Compost Power

[louly]

I am looking for information for the power output of
compost piles. I turned mine the other day and thought I had burnt myself!! My compost is in full sun and south facing. I am told the temperature in the pile centre is at least 60 degrees C, but what is the rate at which this could be removed without seriouly cooling the pile. There is excess heat as I feel it radiating away from my pile. I am only thinking of running say a light (although a enough to power a kettle would be fab) - anyone had any experience with this???

[Capsid]

How do you plan to harness the power? I doubt it is very much.

[louly]

Apparently it goes something like this - The fuel cell consists of a pair of electrodes connected to a circuit board about the size of an iPod. One electrode is placed into any oxygen-deprived environment where bacteria thrive, such as soil, compost, or sediments. This electrode collects the electrons the bacteria kick out as they digest organic matter. These electrons flow through a wire to the circuit board and then to the second electrode, generating electricity.

[dinky_doo]

cool hope that works out for you can you post a diagram for the non-tecnos out there (me)

[louly]

Not so cool I am afraid!! Havent got a clue how to do it - am hoping someone can advise!! It would probably be better to have a community compost at allotments for scale and power output and then perhaps could run enough for a kettle and lights to the allotments - how hard can it be there must be some engineers on this site that could fix one up even a la Rube Goldberg!

[Capsid]

The power output will be miniscule, I suspect. Have you got a link to a site where your read this?

[rogesse]

Sorry, power output would be virtually nothing, you could always whack in a couple of foiled potatoes or well covered chicken cooked for hours!