I’m always fascinated by the amount of ideas that come out of my old gardening book, of which I’ve spoken before in previous columns.
The thinking that some had, to enrich their lives by their own actions, was most rewarding to those who had the time and ability to use some of these inventions that are written about.
From early solar panels you could make for your own home to using pigs to power your home. All this has gone by the board (as the saying goes) with all the modern technology available to us today.
Yet it was only about 70 years ago that all these skills were acquired to enable people to pursue their dream of living off the land in a quiet, dignified sort of way.
Who knew there was power in the pig pen!
From the floor of the pen you can harvest an energy source that can fuel “refrigerators” (have you too ever wondered why there is no “d”, yet there is in “fridge”?)
With simple processing by nature itself, the droppings of pigs may be made to run a car. Remember during the war, some people had cars and trucks running on water and steam, driven by ingenuity and necessity.
While solving the problem of waste disposal, pigs were often used as the source of this fuel.
Having a concrete floor allowed the pigs’ excreta to be flushed into a digester – made of a concrete tank, with a “floating” metal drum cover.
Inside the airtight digester, the suspended solids settle to the bottom and organic matter in the liquid begins to decompose, accelerated by the heat of the sun.
The book tells us that the gas produced is 2/3 Methane and 1/3 carbon dioxide.
Evidently, a three- sow operation with one boar and 25 piglets, and feeding an extra 2kg of dry grass, will provide a family of six with enough continuous energy for lighting, cooking, and refrigeration.
So, although this method works, I’m sure we are not all too happy with the amount of work needed to obtain power to your home.
Unless others have done it for you and it’s just a matter of flicking a switch or turning a tap to procure your power, I doubt that many will follow the old ways.
But there are still companies today investing in more modern ways to bring us cheaper power, experimenting and still using similar methods of yesteryear.
Till next time.
