This weekend is looking to be our largest workshop ever. 85 RSVPs are the most we've ever seen out front-- but we're ordering some more chairs, coffee and bagels, so we can hold a few more. The building and associated resources will likely top out around 100 people. That leaves space for about 15 more of you. Also, there are still two slots left if you want to weld together a GEK Level III during the workshop. Write us a note if you are still planning on attending and/or building, but have yet to tell us so.
The basic info and organization of the workshop is here in the gek forum: http://gekgasifier.com/forums/index.php/topic/747-gasification-workshop-weekend-march-30-april-1-berkeley-ca/ Ron Ohler and Andy Schofield got here yesterday from Michigan. A day later, the wood chipper works again, after two years of lack thereof. We now have fuel. Thank you Ron and Andy! The Lister is scheduled to yield next, though at the moment i have Ken distracted by the 100kw electronics. Below are some new presentations we've recently added to the agenda. In addition we have a DIY power pallet coming all the way down from Canada, and some other homebuilt curiosities from around the nation promised to show. Join us if you can. j --------------------------------------------------------- 1. Steve Feher, Executive Director and Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (STL)Sustainable Community Development Institute (SCDI) will be attending the Berkelely Workshop March 31-1. He and six of his students will be bringing their small rice hull gasifier and a bunch of rice hulls with the test set up they used to measure its heat output. He says, "It's a fun set up, we can demonstrate it . . . and our kids will tell a good story." They will be running their gasifier and will be doing an informal presentation Saturday afternoon of the workshop. "We just completed a very interesting set of experiments by the students on measuring usable BTU output generated in our small rice hulls gasifier," Steve states. He will be bringing up to 6 students to the workshop to not only learn about gasification from our workshop, but to teach us as well! http://www.scdinstitute.org/ 2. Nick and Charles over at Santa Fe Community College just as of this week purchased a 10kW PowerPallet to assist in educating their students about the technology of gasification. They are really excited about incorporating the GEK Gasifier into their curriculum which fits nicely with their other projects in algae, ethanol, and biodiesel. They will be giving a presentation on their program and current projects at their Biofuel Center of Excellence (http://biofuels.gree...ining.sfcc.edu/). >From their site: "The Biogas and Pyrolysis Module will provide a history of gasification and pyrolysis, and an overview of photosynthesis, the carbon cycle and biomass energy. Students will study the biochemistry of anerobic digestion, pyrolysis, gasification and the qualities of methane. Safety issues and OSHA compliance are also included in the curriculum. The varieties of biogas applications will be explored as well as common types of biogas plants. The mechanics of gasification include how a system is designed and built, how gas cleanup is handled and how to select the appropriate feedstock. The economics section will explore market opportunities and issues of scale." 3. Amanda Joy Ravenhill recently launched the Biochar Association of the Bay Area and and will be presenting info about the new org during the workshop. They just had their first meeting in early March in San Francisco, and are looking to gather the many interested locals for biochar related endeavors. Here's a bit from the meeting. "We had a great discussion about the need for the association both to get all Bay-Area biochar individuals together and to create a trade association type organization for bay area biochar businesses. Though we established a lens of focusing on the business-support side of advocacy, the Association is still dedicated to public benefit. As the biochar market grows we will all flourish. Though the BABA is centered in the Bay Area the idea is not be to geographically exclusive. We would like to offer businesses, individuals, non-profits and others opportunities to engage with our programs and aim to act as ambassadors for the Bay Area and all the unique resources that exist here." Here again is the general schedule for the weekend. http://gekgasifier.com/forums/index.php/topic/747-gasification-workshop-weekend-march-30-april-1-berkeley-ca/ Jim -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim Mason Website: http://www.whatiamupto.com Current Projects: - Gasifier Experimenters Kit (the GEK): http://www.gekgasifier.com - Escape from Berkeley alt fuels vehicle race: www.escapefromberkeley.com - ALL Power Labs on Twitter: http://twitter.com/allpowerlabs - Shipyard Announce list: http://lists.spaceship.com/listinfo.cgi/icp-spaceship.com _______________________________________________ Gasification mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/gasification_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Gasifiers, News and Information see our web site: http://gasifiers.bioenergylists.org/
