Forget coal, this is the energy of the fuuuttuuuurreeeee

1st Official Post

    The problem with non-renewable energy sources, coughcoalcough, is that you need to go further and further to gather enough to run all your neat machines and gadgets, especially if you haven't reached the point of nuclear energy yet.


    However, I have decided I will take that no longer, I've turned to a renewable energy source that's far more usefull (and tasty) than coal! Sugar Cane.


    This farm is not made for efficiency, but speed. Running along it's rows to gather only the middle section and up produces around 623 pieces of sugar cane in one harvest, and leaves behind enough to perform another harvest soon after. It's quick growing, and easy to process into fuel for my machines. Now if only fuel worked in the current IC2...... MinecraftGhast


    • Official Post

    A few minor suggestions to improve your efficiency (I love massive sugarcane farms. :D )


    You can put stone slabs over the top of the water. This lets you walk between rows without falling into the water (saves a lot of time). Another trick is to use a mining laser setup. Just make an 8 row long sugar farm (I think it's 8) and blast away. Or with the new long range laser, 15 blocks. Can harvest each row in one click + collection time per row. :D

    Another nice form of plant energy I like to use is cactus. Make a simple cactus farm and use an obby pipe at the collection point. Burn the cactus in generators. It works well, as it is fully automatic and with an iron pipe on the line somewhere, you can either harvest cactus for dye. When you don't harvest, burn it for minimal waste. Obviously, bigger farm = more energy.

    automated cactus farm + buildcraft factory + small ore processing plant == automated biofuel production, just stay afk near it and later pick up fuel\SU Batteries.


    But now biofuel is dead...

    Quote from RawCode

    But now biofuel is dead...


    ...uhm, no it's not. You can still make fuel with plant stuff. You just need 2x compressed plant clump per cell, and since a fuel container needs 6, that's 6*2*8 = 96 units of plant for fuel... which burns for idk how many EU.

    Dont forget the automated 1 button push piston autoharvest sugarcane farm :P


    I can push one button and 20 seconds later i get >64 sugarcane in my chest.
    hook up a redstone timer for automated awesomenss while you work on other stuff

    • Official Post
    Quote from FourFire

    Dont forget the automated 1 button push piston autoharvest sugarcane farm :P


    I can push one button and 20 seconds later i get >64 sugarcane in my chest.
    hook up a redstone timer for automated awesomenss while you work on other stuff

    Don't forget 1 piston costs 1 iron. Which is an extremely valuable resource. Fine for TMI'd stuff, but if you're playing SMP or without it, that's a very expensive farm.

    I personally prefer charcoal. You get 4000 EU a pop, and you just need lots of logs. (Which is easy if you are in a forest like me :P)
    But a large suger cane farm does work to.

    • Official Post
    Quote from RawCode

    automated cactus farm + buildcraft factory + small ore processing plant == automated biofuel production, just stay afk near it and later pick up fuel\SU Batteries.


    But now biofuel is dead...

    Problem with auto farms like that are the accidently buildup ruining your world. We have a chunk on IR that lags everyone out when they go near it. CACTUS BLOCK OVERLOAD


    But yes, it's a great idea.

    Quote from killerbeez

    Problem with auto farms like that are the accidently buildup ruining your world. We have a chunk on IR that lags everyone out when they go near it. CACTUS BLOCK OVERLOAD


    But yes, it's a great idea.

    A simple fix for that is to make the cactus drop onto an item destroying block (say, cactus) until you flip a switch that would make them enter your buildcraft pipe or whatever you are doing. I had to do this myself after basically getting 1 FPS due to cactus overload, but it fixes the problem.

    Same as above but use a sticky piston that would redirect unused cactus to lava when overflow occurs

    Quote from FourFire

    Same as above but use a sticky piston that would redirect unused cactus to lava when overflow occurs

    could use a chest storage prior to generator and obsidian pipe recovery system around the chest for overload. obs pipes drop the overload in lava. instant win.

    Quote from Viktor_Berg

    You seem to forget that you can use Charcoal to fuel generators. Which is renewable. And very fast with Bonemeal.

    Ok well i havent done the math for it but could you use an electric furnace to make charcoal? maybe this could prove reliable and if you have BC too make an automated furnace... all you need next is just a setup for an auto tree farm and your set. (BTW can make those)

    • Official Post
    Quote from Deepsniper

    all you need next is just a setup for an auto tree farm and your set. (BTW can make those)

    You can make them with Buildcraft as well. Using an on/off switch. Had a great one on Industrial Rage. It used a filler to harvest the trees and a builder template to plant the saplings. Simple water transport and obsidian pipe to collect, then wood sorted to chests and sapling re-sent to the builder.


    Finally, a simple redstone circuit to power them.


    Can't remember who made it (think it was Superzip), but it was very clever.

    Quote from Lurch1985

    You can make them with Buildcraft as well. Using an on/off switch. Had a great one on Industrial Rage. It used a filler to harvest the trees and a builder template to plant the saplings. Simple water transport and obsidian pipe to collect, then wood sorted to chests and sapling re-sent to the builder.


    Finally, a simple redstone circuit to power them.


    Can't remember who made it (think it was Superzip), but it was very clever.

    This is why I love IC²+BC.

    Hi all !


    I just subscribed to this forum, but I have been reading it for about one month. I'm very curious about the auto-collect tree setup using the filler : how does it work ? Is it usable with blocks such as cobblestone (for a auto-collect cobblestone generator) ?


    Thanks