Perhaps we need to consider ways to be independent and self-sustaining as we don’t know what the future holds for us. It may be a few months to a few years before we really feel the crunch of what seems to be appearing on the horizon. I am adding a “Preparedness Category” to my blog. I will be writing some blog articles based on my research efforts, in order to share light and truth as the best I can.
I just listened to a 37-minute talk by Dr. Vladmir Zelenko, who is one of my heroes shedding light and truth regarding the pandemic. My goal is to help move out of fear, which is driven by Satan, and into faith, love, joy, peace, and trust in God. My goal at age 85 is to do all that I can to bring as many as will to Christ, for I know He “is the way, and the truth, and life.” (John 14:6) The following information is relevant in terms of some of our preparations for the future; if you will, supporting activities. At the end of this blog article are several links that I believe will also help you in the future. The new book I am writing is totally focused in this direction as well: Time and Eternity; The End-times and Beyond.
Exciting New Battery Technologies
Because of the high demand for battery technology, great improvements have been made. Now the energy density has improved enough there are major plans to use them in airplanes, and the planes now being flown have awesome and environmentally-friendly performance: (see the link below).
I recently learned of a new battery technology readily available for home and general use. (See the link below for Lithium-iron-phosphate batteries). A 12-volt car battery may have about 70 amp-hours of energy storage. These LiFePO4 batteries at 12 volts have a capacity of 300 amp-hrs.
Several years ago, knowing that the Edison nickel-iron batteries were the most reliable energy-storage batteries, I learned that a good friend of mine had some of these old-used batteries in his outdoor garage. They had been sitting there for over 20 years – suffering hot and freezing temperatures. They had been used at railroad switching stations, and had been made in England several decades ago – an old – early 1900s — but very reliable battery technology.
A few years ago, I asked him if I could borrow some and experiment with them. I was able to get them working. He had some extra electrolytes (potassium hydroxide). So, with his help we refurbished 20 of them, to store energy in a five-function garage that I had designed and built, as explained in the video — https://vimeo.com/536063317.
At minute 12 in the video, I explain in the following few minutes some of the energy considerations for using these batteries – coupling into the geothermal temperature and growing food year-round in a Walipini greenhouse.
For my 12-volt system, I bought ten pairs of these batteries from my friend. After refurbishing them, I installed them in April 2018 and powered them with four photo-voltaic panels that provide over a kilowatt of power to store solar energy (year-round) for our five-function garage. We have gotten a lot of service out of them over the last 3 ½ years, but they are far from being maintenance-free, and they don’t store energy well.
When I recently learned of the Lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, I calculated that two of them could more than replace all ten pairs of the Edison nickel-iron batteries with 600 amp-hours at 12 volts energy capacity. So, last week, I made the change. I share here the pictures before and after:
Because my battery volume decreased significantly with much higher energy density with this new LiFePO4 technology, I decided to take it one step further.
Batteries provide electrical energy storage. By doing the following, I added thermal energy storage to the mix. Since most chemical reactions are exothermic, energy is dissipated in the form of heat during charge and discharge cycles. Water has excellent thermal energy storage capacity (1 calorie/gram/degree Celsius) – is about five times better than bricks or stones. In the picture, you can see the caps on five four-inch tubes rapped like a “U” around the batteries – filled with water– with a two-inch rigid foam board box surrounding it with aluminum foil on the inside of the insulation to reflect the energy into the box.
This way, passively, we are storing both electrical and thermal energy with each charge and discharge cycle, which should make the batteries more efficient. How much? We will see by experimentation. It came together well last week; we’ll see how it performs. It should be a major step forward with up to 4,000 to 6,000 potential recharge cycles and be totally maintenance-free! Which means they should last up to the millennium! 🙂
Our Walipini Solar Heated Greenhouse Experiment
Our Walipini experiment seems to be working pretty well also. We can see some improvements in the design, but below you can see a sample of our Christmas harvest the other day:
Not every day do you get to see these growing in December!
The best thing we can do to prepare for the future is to live and share the glorious gospel of Christ. It is not only the “good news,” it is the BEST NEWS! The world cannot keep us from sharing it because of the joy it brings to our souls. We want the world to know the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus have for us – providing a perfect plan of happiness through the Savior’s infinite atonement. The poet Eliza R. Snow summarizes it beautifully:
How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption’s grand design
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
Helpful Information and Links
I have a blog article entitled http://itsabouttimebook.com/the-good-news-of-three-gospels/ , which is full of useful information as we look to the future.
The following is the link for Dr. Vladmir Zelenko, Speech to Australian Politicians; Common sense and good info! Dec 26, 2021 (37 minutes). https://www.bitchute.com/video/TwjvOQ8o5ivV/
Based on Dr. Zelenko’s research and others: http://itsabouttimebook.com/strong-immune-system/ .
http://itsabouttimebook.com/the-covid-19-vaccination-debate/
Fly Electric: The Aircraft of the Future Takes Flight (theatlantic.com)
Lithium iron phosphate battery – Wikipedia
David W. Allan (27 December 2021)
Photo: CC Flickr = Preparations