Can a car really run on woodchips? This week on Car Talk, we got a call from a rather remarkable gentleman -- Hans, who escaped from Germany during World War II in car that ran on, yes, woodchips. His question: How does it work? Our humble hosts weren't exactly sure, but we bet someone out there…

Hans is not crazy. GM, Ford and Mercedes manufactured wood gas mobiles during WWII. They operate by passing oxygen and water vapor over coals. The carbon dioxide is reduced to carbon monoxide and water vapor is reduced to hydrogen - then both gases can be burned in a standard internal combustion …

Wood gasification burners were very common in Germany during WWII. Here is a link to tell you more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas

Yes, Hans is correct, the Germans did have trucks and cars that ran on wood. The process was called gasification. [image] Wood gas vehicles: firewood in the fuel tank During the Second World War, almost every motorised vehicle in continental Europe was converted to use firewood. Wood gas …

In the reality show “The Colony” they make one with what they have in the factory they stay in for the 2 months.

I’m disappointed - you guys went to MIT & went to a couple of teacher colleges. It’s wood gasification! I remember hearing about these back in the gas crisis of the 70’s when we were wood gathering hippies. I looked it up and sure enough the technology goes back to the 1830’s at least. Anyway, we g…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas .best results here guys! Interesting!~

[image] North Korea runs on wood-burning trucks If you've ever wondered what we'll do after we've run out of cheap oil, other than eat each other, you have only to look to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a.k.a. North Korea. Ever since the shipments of crude … …

Yeah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas has everything. Not sure why they didn’t just Google it.

See a recent (2010) article by Vesa Mikkonen http://www.enotes.com/topic/Wood_gas on up to date versions

A Woodchip-mobile?

The Show

Copterdr January 7, 2012, 8:55pm 17

It’s called a gasifier http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification

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A Woodchip-mobile?

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