In a TV program, an old Red Army soldier recalled the hardships on the Long March and said that in the face of fuel shortage, lard could only be used instead of diesel to generate electricity for radio stations to send messages.
A small bowl of lard. Bake it with a lighter and it will melt quickly. Soak the cotton wick with lard, then pour the lard into the jar, stuff the cotton wick, and light it with a lighter. The flame does not seem to be big, but it emits the fragrance of lard residue. The flame slowly grew bigger, and it seemed that there was no problem with the lard igniting. I inserted the lard lamp into the end of the engine piston tube. After waiting for about two minutes, the engine still stopped running. Da Shi turned the wheel with his hand. With a clicking sound, the engine started running very fast.
The generator was driven to generate electricity and the lamp beads were lit. The sound sounded very rhythmic, like the kind of tractor I saw when I was a child. A small can of lard was lit for nearly an hour. The fire has not been extinguished, and the engine has been running to provide power. Using lard to generate electricity sounds incredible, but it is not difficult to implement. In the early external combustion engines, as long as anything that can be ignited, lard, firewood, coal, and alcohol can be used. to generate electricity.
In addition to lard, there were many incredible-sounding ways to generate electricity during the war years, such as hand-cranked power generation, salt water charging of batteries, and even modified train locomotives to generate electricity, all of which demonstrated the wisdom of revolutionary predecessors.