Energy is a simple concept to understand – you need energy to perform work, whether that’s moving a car, running a chainsaw, or splitting wood. Energy is also necessary to heat our homes and keep our bellies full.
Energy (or the lack of energy) is also the cause of modern wars, and the decimation of Mother Earth. So, if you think about your everyday actions that consume energy, it’s pretty easy to see that multiplying those actions by 8 billion (the number of people on earth) that massive amounts of energy are consumed every day. To put a number on the world’s yearly energy consumption is about 180,000 TeraWatt-Hours (1 TwH is 1 Billion KwH). This char shows the world energy consumption since the year 1800 from Our World in Data.
Nuanced Forms of Energy Generation and Storage
In the last 20 years solar panels have become the best way to move off-grid and have reliable, relatively inexpensive energy generation. Coupling solar panels with battery packs for energy storage has made living off-grid easier than ever. Compared to running a gas or diesel generator for electricity, solar panels provide a much cleaner and quieter source of energy. Clearly, the ability to live without electricity or gasoline is the most environmentally friendly option, but most people are not willing to give up the convivence that electricity provides.
There are more nuanced sources of energy on a homestead. Using wood to heat a home and cook food is fairly common and certainly easy. Food is a source of energy for humans and animals, and clearly vital for feeding homestead inhabitants, but it is not often thought of in terms of a store of energy.
In the same vein, animals can be considered a store of energy, either for their ability to do work like plowing or pulling a cart, or if they are an animal that produces food like eggs or milk. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that energy makes the world go round, so if you can capture and store more energy on your homestead cheaply in any form, then you will be better off economically.
Wood Energy, and How to Make Trees Produce More Wood
Clearly, wood is important to homesteaders for a number of reasons, whether building structures, making tools, making furniture, or just for burning. You could use the same wood for burning as you would for making furniture, but it probably makes more sense to sell excess furniture quality wood than to burn it. There is also a way to get a tree to produce more firewood more quickly than if you were to just let it grow naturally.
Coppiced trees are trees that have been allowed to grow for a few years (typically 3-4) and then the entire trunk is cut down near the base when the tree is dormant in winter. The established root system will throw up many (potentially 40+, depending on the age of the tree) new shoots in the spring, and then you can let those new shoots grow again for 3-4 years and cut them all down, starting the process over again. Over the years the root system will continue to gain strength and will produce more and more shoots each time.
Fast Biomass from Willow Trees
Clearly, a coppiced tree will produce more wood more quickly than a tree that is not coppiced, but what about selecting the right variety of tree to quickly create biomass? Well, there’s many fast growing trees, but if you want a lot of biomass quickly, it also makes sense to have a tree that is easy to propagate. Enter: Willow trees. Willow trees are extremely easy to propagate and depending on the variety can grow up to 16 feet in a year! Not only are Willow trees fast growing and easy to propagate, but the young shoots are often used for basket weaving and other similar crafts like wicker chairs.
The biomass that the willows produce could be burned directly, or it can be digested and turned into gas in a biodigester with other compost. Biodigesters are great for the leaves and twigs off the tree – basically the stuff that burns too fast to be of any real good in a fire (except at the start).
The biogas generated form the biodigester can be stored and used for running any typical gas home appliance, though the appliance may need some modified parts to be compatible with the biogas. Even so, biogas is a great way to turn food scraps and yard clippings in usable gas, and still generate compost!