I just subscribed (for a month) so I could leave a comment.
You mention that Fuel for a potential generator expires. While this is true it usually takes petrol/gasoline a year or few of sitting in a fuel tank with a breather before it matters.
There are a few ways to mitigate this. First store your Petrol in good quality sealed metal tanks like Jerry cans until you need to use the generator or outboard motor tanks (these are a great way to fuel a small generator if you want to switch tanks without having to mess around with filling a tank in the dark on a hot engine).
A simpler option is to get a low mileage used bugger Diesel fuelled generator. This fuel takes up to 10 years before it starts to go south and while it does not mind a bit of water condensing into the tank and settling at the bottom it does mean you have to drain the water before you take the engine into service. A bigger diesel generator usually requires an electric start so you will have to have a permanent float charger on a good quality cranking battery to enable you to get it going. In sub zero temperatures professional installations also have a water jacket or oil sump heater to achieve prompt and reliable automatic starting.
The last interesting option is to purchases a suitable petrol generator locally, even used if you are prepared/able to repair and a matching Gas conversion inlet manifold from an asian web shop and convert it to run on gas. Compressed liquefied petroleum gas or even natural gas from the city in the event of power outages is a handy source of fuel that can provide electrical supply. The gas never expires and if you live on a farm you could make your own in a manure bi-digester.
Having a Flex-Fuel car is also worth considering if you have a small farm and can grow your own ethanol crops. In some regions it is allowed to distil ethanol for if taxed (some USA states), for personal use (New Zealand), for fuel use (Ireland), for traditional drinks (various Eastern European countries) or for educational use (in Finland as part of academic research) depending on where you live. If your car can run on E100 fuel (common in Brazil and modifications available for some cars) then fractional distillation to 95% lets you run your vehicle on home grown. If your you can only find E85 cars as in Europe (85% anhydrous ethanol with the balance is petrol) then you will need to dehydrate your ethanol to 100% purity and you can use 80% ethanol and 20% E5 or E10 pump fuel to add in the required petroleum component. This would also be an option for a stationary generator as well.
The last source of alternative fuel for internal combustion engines is wood gas. They use charcoal and air to make hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is directed to a slightly modified petrol engine. They were popular at the end of the second world war in many countries when petrol resources were rationed or not available.
For communications I suggest those with nimble minds of technical experience take an online or local club hosted Amateur Radio course. The choice then is on should you write the qualification test and get a call sign and set up a modest radio installation that works even in the VHF and UHF repeaters are not working or if one acquires relevant radio gear and simply set it up and only listens and studies the technology rather than advertising a station to the authorities. If there is a wrinkle in the social fabric there may not be resources to hunt down rogue stations but they may target registered stations.
Similarly learning to understand how Mesh Networks are setup and can be used for local messaging is prudent. These are becoming cheaper and better at a fast pace these days and may become a important system if other networks become compromised.
To clarify the fuel expiry (I always have to trade between clarity and length), thank you for the comment.
1) The part that expires is the organic 'ethanol' in the fuel. With the recent so-called "green" regulations, the amount of ethanol has increased.
2) The ethanol expires by essentially taking on water molecules. This lowers the combustibility of the fuel, *and* introduces moisture into the system (which can cause rust and degradation of parts).
3) Typically it expires within about 6 months. 12 if you add a special chemical that slows down/interferes with expiry time.
4) How badly expired fuel interferes with the engine/generator depends heavily on the type of engine. This part isn't mechanical advice as it's heavily generalised: smaller engines with fewer stroke pistons *seem* to be able to tolerate it better, however, remember to factor in the moisture issue.
5) Note that the risks of using expired fuel (E.G. fouling of the system, carbon fouling of the spark plugs, etc) typically outweigh the costs of just buying new fuel. It is annoying, but I'm not the one who added ethanol to the fuel.
6) As you correctly note, it is possible to remove the ethanol from the fuel, although some folks may find this process time consuming/expensive *or* not even available where they live (there's a lack of skills in the UK these days)
7) In theory you could also "refine" the expired fuel via separation processes but it is complex, time consuming, and costly. And I haven't seen a service or safe means for doing so yet.
I just subscribed (for a month) so I could leave a comment.
You mention that Fuel for a potential generator expires. While this is true it usually takes petrol/gasoline a year or few of sitting in a fuel tank with a breather before it matters.
There are a few ways to mitigate this. First store your Petrol in good quality sealed metal tanks like Jerry cans until you need to use the generator or outboard motor tanks (these are a great way to fuel a small generator if you want to switch tanks without having to mess around with filling a tank in the dark on a hot engine).
A simpler option is to get a low mileage used bugger Diesel fuelled generator. This fuel takes up to 10 years before it starts to go south and while it does not mind a bit of water condensing into the tank and settling at the bottom it does mean you have to drain the water before you take the engine into service. A bigger diesel generator usually requires an electric start so you will have to have a permanent float charger on a good quality cranking battery to enable you to get it going. In sub zero temperatures professional installations also have a water jacket or oil sump heater to achieve prompt and reliable automatic starting.
The last interesting option is to purchases a suitable petrol generator locally, even used if you are prepared/able to repair and a matching Gas conversion inlet manifold from an asian web shop and convert it to run on gas. Compressed liquefied petroleum gas or even natural gas from the city in the event of power outages is a handy source of fuel that can provide electrical supply. The gas never expires and if you live on a farm you could make your own in a manure bi-digester.
Having a Flex-Fuel car is also worth considering if you have a small farm and can grow your own ethanol crops. In some regions it is allowed to distil ethanol for if taxed (some USA states), for personal use (New Zealand), for fuel use (Ireland), for traditional drinks (various Eastern European countries) or for educational use (in Finland as part of academic research) depending on where you live. If your car can run on E100 fuel (common in Brazil and modifications available for some cars) then fractional distillation to 95% lets you run your vehicle on home grown. If your you can only find E85 cars as in Europe (85% anhydrous ethanol with the balance is petrol) then you will need to dehydrate your ethanol to 100% purity and you can use 80% ethanol and 20% E5 or E10 pump fuel to add in the required petroleum component. This would also be an option for a stationary generator as well.
The last source of alternative fuel for internal combustion engines is wood gas. They use charcoal and air to make hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is directed to a slightly modified petrol engine. They were popular at the end of the second world war in many countries when petrol resources were rationed or not available.
For communications I suggest those with nimble minds of technical experience take an online or local club hosted Amateur Radio course. The choice then is on should you write the qualification test and get a call sign and set up a modest radio installation that works even in the VHF and UHF repeaters are not working or if one acquires relevant radio gear and simply set it up and only listens and studies the technology rather than advertising a station to the authorities. If there is a wrinkle in the social fabric there may not be resources to hunt down rogue stations but they may target registered stations.
Similarly learning to understand how Mesh Networks are setup and can be used for local messaging is prudent. These are becoming cheaper and better at a fast pace these days and may become a important system if other networks become compromised.
To clarify the fuel expiry (I always have to trade between clarity and length), thank you for the comment.
1) The part that expires is the organic 'ethanol' in the fuel. With the recent so-called "green" regulations, the amount of ethanol has increased.
2) The ethanol expires by essentially taking on water molecules. This lowers the combustibility of the fuel, *and* introduces moisture into the system (which can cause rust and degradation of parts).
3) Typically it expires within about 6 months. 12 if you add a special chemical that slows down/interferes with expiry time.
4) How badly expired fuel interferes with the engine/generator depends heavily on the type of engine. This part isn't mechanical advice as it's heavily generalised: smaller engines with fewer stroke pistons *seem* to be able to tolerate it better, however, remember to factor in the moisture issue.
5) Note that the risks of using expired fuel (E.G. fouling of the system, carbon fouling of the spark plugs, etc) typically outweigh the costs of just buying new fuel. It is annoying, but I'm not the one who added ethanol to the fuel.
6) As you correctly note, it is possible to remove the ethanol from the fuel, although some folks may find this process time consuming/expensive *or* not even available where they live (there's a lack of skills in the UK these days)
7) In theory you could also "refine" the expired fuel via separation processes but it is complex, time consuming, and costly. And I haven't seen a service or safe means for doing so yet.
Modern warfare is flying drones from an office in Whitehall. Our youth have been conditioned to that for years with Call of Duty etc.
Being in an office won't make them safe from long range missiles.
"Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled." - Q
"Or not pulled. It’s hard to know which in your pyjamas." - 007
Skyfall