Volvo 240 runs on wood gas
31.08.2010Wood instead of petrol? And as a power source for a normal passenger car to boot? Read the story of John from the Netherlands and his Volvo 240.
Dutch John's goal was to equip a passenger car with a modern stainless steel carburettor. In the first place, an American pick-up truck was envisaged, because of the practical loading platform on which the generator could be placed. The low revs of the large-volume engine are also very suitable for wood gas. However, a proper truck would have meant a considerable additional financial outlay. Both acquiring and taxing the car. Vintage cars are generally in moderate condition and expensive to acquire. In addition, a large car consumes a lot of fuel. Therefore, a passenger car with which one can transport something. The alternative on a trailer was out of the question. It had to be a practical car that could also be parked in a normal car park. Now John has a weakness for Volvos and on his list of "cars still to be had" was a Volvo 240. During the build-up and no doubt after completion, the Volvo proved to be a good choice.
Wood has been replaced by fossil fuels as fuel in cars, but it hasn't disappeared completely. John's twenty-year-old Volvo 240 brings back the days when thousands of new European cars ran on wood gas. It seems almost like magic that wood is the only way to reach a top speed of 120 km/h. The fuel consumption is about 30 kilos of wood for 100 kilometres, which is also equivalent to a filling. With the back seat full of bags of wood, the total achievable distance is about 400 kilometres.
But before the Volvo 240 could run on wood gas, it took 11 months and almost 1,000 man-hours to build a system that uses wood as fuel. The whole system plus the Volvo cost him around 15,000 to 20,000 euros. Besides the Volvo 240, John has also built a wood-powered lawn mower and a wood-powered electricity generator.
