, even self replicates. It's a cow. Or a goat. Or a sheep.

[@charon3707]

Also drops a huge amount of chocolate

[@Tibbs_Farm]

@@charon3707 from what I hear, the chocolate tastes like S***

[@josh_1518]

@@Tibbs_Farm can confirm, at least a friend said anyway

[@rallekralle11]

sheep! they don't eat the grass to the roots, you get fertiliser, wool and maybe milk. it's perfect

[@cha2117]

feeds you for a year protecting against inflation prices if you freeze and butcher it. you will also appreciate an animal died to feed you.

[@liv7680]

Dude, convert the lawn mower to a steam engine, turn the grass into pellets and burn them to power the mower. Will be cheaper than making ethanol and you dont need to handle chemicals. The downside you will create a lot of smoke, but hanging some meat on the exhaust will smoke it for free

[@chargermopar]

@@alzoz6741 I ran on wood gas for many years. Great way to get energy cheap!

😂😂 Best comment I've read in a while. 😂😂

[@jacobkudrowich]

Handling chemicals is fun tho

[@johnchiz54]

the BTU conversion rate for steam and internal combustion engines are insanely off balanced, you lose so many BTU's in a steam engine that an ICE engine would utilize. while yes you can convert it to steam it is more efficient and convenient to convert the biomass to fuel first

[@brokkenmask]

Lmao

[@a0cdhd]

If I may make a small suggestion: When distilling alcohol the lid of the fermenter should be dome shaped so as to direct the water/alcohol vapour to rise into the neck of the device. Otherwise most of the alcohol will condense on the flat underside of the lid. I also noted that when you performed the "flash" test by igniting the distilled alcohol, the flame was yellow. That indicates that the alcohol you distilled contained a significant proportion of methanol (CH3OH).

[@animehair05silently88]

I was thinking it would have been both easy and a good idea to try to get methanol instead! all you have to do is basically put it in a container (usually called a methane digester) with some microorganisms, like what you find in manure. no need for any strong acids you have to buy from the store even.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Experienced huh?? Tehehe

[@bastintripletroubleboys2101]

if he is just using it for fuel the methanol wont be an issue, drinking big problem.

[@kazparzyxzpenualt8111]

Methanol...oh boy. Read - While Science Sleeps by Dr. Woodrow Monty there are loads of reasons to be super careful with Methanol.

[@azurplex]

Isn't that why methanol is called wood alcohol?

[@MsRiqueman]

Here in Brazil we mass produce Bioethanol with the organic material left from harvests, mostly from sugar cane, which has tons of sugar. Basically you press the sugar canes and take the juice out, the material left is still moist and can be used to make Ethanol. Its a good way to make use of stuff that would go to the trash.

[@midgetman4206]

So you take what would otherwise be discarded simple sugars?

[@jacobshort6528]

What happens to the remaining cellulose pulp? I'm thinking the remaining cellulose pulp could be processed into paper.

[@MsRiqueman]

@@midgetman4206 Sorry, only now i have seen your comment. Yes, i understand little of the chemical process, but i think that those leftover materials would go to waste otherwise.

[@chicob.8419]

The dried pulp usually is used to fuel distilers, or feed to livestock. You can make alcohol from that, but the fermentation has to be done in the same way as the video. Using sulfuric acid to process tons of pulp would make the whole ordeal very expensive, compared to simply fermenting the sugary juice from the canes, hence, it's rarelly done.

[@andrepatacchini]

@@jacobshort6528 the remaining cellulose is burnt in steam generators. Generating far more electricity the plant needs to operate. The exces is sold to the grid. Here in São Paulo, almost 20% of all electric consumption comes from ethanol production.

[@battalion151R]

My uncle had a silo on his farm. He used to fill it full of silage, to feed his cows in the winter. If he got some moisture in it the silage would ferment. It was pretty funny to see a field full of drunk cows. So, the acid isnt needed, take your green grass and ram it into a barrel. It'll ferment on its own from naturally occurring yeast. If you'd like, run some copper tubing through the barrel for hot water. Keep the barrel outside in case it gets a little too hot, it can self combust.

[@cranegantry868]

Yep, that sounds a pretty good, low cost solution to getting alcohol and the cows will like your uncle too!

[@meribor]

One word: time

[@Treeesmith]

Its air that spoils silage, not moisture, it's bagged wet and pickles, holes let air in and it changes from anaerobic

[@ericlotze7724]

For the most part yeah! Minor snobby aspect would be controlling *what* fermentation happens could be an issue. Best case scenario some delicious silage (Lactic Acid Fermentation, same used for Sauerkraut, Yoghurt, Kimchi, etc) , worst case scenario that psychodelic one (then some WILD cow shenanigans) or just *botulism*. Anaerobic Digestion *can* make Biogas (Basically Dirty Methane; Pure Methane is LNG/Rocket Fuel, "Natural Gas" is surprisingly "dirty" at pipeline grade, albeit not as bad as raw biogas) with the right stuff which is a bit simpler than Cellulosic Ethanol, and *way more* than Bio-Butanol, or proper "Bio-Gasoline" (Although you could turn bio-methane into Gasoline etc with "Gas to Liquids" technology). This is so simple you can do it with a bucket and some pvc pipe! Those "anaerobic digestors" are used on some giant Dairy Farms to manage all the manure (At some Wastewater Treatment Plants for the Sludge / "Human Bio-Solids" / Humanure / AKA "POOP" ) and make useful products. Neat thing though is they are so simple they are a great solution for low income countries. Decent amount of coverage of their usage in India online for anyone interested. That's my rant on all this at least!

[@vanillagorrilla]

I don’t think he wanted to wait 6 months but good idea all the same 👍🏻

[@lordofshade]

here in Brazil we started the alcohol production program on sugarcane in the 1970's, here the liter of alcohol is about 75% of a liter of gasoline and about 80% of the engine performance. Well, Its a green fuel but not a great deal in terms of economy. To your project I would recommend another approach, no acid, no shredding, just dry the grass and burn it in a boiler connecting it with a steam engine to make electricity and use an eletrical lownmower. It is possible that you would have a most cost-effective result. Thank you for your video

[@justinw1765]

And if you build that burner/boiler well and make it a more efficient burner, it won't make as much pollution. Another option is to make bio-gas (mostly methane), by letting it ferment in a more natural way (doesn't require sulfuric acid or even buying yeast), then use that methane to run a generator to covert to electricity. I don't know which would extract more energy though.

[@blueturborider]

Alcohol produced from sugarcane is rum

[@DistractionPicklesEveryWhere]

I was literally thinking about this when he was grinding up the grass.

[@jasonhale4639]

Your running the lawn mower with out the Air Shroud on it. The air shroud directs the air that the fins on the flywheel pushes across the head of the engine to cool it. It most likely overheated at the end of your mowing. It's a briggs air cooled engine and requires the shroud to cool it.

[@davekauffman8727]

He paid way too much to have the engine "converted" to run on alcohol, any gasoline engine will run happily on alcohol that's at least 75% in concentration, and it is a Tecumseh, not a Briggs & Stratton, you can tell by the placement of the muffler, and the shape of the air shroud.

[@jaradbeauvois2928]

Thank u I was coming to say the same thing

[@WJCTechyman]

@@davekauffman8727Actually, that's a Briggs Quantum. The carburetor and thus the intake is on the opposite side of the muffler. Tecumseh engines have the carburetor on the same side as the muffler and early Honda engines had that too. Also, $250.00 for a conversion like that and on a flathead to boot is too expensive, all he had to do was change the orifice size of the jet(s). I would have also chosen an old OHV/OHC engine as they burn far more efficiently than older flatheads. I guess another option is finding an engine that can be easily converted to electronic fuel injection but those are hard to find in a small walk behind mower.

[@TheWookWizard]

He didn't want to get suicided stfu bro you're gonna get u gon get him killed

[@UnitSe7en]

Just running on gas with no liquid fuel is what cause the overheating.

[@savagesarethebest7251]

It is something weirdly beautiful about the grass powering it's own destruction

[@Barskor1]

You do the same when paying taxes WW3 doesn't happen without governments.

[@Freesavh1776]

​@@Barskor1and they call us the superior species.😂😂😂😂😂

[@LiborTinka]

That's how taxes work... and fiat money to a large extent. Just extraction and redistribution of capital, privatizing profits, socializing losses. Wash, rinse, repeat.

[@kingmasterlord]

*its own haircuts. mowing is grooming.

[@tk337h]

​@@kingmasterlordhow does the grass benefit from being groomed? maybe there's an argument about keeping the fast-growing grass from stealing sunlight from the slow grass? but then we just get into the same taxation-is-theft argument from the beginning of this thread

[@SkeletorLaughsAtGames]

That's some quality grassoline right there

[@capnjackgallows3204]

Fuck 😂 you beat me by 23 hours

[@handyreiter1310]

Should be the top comment!

[@FAT_CHICKEN.]

@@capnjackgallows3204 Bro beat my by 2 entire months.

[@derekwhite3654]

@@FAT_CHICKEN.and you beat me by 1 entire month!

[@FAT_CHICKEN.]

@@derekwhite3654 true though

[@topsecret1837]

There’s also the possibility of dry distilling the grass into syngas (wood gas), then using the gas feedstock with Fischer-Tropsch to produce actual gasoline, consisting of medium molecular weight alkanes (paraffins), alkenes (olefins) and cycloalkanes (napthenes). So from pentane to tridecane, and as light as propane and even methane if necessary.

[@labcoatpirate]

Im just wondering why direct thermal decomposition wasn't the first choice. All you would have to do is heat the grass above its ignition point in a oxygen free environment and direct offgas to the carburetor. Because....uhm....if the goal is to make something run off grass it shouldnt require gallons of acid and bases.

[@calvingreene90]

Or you could just burn the syngas.

[@miclowgunman1987]

@@calvingreene90 if i remember correctly, syngas is typically heavy in tars and other byproducts, so it would be rough on your engine without some processing. processing the gas into things like gasoline lets us use the output in our current systems with very little tweaking, which makes it scalable into our current uses.

[@calvingreene90]

@@miclowgunman1987 Filter and compress. Bubbled through water and a little time in a gassometer will do.

[@lorddorker3703]

I live off grid and I have 8.5kw of solar panels. I am working on pyrolysis using my excess solar. I'm storing the Syngas in a gasometer.

[@sharlamorris2619]

To ferment grass it needs to be wet and stay wet and then shut the lid on the barrel. Keep mixing every 12 hours for two days, repeat the process to concentrate it before you add yeast. It'll need a storage tank to capture the resulting gases. Use direct light preferably sunlight or lighting and a heat pad. -Brian Morris

[@thejuanderful]

Thirty years ago I was reading about making fuel from newspapers. It was pretty much the same process of using acid to break down the cellulose. I thought newspaper would be a cheap source of yeast food but after researching the process I decided to go with potatoes.

[@SolarSeeker45]

If I was going to try this I would go for a peletizer to compress the gas into fuel pellets and then use that directly in a wood gasifier system. This method would give you a much higher energy density for less money and would be versatile with any woody material such as leaves or paper.

[@foxtizzo]

not that easy to make a small gasifier for a lawnmower... have seen one man doing this on yt, but it finished with a carburetor full of tar

[@tin2001]

@@foxtizzo I'm not sure if the OP meant to mount the whole gasifier on the mower. You could build a large one and use a gas compressor to tank it up for later use on the mower. Under the "what if there was no more fuel" situation, that's how I'd want to do it so I kept waste down and could give/sell the results to others around town who need it.

[@foxtizzo]

@@tin2001 Yeah, that's a way, but you need to go to very high pressures with woodgas to have an energy density that is sufficient to cut grass for let's say for 30 min. I'm doing testings with compressed woodgas right now. The normal 13kg butane tanks under 10 bar would run my generator for 2 minutes. That means 100bar would be sufficient to work 20minuts. For cooking it lasts a bit longer.

[@foty8679]

@@foxtizzo You dont need high pressure. You can run a generator on woodgas without storage.

[@jp400motox]

The engine didn't have the top cover on which directs the cooling air from the flywheel fan over the engine. It over heated is likely why you had trouble...

[@phantomofbelgrad9324]

Smart

[@skunkjobb]

That's my thought too, plus that the bubbler carburator gives no control over the fuel air ratio.

[@CRneu]

ethanol also burns hotter than gasoline in an engine.

[@jp400motox]

@@CRneu No! Actually there's a reason many high-powered racing engines run on pure alcohol. It combusts at a lower temperature, keeping the engine cooler.

[@bigredinfinity3126]

@@jp400motox but they spray water into the engine with ethanol to remove heat

[@ChronoTango]

Got to keep in mind that at a large industrial scale, any and all byproducts aren’t simply waste. Byproducts get sold as other products or bulk sold to someone else who will process them. That lowers the costs. A big industrial site would probably have the capacity to control exactly what their byproducts are as well.

[@secondhandlyon2603]

Coming from a moonshiner family some of this was painful to watch but it was entertaining.

[@thatguyalex2835]

I guess we could say his process of making grassoline is pretty entertaining. ツ Do you use ethanol as fuel yourself?

[@JeffWeselyan]

@@thatguyalex2835 saves money

[@barnes29510]

I was thinking he needed to go talk to an old shine runner lol

[@jasepoag8930]

The perfect liquor for the discerning suburban dad.

[@spartin86]

Fahkn Ell. 😆

[@308dad8]

Yeah, blindness and death are just part of the fun.

[@Blox117]

@@308dad8 stop drinking paint thinner then

[@308dad8]

@@Blox117Post Mellinial huh? It shows

[@Blox117]

@@308dad8 im not, but i imagine even they know how to spell millennial

[@Ertiyed]

So the title should have been Turning Grass into Ethanol: Green Fuel Revolution. I was fooled!

[@EsaIbne-Menk]

If it was methanol there was a possibility of creating patrol

[@firstname-qq3xp]

@@EsaIbne-Menk yea, ethanol corrodes carburetors. so this is awfully misleading

[@crazyDIYguy]

As soon as I heard sulfuric acid, I knew this wasn't a very cost effective process 🙄 sulfuric acid is pretty expensive but handy to have, there is a way to synthesize it from raw sulfur and other ingredients but it looks like a lengthy process too. All together cool content though 👍💯😎

[@justinsander8216]

You should check out 'Caveman Chemistry'. It goes over the exploits of Spot and Roebuck in England when they each invented the same process for sulfuric acid production at around the same time. Very interesting read.

[@HepCatJack]

Vinegar is much cheaper however it may need to soak the must much longer.

[@tinsoffish1810]

$30 a gallon mower gas😂

[@AutoNomades]

What about silage to get acidity "naturally"

[@Preyhawk81]

you can make it in great amounts with elektrolysis

[@someniceguyon]

There are 3 ways I can think of off the top of my head. 1)converting plant/seed starches into sugar and then alcohol 2)collect the plant oils using distillation, then add sodium hydroxide and separate the bio-diesel 3)burn it normally and collect the smoke as a wood gas alternative.

[@johnslugger]

#3 - Why not just heat it in the steel drum with a tiny bit of propane and make flammable "WOOD GAS" out of the raw cut grass? No need to mulch. Much cheaper and you get instant results. The other plus with WOOD-GAS is that you get 95% of your fuel out of the organic material and its DIRT CHEAP to do! Just need a 55 Gallon open head steel drum with lid and ring clamp and the base for a Turkey deep fryer to get the grass smoldering. You also need an air inlet valve in the bottom of the drum to get the air fuel ratio correct. I also use a 5 gallon bucket of water and use manifold vacuum to clean the soot out of the syn-gas Grass-smoke. It has a lot of BANG for the buck and is dirt cheap to make.

[@biteme1167]

How about pyrolisiys, breaking down the lignin to gases and condensing them in a fractional distillation column into gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel in one easy step.

[@datastorm75]

Boy, this seems super energy and resource efficient...

[@pax4432]

It reminds me of the NileRed video about making alcohol with toilet paper

[@robmckennie4203]

Seems like it would have been a good idea to consult with him, considering he's done basically this exact project

[@MrWisski]

Except NileRed FILTERED HIS SOLUTIONS T_T

[@ninpeg4441]

@@MrWisski What’s up with this? Lol. I’ve seen them filter before

[@tjingle29]

nilered is the only chemist i can trust. 😅

[@inthemidwest3514]

what i love about you guys is that yall dont just sit around and wonder, yall go and see if it can be done.

[@zapa47]

You don't have to wonder. A basic understanding of the chemistry and fermentation process will tell you its possible to make a clickbait title and ethanol from organic matter then call it gasoline.

[@SquaresToOvals]

"Is corn the only crop that can be made into fuel?" Ignoring the fact the entire country of Brazil is powered by sugarcane.

[@TheDoItYourselfWorld]

You got me thinking though. How about just making alcohol from the natural fermentation of grass? Maybe not as high of a yield but your cost would be next to nothing to make it. Yeast naturally occurs in the air and would start the fermentation in a few days on its own.

[@308dad8]

Still have to get a fuel permit to distill that alcohol out. Also if you have free space in your freezer you can remove water using freeze concentration.

[@treyt6474]

@@308dad8 In most states its legal to distill alcohol

[@joshlower1]

@@308dad8 you think im gonna ask for a fucking permit? Fuck biden and his gas prices.

[@Hunne2303]

@@treyt6474 in any amount?

[@treyt6474]

@@Hunne2303 Yeah

[@energymarketchile]

Good illustration of how expensive, comparatively speaking, is the ethanol production... Probably we should consider using wood gazifiers to power a gas engine, or better going back to small steam or Stirling engines to power our stuff, as those classic technologies use a direct forward energy production method...

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Stirling and steam engines use external combustion or heat source. Gasoline engine has internal combustion. Quite big difference in operation.

[@cuf_]

More like "grassoline"

[@chrisreilly1290]

They should've definitely put that in the title

[@joshuatremper5026]

Your PFP represents this too well

[@dewaynewhitney567]

I used to deliver in bulk to those ethanol plants was urea. Dry bulk fertilizer. Thats what they used. They mixed it slowly with very hot water and then they mixed it with the corn. They byproduct was then taken to farmers for feed.

[@tobiasmills9647]

Just out of my own curiousity; did you try blending the grass while the grass was wet/soaked?

[@Hunne2303]

Ever mowed a wet lawn? The same would happen to your grinder or, if it goes fast enough, will heat up quite fast (not the motor, the bucket where it rotates in)...I burned my hands a few times this way

[@Surestick88]

​@@Hunne2303Ever make a smoothie? It depends on the amount of water.

[@Rollgott]

This is so interesting to watch. There's a guy called Mr Teslonian on KZbin who extract oil and gasoline from burning wood. He also made a car running on firewood. His work is very interesting and he's like a DIY off grid person. He seems very smart, way above my head. But I would love to learn more about naturally producing fuel. For example biogas is fairly easy to extract from a compost. The bacterias in the compost that are breaking down the food are farting after they eat. They fart biogas which has energy in it and can be burned or used to fuel a lot of stuff!

[@jfowler702910]

Try to use the grass clippings in a wood gasification system next!

[@nilsdock]

this would make more sense since the grass can go in with little to no modification, although making grass pellet's would probably be beneficial

[@lIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI]

has been done and the tar residue glogs up the valves, killing the engiine gasification is a dirty method

[@nilsdock]

@@lIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI it is at least more efficient than doing the etanol thing. valves can be cleaned, the question is how often do you need to clean it, every 3 times you mow the lawn?

[@John-rw9bv]

@@lIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI What is a fuel filter?

[@purpelfrog761]

The big energy companies arent about to make it easy for folks to make their own fuel, so people like you working this stuff out is incredible my friend. Bravo, know you are awesome, and that people appreciate your efforts. You'rea true hero of the regeneration of our planet. we will get there my brother.

[@filipakerman9776]

Water vapor in that ratio of fuel in the enginge is usually not a problem for the enginge. Water in liquid form sure is a problem for say fuel lines, tank, carburator etc. But the vapor in the pistons dont condense at all and usually just removes inpurities. There is quite extensive testing on running a enginge on ethanol and it seems to decrease the wear and tear compared to petrol.

[@GUSftw]

there is a such thing as water injection after all. i believe it has a cooling effect as well.

[@Darkdragon5544]

Love the concept, grass is certainly a net waste in my community and we are even warned in the summer not to leave them exposed to the sun because they ferment and may catch on fire. I don't know how much the sulfuric acid is sustainable (I mean it is an industrial waste and a readily available byproduct of volcanism...) Overall great job!! Clearly I prefer using a net waste (grass) rather than a crop to make fuel :)

[@zazugee]

i think it can be fermented if you're patient, for example people make bokashi as an alternative to compost and it involves using grass and other organic matter, and it makes a sour liquid i imagine you can distill the bokashi liquid and get some ethanol out of it

[@jacobshort6528]

Sulphuric acid is a byproduct of mining sulfide metals like copper. Copper mines have lakes of sulphuric acid.

[@up4open]

It's really good for us that someone is trying. I cannot help but applaud. These are the things we need to learn and test as a world. But what worries me is that all plants need nutrients, and the energy to spread nutrients into the grounds are not free and in many places will strip in a few seasons. The grasslands of the US were tended by Bison, which carried nutrients from valley to highland, and highland to valley, creating a cycle of life from dung to insect to bird to dung to molds to grass to bison to dung, with the cost to humans being a requirement to stand aside when a herd of 10,000 Bison decided to move, and to watch where you stepped. Cattle can, to some degree, replicate this, if we increase the numbers.

[@officialgood-boy8946]

You can usually get jet kits for those carburetors. Thats probably a better way to manage the mix. Just make sure you use ethenol rated fuel lines, And maybe a metal tank if you wanted to go that route.

[@TelmoMonteiro]

HD-PE tank instead os metal maybe?

[@martinbisschoff988]

Will also be interesting to compare cylinder temps during combustion of actual petrol vs ethanol. Also carbon residue %. Thinking here about eventual burned pistons and carbon build up on valves?

[@blackbird1234100]

Honestly, you probably cant. Thats a newer mower. Unfortunately, it has become common practice to make the carbs "non adjustable non servicable" The jets are often epoxied in place, there are metal seals blocking off screw and jet holes, and some of the carbs are just straight up plastic now..... That being said, just get a mikuni VM22 & a minibike intake manifold.

[@AtlasReburdened]

If you needed about 20% more fuel to air, couldn't you have just run the engine partially choked?

[@TheElfsmith]

The mower had no manual choke, and taping the intake wouldn't be an option as you have to adjust as the engine comes up to temp, and needs more fuel and air to have the power to actually cut grass.

[@mason1926]

You can run a higher elevation jet I. The carb.

[@play4dayzproductions347]

Making videos like this is how you go missing

[@railworksamerica]

Thats why you make the video, so other people will learn about it until it becomes impossible for the government to silence everyone

[@blackskull427]

Who else is here because of fuel prices ?

[@theapocasmith]

Made sense a while ago, now I'm here because I like having useful knowledge for a SHTF scenario

[@tomkat1214]

Yep... That and knowledge

[@bobjove6511]

Amen 🙏🙌

[@jadonmatthias463]

You can just make a sugar moonshine which would be pretty cheap. But not as cheep as just owning electric

[@nishadkadam8533]

Grams per liter, pounds, again grams, then gallons... parkour !!! Making my head spin

[@praisegod8635]

Lol...$3K per gallon makes my head spin. I’d rather cut the lawn with a manual hedge trimmer... Lowe’s, $19.99.

[@simonwetting]

10:12 You're turning Grass into Alcohol not gasoline. You're misguiding people to click on your video with your title that isn't true. Please correct it.

[@chabka34]

The shroud he took off the engine was to help with cooling to duct the air form the fan into the fins on the air cooled engine it probably overheated yes running on alcohol would make it run cooler but I think it would still need cooling and it had basically none

[@crussell1991]

I've seen several engines ruined this way.

[@rmp5s]

"Why is this dude mowing his grass AGAIN!?" --Your neighbors 😆

[@christmassnow3465]

Two points of interest: Cow manure generates lots of Methane. Another way to produce fuel from organic matter is pyrolysis - You can heat the organic matter in the absence of oxygen. What you get is tar, which is more akin to crude oil. You can then process it to make high quality gasoline. One easy way of heating organic matter without adding more energy to the system is to use solar heat.

[@pH7screwtube]

So the leftoiid folks are wrong? Cows are as good as the Indian folks say they are?

[@haarigertroll3602]

Can we please call it "grassoline"?

[@xoas69]

He did in the beginning

[@professorvaudevillain]

Grassohol would be more accurate lol

[@jacobshort6528]

@@professorvaudevillain Yes, but that sounds too much like "grasshole", etcetera.

[@ShortFuseMan]

Dude, at *0:46* in the video, he did.

[@deathrex3188]

No . 😂

[@joe89chev]

Dry ice should hopefully speed up the shredding process. Freeze the clippings and they should break up faster

[@AutoNomades]

YEs.... But how much energy would you need to produce it .... ^^ ?

[@JD-ub5ic]

10:40 does this person have a youtube channel? Always great to see some representation in the more tradesie spaces. I'd love to watch more wacky small engine experiments with them.

[@zeekjones1]

I'd like to see side by side about how long you could run an equivalent mower converted to hydrogen power, since you could probably make a good bit of that from the acid used as well.

[@erinw1485]

I have two mowers that run on Hydrogen Fuel From Electrodes. it cheap and fun to make the neighbors look at me like I'm Crazy!

[@tylerm124]

I think the easier thing to do would have been to compress the clippings into pucks or pellets and used in a wood gasifyer to run a generator to charge batteries for an electric lawnmower.

[@tylerm124]

But, that's not as fun lol. Also I get that the point is to teach about alternative storable fuel sources.

[@chriskwakernaat2328]

the pellets would probably fall apart because of the heat/moisture coming out, it's the reason most gasifiers use wood chunks.

[@jacobshort6528]

Bake the grass clippings in trays inside a dehydrator oven, then hydraulically compress them into either pellets or pucks.

[@baneverything5580]

Just charge the batteries with a solar panel.

[@giovannicesaramorim9adigan961]

just use the generator on the lawnmower instead???

[@tbix1963]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas and videos. Having worked in the power industry I’ve had plenty of night shifts with plenty of time to research various ways to make energy. The problem I always came down to was no matter what avenue I took in my theory the cost of inputs is always more that using a charged battery. 😂 I think one of the easiest avenues is gasification and then conversion thru the Fischer-Tropsch process back into a liquid fuel for storage. The one idea I had that I’ve never seen implemented probably for good reason was to use an electron gun like those found in old vacuum tube TVs in a vacuum to atomize the grass in an enclosed low oxygen environment. And to then process the resulting gas after. Always interesting to see people with the skills I fail to possess chasing after their ideas. Wishing you and your family the best.

[@garyjerniganjr]

Would turning the grass into silage make the process more efficient?

[@austinpage4361]

this would eliminate a great deal of his labor, the need for acid, and if done in a bright enough place the distillate could be captured as it formed with the heat from the sun. real shame you didn't make this video instead.

[@Jhaishim]

@@austinpage4361 damn

[@DonZickefoose]

Have you tried Cellulase or Amylase enzyme instead of acid for the sugar extraction?

[@daisystabs5502]

I used to burn grass when i was camping in Africa, and the green gass that escaped when burned that than went up in flame always amazed me

[@youretheai7586]

I've watched Tech Ingredients from YT make alcohol from bananas. He used some sort of enzyme to properly dissolve the cellulose, going from memory it was something similar to a MAOI, I think. The best way to know for sure is to watch the way he did it! I'd be super interested in seeing an engine run on wood gas or even water through sonoluminescence!

[@jacobshort6528]

Look up woodgas-powered vehicles on the KZbin. There is a history of them, from WW2 onwards.

[@baneverything5580]

Sugar, water and yeast and tomato paste to feed the yeast.

[@Humbulla93]

an MAOI is totally different from the enzyme you refer which is called cellulase, allthough if you used an MAOI(mono aminoxidase inhibitor which isn´t an enzyme but blocks the enzyme called mono amineoxidase) you could die eating a banana. another way would be using pyrolysis which could be powered by the sun

[@dyzoly]

This is hard work. If the economy crashes, I'll stick to my bicycle.

[@milahu]

bikes depend on rubber from asia...

[@justinw1765]

@@milahu Start buying extra tires now?

[@ericbreckenkamp976]

Corn based ethanol produces cattle/poultry/swine feed. It also produces corn oil for cooking/lubrication/biodiesel. Certainly nothing wrong about discussing pros and cons of the industry but let’s make sure we are discussing all the details. What I’m most interested in is ethanol as a heat source for interior spaces. It burns so clean that it’s exhaust doesn’t next be vented. This allows for all of the heat to remain in the space.

[@LazykidsWorld]

Reminds me of a book by David Blume called Alcohol can be a Gas! Super interesting book showing how much alcohol you can get from many crops w/ alcohol yield per ton and per acre. If I remember correctly it shows some waste products that could be converted into alcohol as well. One guy who grew watermelon for seeds started using the pulp to make alcohol 🤔

[@daviedood2503]

Couldn't u just use moonshine? 😂 white lightening will knock u down its like 100 or 200 proof. 😂 if that won't cut your grass, idk what will

[@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife]

@@daviedood2503 I think for use in anything that compresses fuel you'd want it to be nearly anhydrous ethanol. 200 proof comes close, which may be suitable BUT 200 proof can still be drank (at least according to my friends). The ethanol at the pump is so pure and full of different types of alcohol group chemicals it'd kill you, even at very small concentrations. (Not to mention the 15 percent isooctane gasoline). Pure anhydrous ethanol will have zero to no water but will also contain some amounts of other primary (like methanol, which is toxic) and secondary alcohols, and/or other alcohol isomers like isopropyl alcohol, which is also very toxic. I'm sure there are also sugar alcohols present, amongst a litany of other related compounds, but the main component is ethanol or "pure grain alcohol." Still not something you can drink. Hopefully we'll become smarter in the future and start using biomass for biofuels. I've always wondered why someone hasn't tapped into this.

[@daviedood2503]

@@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife naw, it's how it burns. The explosion in the motor and the engine compression etc. It's how combustible it is to slam the piston down inside the chamber. 200 proof like everlcear they run race cars on it just for laughs. Actually does quite well but very expensive to do. Especially high performance engines etc. Biofuels etc has to do with disel engines. They not fuel injected exactly so the combustion is a little different on how it happens.

[@sharkysnipe6777]

@@scenicdepictionsofchicagolife Because "they" have killed all of inventors. Somr dude comes up with a great idea and you wont here from that guy anymore....

[@GG-og4wt]

I really enjoy these kinds of videos. They are very instructive about what a hoax green energy is.

[@petevenuti7355]

I wouldn't call it a hoax but it is certainly not a simple as environmentalists make it out to be, and ignorance tends to cause more problems then are solved. But yes I get what you're saying, to make green power cost effective is a major engineering challenge that takes a lot more than just a change of mindset , that would just be denial and unrealistic. For instance shutting down the nuclear reactors while forcing people to get electric cars... Ruining forest by making green fuel out of trees. Biodegradable plastics releasing more carcinogens into the environment then regular plastic would have. So much that it's not thought out and mostly impulsive irritates me to no end. But I do know that the 'green revolution' MUST come because what has been going on the last 300 years has been destructive, short sighted and wasteful, getting worse every year and it's now passed a tipping point, change should have happened before the tipping point.

[@GG-og4wt]

@@petevenuti7355 *impoverishes you to no end

[@sneaky_krait7271]

This particular one. Wind, solar and electric good and cheap

[@Avgsharkenjoyer]

I bet you the mechanically inclined person owns a shark plushie from IKEA :3

[@enginecrzy]

Identifies as "mechanic"...

[@moshemarkos9119]

i used the grass to destroy the grass

[@石武-b5u]

Misleading ending. Saying this technique costs 1000 times more will make many dumb people think it is a bad technique. If you tried drilling your own oil and refining it it would also cost a 1000 more. A huge ethanol plant with economics of scale can be EXTREMELY cheaper than homebrew grass ethanol with grocery store acids...

[@TheWingnut58]

Not misleading at all....he's merely stating the fact that it costs an AVERAGE PERSON much more to produce methanol than it does a large commercial refinery.

[@denverbevins4052]

It might be better to convert the grass into methane using a bag digester & run your mower from an lp gas bottle. It would initially take more passive time but the yield would be far greater.

[@ollin8754]

13:11 perfect laboratory smell test 💯

[@comingviking]

Very interesting. How did you solve the lubricant issues with the lawn mower. Most combustion engines that small are two stroke motors that do not have an oil pan. They are lubricated by motor oil that is mixed in with the gasoline. Without lubrication the motor will seize up

[@pseudomemes5267]

Probably what happened. They thing was quite literally running on fumes. No way to inject oil with the gas

[@comingviking]

@@pseudomemes5267 He should hire a different mechanic the next time. But of course, the experiment was more about the viability of the fuel production process than anything else. Anyway, I would have suggested going for the biogas route, myself, because you can just leave that to bacteria and time. Put all of your bio waste in a container, and you will have a lot of free heat on top of the combustable methane gas.

[@learningtofly6675]

um i think this is a 4 stroke engine not 2 stroke

[@michellebaxter1403]

Briggs and stratons are 4 strokes my man.. Almost all mowers are. Now High reving machines like chainsaws, weed eaters etc. Are 2 stroke and you're correct they need oil mixed If that thing was a 2 stroke it would have siezed up before it ever started!

[@darren8517]

I would have tried a ball mill to process the grass. You can use a pile of river stones in a barrel tumbler to do this. The up front labor should be much less. It's just a matter of time, after that. Great video. I learned that cellulose can be fermented... didn't know that. I learned that straight ethanol can run an ICE... if you use that bubbler thingy. Thanks HTME!!

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

There was a report that lawn machines produce more air pollution than a number of motor vehicles combined. Wouldn't biodiesel be easier to produce from grass? This is accomplished with Algae. Have you tried a lawn motor that uses biogas? Then conceivably get biogas from grass and compost. Thank you

[@alexandermueller4115]

That’s what he’s doing in this video

[@christo930]

You only let it ferment for a day!

[@AaronSchwarz42]

$3000 per gallon makes H2 at $18.60 per gallon seem like a steal :)

[@lightpawshird]

Why not experiment with different types of grass? I find these videos interesting! Keep up the great work!

[@34Bartek34]

good idea, more flavours

[@lololol626]

Why not run the lawnmower over the grass clippings to cut them up even smaller?

[@thomastessin1663]

The container you use to hold and control fuel on the lawn mower has long been used on the reservation vehicles and is called a "Jarburator".

[@Nono-hk3is]

Oh hell yeah, hi Adri!

[@ZedaZ80]

Came to the comments for this XD

[@articmars1]

Fact: grass pulls more carbon emissions from the atmosphere than half of the amazon rain forest. It may not be edible but it supports bio diversity which in turn keeps the ground healthy and clean.

[@catskinner7564]

I completely agree with your statement I live in California where grass is bad but plastic grass is good and people suck it up

[@articmars1]

@@catskinner7564 why is plastic grass ok but plastic straws are not? They really need to stop and think about that lol.

[@1960fl]

I find it kind of funny that the title states turning grass into gasoline when it was actually alcohols and not petroleum!

[@ninpeg4441]

Making “woodgas” out of the clippings may be the better option?

[@sexypyromaniac]

Woodgas leaves alot of residue when burnt, so can clog up an engine pretty easily.

[@ninpeg4441]

@@sexypyromaniac I believe that’s due to tar, which can be filtered?

[@MrWisski]

@@ninpeg4441 Sure it can....This is HTME though. Filtering IS NOT A THING THAT IS DONE HERE!

[@ninpeg4441]

@@MrWisski WHY NOT?

[@jounisaari9471]

You can use straws (or nearly anything) as filter. But you need first cool the gas, and keep straws oxygen free. They will collect some tar and water. But the device is pretty large for a lawnmower. The grass might be best to make pellets and dry before using in gasifier.

[@theawesomer]

$3000 per gallon! Such a bargain!

[@lowiq888]

SHOCKING STATISTICS right off the bat. Before I watch this thing, I want to say that I never water the grass even if most of America does. It still grows at a rapid pace, even If it does not rain. I waste a lot of gas mowing grass and it piles up lot. I would like to do something with this crop that makes more sense. I also have very little faith in Curiosity Stream when it comes to being amazed. Still I will waste my time and watch it.

[@tarmotyyri6733]

Just buy an electric lawn mower & a small solar panel to charge it.

[@derethreborn910]

Maybe Pyrolysis? Syngas to ethanol?

[@grounder7572]

"I'm going to use everything for average consumers." Proceeds to bust out an Entire chemistry set ....

[@pedrinho12]

here in brazil people who want to make more power with their cars use ethanol bc is harder to ignite so you can use more compression ratio on the cilynder or more boost when using forced induction and the ethanol molecule have an oxigen atom so the combustion is wayyy more eficient, the fuel injection has to adapted to inject 30% more fuel, an camaro ss with 450 hp can go up to 550 hp just by changing the fuel and tuning

[@ubermarkmc]

I know this video is old, and that you probably won't see this comment, but I'll still write it for those who are interested. From a school project I did a while ago I worked with producing cellulase enzymes from byproducts of beer production, the drained malt is essentially just a little ball of protein, cellulose, and lignin, which makes an excellent substrate for growing mushrooms on, if you want to do it yourself T. reesei is the absolutely best fungus for the production, but many different types of fungus produce these enzymes, I simply ran water through the substrate and it contained high enough concentrations of cellulase to completely break down paper/cellulose filters in about 3 hours, hell you could even grow the fungus straight on the grass and just slowly wash out the glucose.

[@derbemobile]

Thanks for the video. Curious if you’ve seen videos on people turning plastic bottle trash into diesel and gasoline. Sounds like it would be right up your alley 👍🏼

[@roylopez235]

It would be interesting to see if there is any difference by: 1) Using various type of grass; 2) Using the fresh cut (green) grass to make the mix; 3) using vinegar or some other cheap acid; 4) try to recover the acid before neutralizing it or, if possible, after adding the lime;

[@jessechristensen6028]

And this is why the ethanol seen sold at stations is usually E85 with the 15% gasoline for the purpose of denature it and a little bit of lubrication.

[@manicplanet5223]

I absolutely love biochemistry and I’m all here for it

[@ivanjakanov]

it's amazing you found a mechanic that can convert a mower from gasoline to ethanol just like that 10:21

[@enginecrzy]

Identifies as "mechanic"...

[@DatsiKxModz]

Good to see people doing and sharing legitimate applicable science

[@jerijayz3929]

This was amazing. I love the energy produced. Darn Water vapor created...

[@detrechrats]

To chop the grass finer,don't dry the grass before you blend it. In fact, add some water when blending.

[@marlonvite4152]

Reading comments is indeed very educating about dos and donts plus the usual good comedy and the dumb comments too ... priceless.

[@TKN_Story]

You need heat when trying to get the yeast to work, very cool btw. the conversion tip about removing the fuel components was gold info. The amount spent to cut your grass - 3 grand.

[@OutletVibes]

Thanks for teaching us how to distill everclear from our lawn mowers.

[@ByGonzo]

In Brazil you can buy alcohol at the petrol station as they produce alcohol running cars from factory, the carburettor also have a special coating to avoid corrotion and get ruined

[@DarkGT]

Collect the grass water it and let it ferment in a container. It will start to produce methane gas. Convert your mower to run on that. It will be easier and faster.

[@ITroopTheSpace]

Gasoline produces water vapor when burned, so that probably didn’t cause the engine to stall. Also if it’s high enough concentration it should dissolve oil, I’ve used 91 isopropyl alcohol to clean oil filters before removing them, so maybe it will dissolve two stroke oil .

[@Marcos-Osca]

Remember the more glucose (sugar) is fermented the higher the yield of ethanol after distillation.

[@bsvirsky]

There is a method once used widely when there was a shortage of oil for gasoline production, - you just burn what-ever cellulose without oxygen and collect that gas. Then you can use it as fuel in engines.... What you need is special burner and very big container for the gas

[@brianward7550]

When they cut to the engine expert, I kept hearing about that non-adjustable carburetor. It is adjustable, but instead of using a screwdriver you simply need to use a drill

[@jacky445]

I would recommend to blend grass with large restaurant grade stick blender after mixing it with water kinda like soup. It should be able to get grass ground down into much finer paste.