Open Access

ARTICLE

Wood Gasification in Catastrophes: Electricity Production from Light-Duty Vehicles

Baxter L. M. Williams^1,*, Henri Croft¹, James Hunt¹, Josh Viloria¹, Nathan Sherman¹, James Oliver¹, Brody Green¹, Alexey Turchin², Juan B. García Martínez², Joshua M. Pearce^3,4, David Denkenberger^1,2,*

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 8041, New Zealand
2Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED), Lafayette, CO 80026, USA
3 Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada
4 Ivey Business School, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada

* Corresponding Authors: Baxter L. M. Williams. Email: ; David Denkenberger. Email:

Energy Engineering 2025, 122(4), 1265-1285. https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2025.063276

Received 10 January 2025; Accepted 17 February 2025; Issue published 31 March 2025

Abstract

Following global catastrophic infrastructure loss (GCIL), traditional electricity networks would be damaged and unavailable for energy supply, necessitating alternative solutions to sustain critical services. These alternative solutions would need to run without damaged infrastructure and would likely need to be located at the point of use, such as decentralized electricity generation from wood gas. This study explores the feasibility of using modified light duty vehicles to self-sustain electricity generation by producing wood chips for wood gasification. A 2004 Ford Falcon Fairmont was modified to power a woodchipper and an electrical generator. The vehicle successfully produced wood chips suitable for gasification with an energy return on investment (EROI) of 3.7 and sustained a stable output of 20 kW electrical power. Scalability analyses suggest such solutions could provide electricity to the critical water sanitation sector, equivalent to 4% of global electricity demand, if production of woodchippers was increased post-catastrophe. Future research could investigate the long-term durability of modified vehicles and alternative electricity generation, and quantify the scalability of wood gasification in GCIL scenarios. This work provides a foundation for developing resilient, decentralized energy systems to ensure the continuity of critical services during catastrophic events, leveraging existing vehicle infrastructure to enhance disaster preparedness.

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Keywords

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