On Apr 10, 9:36*am, "Anthony R. Gold" wrote:
On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:52:43 -0700 (PDT), John Nagelson

wrote:

2) how easy is it to get hold of, and run, ageneratorfuelled by
SOLID FUEL, e.g. coal or wood or both?

That sounds VERY hard, requiring a boiler and steam turbine.

Yes indeed - basically a steam engine, but there were a lot about in
the UK until about 1950, although I guess maintenance would be a
problem!

3) how easy is it to run ageneratorfuelled by DIESEL? And surely if
you do, you don't have to pay petrol-station prices? Is there a legal
way to avoid paying the excise?

Diesel and kerosene are essentially the same but with different tax
rates.

Many thanks for this info, which is new to me! This means I could get
a Honda diesel generator and keep the paraffin in the kind of tank
used for fuelling heating systems.

4) what about running an oil-fuelledgeneratoron cheapo COOKING OIL?
Is this practicable? Is it legal?

I guess legal but smelly (assuming you mean used oil) with the same noise
issues as fuel oil but also problems with moisture contamination and
corrosion, securing a reliable source and performing whatever filtering
and purification are needed. *It may also have problems of solidifying
in cold weather.

I meant buying big bottles of economy cooking oil from Asda's, as some
people do for unlawful use in their cars. I think using it in a
generator would be lawful (unless someone on uk. legal otherwise).

You never asked about LPG/propane which is another possibility. *I run a
40kW LPG generator with automatic transfer just as a backup during power
failures in a place where the power does fail all too regularly.

Quite a lot of kW! Hadn't considered LPG. Is it poss to get smaller
generators using this as fuel?

Cherers,

John