Muhaimin Iqbal
Author

Wartime Energy

Advanced Renewable

Tue , 14 May 2024 04:02 WIB

Exactly 80 years ago, at the height of World War II, approximately a year before Germany finally surrendered to the Allied forces, Germany had run out of fuel. But many smart people in that country have long been able to make fuel from coal using technology that is proven to this day, Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis. Even ordinary people can make their own gasification systems to put in their cars, because fuel is very scarce and if there is any it is also very expensive.

Now 80 years later, the world is also threatened with World War III, this time if it actually happens - hopefully not! In fact, the epicenter is in the Middle East, where the center of world oil production is there, and the main route for world oil trade must pass through those area as well. What does this mean? Oil and gas supplies around the world could suddenly become scarce.

So what preparations can the world community make to face this very undesirable but also likely situation? Again, we can learn from Germany, especially its Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) technology.

It is very possible for us to produce this technology from the last century on a small scale today, my sketch is more or less like in the picture below. This micro-scale FTS system, which I call BTX (Biomass To X) can produce whatever fuel we need, such as diesel, petrol and LPG, from whatever biomass is around us.

Under normal conditions, when the world is fine, perhaps only communities or projects in remote areas where energy is scarce or expensive need this kind of solution, or it could also be communities that already need green energy that is truly fossil-free. But when the world is threatened with the next big war which could become World War III, people or communities around the world need to immediately take precautions in anticipation if something we don't want actually happens.

We from the Advanced Renewable Organization (ARO) are willing to share the ins and outs of this technology, while internet access is still fine. It doesn't hurt to always have an umbrella ready before it rains!