Alcohol Fuelled, Organic Halifax

Let me get something straight right off the bat. I am not a Hippy.

In fact at first glance, “they” typically dismiss me as another one of the “sheeple”, quite detestable. I get contemptuous looks often in return for my smile as I pass various hipsters on the sidewalk.

Lots of reasons for this perhaps, but it might boil down to the fact that I don’t walk around in hemp clothing, unshaven. My sense of style screams “Proletariat Worker Drone”. When I’m not in work clothes, I’m wearing cheap sweat shop clothes or random cheapies from Winners. My goal is typically not to stand out either way – for being over dressed or for being blatantly grungy.

I like to think it’s substance over style for me, but I’m biased. It’s ok, when I have these mildly negative encounters, I simply try to focus on empathy and on not being spiteful, and then it doesn’t irk me as much. Who knows what kind of shit they deal with day to day. Probably involves being broke though, and I sympathize.

Not quite related, fun diversion:

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age comes to mind here; He and some of his musical partners in crime were featured on the travel show “No Reservations” recently with Anthony Bourdain, discussing the Desert Rock music scene and described it thus: “..it’s like Hippies, but with showering..”.

Anyway..

My carbon footprint is something that I have been lowering significantly in recent years; I continue to do so as I evolve and as my priorities change.

My teenage years were largely marked with a sentimental, and mostly irrational love of 1970’s Ford Trucks. My earliest memories were of being my Grandfather’s passenger as he went about his modest contracting business, and years after he passed I never forgot them.

By the time 2005 rolled around, I transformed that folly into using a 1976 F250 4×4 that I rebuilt in Vancouver as I went about various sole proprietor carpentry adventures. Trick is, I ran the truck on Propane, or LPG.

LPG, very similar to Compressed Natural Gas or CNG – is a much cleaner burning – and in the western part of Canada – a much cheaper fuel than dirty old Gasoline. I took pride in this fact as I ran what was then a 30 year old truck using a very efficient, cheap and clean fuel system (emissions are akin to that of a compact car) to be the workhorse of my business. Yes it’s still a fossil fuel, but perhaps the best of a bad situation – at least as I understood it at the time.

In 2007 I returned to the Halifax area, and was very discouraged by the lack of availability and price gouging of LPG as a motor fuel in Nova Scotia.

My disgust over the LPG situation led me to explore other alternative fuels, and discovered that many of the commercial alternatives out there such as E85, are a bad joke. Good quality farmland that should be used for food, being used to produce ethanol? No thanks. E85 is no cleaner, and burns less efficiently than gasoline.

Whatever the crops used for fuel, they shouldn’t be using arable farmland. They shouldn’t be grown in competition with Food crops, the prices of which continue to skyrocket. Some simple Googling will make this clear, don’t take my word for it.

—

In a more positive turn, I stumbled onto this site:

http://www.permaculture.com/

While the presentation is kind of hokey, the message is clear – produce your own clean burning fuel, in a relatively easy and sustainable way. The cost is quite manageable, and you don’t end up competing with food crops on good farmland.

In a nutshell: Build a still – yep, just like one for moonshine. Difference is, your making alcohol that is close as possible to 100% pure. 80-90% is more realistic. You can use any feedstock – weeds, kitchen scraps, etc that can be grown or generated just about anywhere – not prime farm land – and the mash gets turned back into the soil as the best kind of fertilizer you could use. Hence the term “Permaculture”.

I gotta give a nod to Guy Earle of Frank Magazine here. I admit I don’t know much about him so far beyond what I’ve read in the past few issues of Frank Magazine, but I was definitely surprised to see him write about the history of Alcohol fuel and David Blume in his column in the most recent issue of Frank, #621. Go get it. Never mind the article, the magazine period kicks some serious ass and should be standard reading for anyone who lives in Halifax.

Beyond all of this, I’ve seen the plans and the instructions, and I’m game to get involved with this whenever the pieces fall into place. I have construction and machinery experience/education sufficient to build these, but not being a land-owner or having an excess of extra capital to just go out and do this on my own, it’s something that’s filed under “post-armageddon survival techniques” for this guy for now.

—

As for what alcohol fuels me? Well It would typically be Sleeman’s Original Draft or Miller Genuine Draft in the summer, but once Hockey season and colder temperatures arrive – It’s Forty Creek Rye all the way. Just a double with Water, please. Wine is a relatively newer treat for me, usually saved for the company of women.

—

These permaculture concepts might dovetail nicely however, with some of the Organic Food businesses in town. It so happens that I just moved near the one on Allan Street.

The proprietor is quite busy however, and seeing me coming in my sweat shop clothes, interrupting his busy day – I haven’t felt the most welcome. That and we had a parking issue on day one (mixup on the part of our landlord) that got his back up right off the bat. I’ve been working in my way to be a good neighbour, time will tell.

I certainly respect the business and it’s goals – and also look to be a good customer – if I ever feel more welcome.

Again, empathy and a lack of spite.. I try to be patient when my various energies don’t get the best of me.

Thanks for reading,.