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The pent up power of kitchen waste! (part of the bio-fueled water pump project)

video The pent up power of kitchen waste! (part of the bio-fueled water pump project)

The video shows the potential power of yeast or lactic acid fermentation of kitchen waste.
It is part of the bio-fueled water pump project. I have already made a proof of concept water pump that harnesses this power to recirculate water or compost tea to plants to help them grow better.
The other video used a much smaller "power pack" to pump water. Just yeast and sugar.
Hopefully this one shows that there is serious power in kitchen waste (moldy bread, stale pie, potato skins) and garden waste. (Slug damaged green beans, and ground up morning glory stems).
So there is no need to buy yeast or sugar to power your pump. Even the grass from the lawn mower can be used to water your indoor plants!
Please start your own version now and show people that this can be done. If it is just me, nobody will ever believe that this works.
Thanks
Brian White

6 comments

Dec 27, 2010. 9:34 PMgaiatechnician (author) says:

This is the audio of the bung hitting the ceiling (was much louder than the camera recorded and took me by surprise), then the wall and then bouncing on the floor.

May 4, 2012. 3:02 AMkwazai says:

if you have a stopper with a hole in it you could rig up a u-tube manometer to it. 2 to 4ft of air pump hose. see how much pressure it makes( in. H2O).
mike

Mar 24, 2011. 7:27 AMkwazai says:

I think this is pretty cool, just wonder if you wouldn't get a little more pump power by burning the bio-gas to make a steam bubble pump (biogas coffee pot?) using a glass tube and bunsen burner. I would think it'd burn for a few weeks while producing biogas..
kwazai

Mar 26, 2011. 4:37 AMkwazai says:

what I have read of methane production is that the first week is CO2 and then 2-3 weeks of methane,hydrogen and CO,CO2. Although not good for compost tea nutrient production, a little clostridium perfringens(dawg feces) would increase the gas flow- its a good methanobacter.
Making compost tea should be worthwhile use for the gas produced irregardless(aerobic fermentation rather than anerobic). I've often wondered whether compost tea would ferment alchohol with yeast(lager- bottom feeder) and a little sugar. Its byproduct if do-able would be CO2 and alchohol. A layer of extravirgin olive oil across the top making it ferment a little longer and separating the alchohol out in the process. Not sure- never have tried. My understanding of the 'tea' production is that it is real easy to 'sour', and that it may be easier to'sour' than to get made correctly.
Either way this 'biogas' pump is a great idea- large scale should work better-trapped gas large compost pile maybe...

Mar 24, 2011. 10:05 PMgaiatechnician (author) says:

In this case the biogas is CO2 and it will not burn. I will be using the gas produced from fermentation to pump water to plants and maybe recirculate compost tea over compost. It is still at the "thinking about it" stage.
It works but it might end up too cumbersome to do.

Apr 29, 2012. 4:09 AMkwazai says:

most of the biogas stuff operates under 2 psi- from what i've read. a black plastic 55 gallon 'sun' barrel(air) might be an option. per 20F somewhere around (3inH2O static pressure)

side note-I put a kiddie pool under my compost pile to collect 'leachate'. the drain flows out on the downhill side and its evident the difference in nutrtients coming out. fyi.