"unless you are using animal power (Horses,Oxen,etc) there is one major problem its what we call fuel, it wont last forever and doesn't have an indefinite shelf-life."

"I know you can home make diesel fuel that will work. I'm thinking that from initial outbreak that it has been less than a year. "

"I can say I've never heard of wood oil so thanks for the education lol. All of yalls points are very valid.

What if your group was part of a raid and trade group supplying static colonies. Say the mobile group is used to go into the more dangerous urban areas to find requested items? With enough trade it would seem that this idea would be plausible.

Side note, does anyone know how long it takes for gasoline and diesel to "expire" "

"Sorry to burst your bubble"

"You didn't burst the bubble, reality did lol. Just researched it and untreated gas is good for only six months max dependent on environmental conditions. Hot and humid where I am so I'm going to cut it down to 3. Diesel can last for a coue of years again depending on the environment. Knowing that kinda kills a lot of plans I had in mind. "

"Diesel is even worse in humidity. It grows mold.

Yeah... your fuel gets moldy. "

"Actually you CAN do it. The process is is nothing more than wood distillation. The very same process used in wood gasifiers. It has gotten press under the name Pyrolysis which is one of the stages of combustion. Pyrolysis in the absence of oxygen (anhydrous) yields methanol and an alphabet soup of -enes and -ines which is loosely called bio-diesel. Most pyrolysis plants focus on a "fast" process which requires a primer fuel source. The methanol cracked out first is used to keep the plant going. The feed stock is any hydrocarbon bearing material. This includes plastics.

Aside: Why are there not fast pyrolysis plants instead of landfills?

Pyrolysis occurs at about 350 to 400 deg F. Such temps are easily achieved with solar reflectors. The average digital TV dish has enough surface area to ignite a 2x4 placed in the focus of its parabola. A true parabola is not needed however, a catenoid shape is sufficient. Causing pyrolysis at low temperatures would be a "slow" process. Little research has been invested in such a process. The theory for slow pyrolysis could be adapted to an on-the-go colony. Whether the heat source is solar, coal, wood, or methanol, there is a feasible method.

No citations here, this is common knowledge in my industry
"

"If you read past my first sentence, I said you can't do that on a large enough scale on-the-go to fuel your stuff properly.
"