Dear James –
Thanks for the great article link on “growing fuel” and thanks again for all the information at SurvivalBlog!
Low speed diesels [that were recently mentioned in the blog] such as the Lister and Listeroid clones are fantastic, but sadly that ship has sailed. The anemic dollar, high metal prices, rising shipping costs and the hassle of US Customs have pretty much halted importation. Also, word is that [the US] EPA will soon (if they haven’t already) re-block importation of these marvels because they don’t meet emissions requirements for stationary engines. As to that, Listeroids are extremely efficient so they might just meet standards – it’s more likely that the cost of certification is prohibitive.
Sadly, the annual total emissions of these stationary power plants are meaningless in the grand scheme, and that’s obviously not the real purpose of such inane regulation. Anyway, there are emissions-legal alternatives (the Yanmar, Weichai, et cetera.) but they’re more expensive and not widely distributed. Also, they’re less suited to running vegetable oil fuels and may require a bit of modification for this purpose. To make matters worse, I’m told by the folks who sold me my Listeroid that the Chinese expeller presses that press the oil from seeds have likewise soared in price and are practically impossible to come by.
Yet another indicator of how late it really is [to prepare]. Regards, – Fred H.
JWR Replies: Lister clone engines do pop up on the secondary market here in the US. Watch for them vigilantly at Craigslist.com and in newspaper and “nickel” paper classified ads. Note that not all sellers will use the correct terms Lister or Listeroid in their ad titles, so also do searches on “low RPM Diesel” or “one cylinder diesel”. OBTW, SurvivalBlog reader Glenn recommends Central Maine Diesel as a source.