About one out of every 40 cars and trucks in the United States can now run on a commercial mix of gasoline and ethanol, mostly made from corn. And the federal government is backing the renewable fuel industry. But does ethanol really reduce dependence on fossil fuels?
Category: Energy
“The Origins of the Great War of 2007”
With every passing year after the turn of the century, the instability of the Gulf region grew. By the beginning of 2006, nearly all the combustible ingredients for a conflict – far bigger in its scale and scope than the wars of 1991 or 2003 – were in place.
The first underlying cause of the war was the increase in the region’s relative importance as a source of petroleum. On the one hand, the rest of the world’s oil reserves were being rapidly exhausted. On the other, the breakneck growth of the Asian economies had caused a huge surge in global demand for energy. It is hard to believe today, but for most of the 1990s the price of oil had averaged less than $20 a barrel.
Sort of a bolt of lightning as I’ve been reading Shirer’s the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I’m now entering 1939 in this amazing 1960 work. The look back with respect to opportunities missed is simply astonishing. I hope Ferguson is dead wrong, but one can see the seeds of war…
State’s First BioDiesel Plant Underway
Ground was broken Monday morning on Wisconsin’s first biodiesel plant, a new facility that could dramatically boost demand for state soybeans.
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can be made from vegetable oils or recycled cooking oil.
Green Bay-based Anamax Corp. is starting construction on the $15-million plant next to its existing restaurant-grease recovery plant in DeForest on Monday. The plant will be the largest of its kind in the country, WISC-TV reported.
The 15,000-square-foot plant could be a boon for the state’s soybean farmers as more than 85 percent of biodiesel comes from soybeans.
The plant is expected to produce 20 million gallons annually.
The market potential for biodiesel is huge as Americans burn about 50 billion gallons of diesel every year, and almost all of that is currently petroleum-based
Run Your Car on Cow Fuel
A C$14 million factory near Montreal started producing “biodiesel” fuel two weeks ago from the bones, innards and other parts of farm animals such as cattle, pigs or chickens that Canadians do not eat.
“We’re using animal waste to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said marketing director Ron Wardrop of Rothsay, which runs the plant.
Cheaper Veggie Diesel Process
Any vegetable oil can become fuel, but not until its fatty acids are converted to chemical compounds known as esters. Currently the acids used to convert the fatty acids are prohibitively expensive.
Michikazu Hara, of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Yokohama, Japan, and his colleagues have used common, inexpensive sugars to form a recyclable solid acid that does the job on the cheap. Their research is reported in last week’s issue of the journal Nature.
“We estimate the cost of the catalyst to be one-tenth to one-fiftieth that of conventional catalysts,” Hara said.
The breakthrough could provide cost savings on a massive scale, he said, because the technique could fairly easily make the transition from the lab to the refinery—if interest warrants.
Slashdot discussion.
Tankless Hot Water Heaters via Microwave
Pulsar Advanced Technologies will next week launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a water heater USING microwave technology to heat water on demand.
Powered by electricity and unaffected by the volatile gas markets, the Vulcanus MK4 can heat water from 35 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds and can source multiple applications at once: showers, dishwasher, sink usages and more. The Vulcanus MK4 is the size of a stereo speaker with a sleek modern look, making it ideal for condos and apartments, while powerful enough to serve the needs of any size family. via Zawodny
Monroe’s Ethanol (E85) for $1.96/Gallon
he price won’t stay under a dollar, but even at $1.96 a gallon, drivers will be smiling.
Cory said the corn-based fuel gives him fewer miles per gallon, but he figures he’s still 4 to 5 cents per gallon ahead with the savings at the pump.
He also likes the fact that he’s helping local farmers.
“I think anything we can do to help our own markets and build up our own economy is a lot better off and this is really clean burning fuel,” he said.
Lassee on Ethanol
Wisconsin State Senate President Alan Lassee on AB 15:
I hope to set the record straight that ethanol is a welcome choice for citizens and taxpayers statewide. As the price of gasoline continues to skyrocket, we need to examine the use of alternative fuels and other means to ease our burden every time we fill up our tanks. One of the main reasons I support Assembly Bill 15 is my belief that we need to reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and break the stranglehold of foreign oil sheiks. To me, it is a no-brainer that ethanol, which can be produced in state by the corn grown by our farmers, is a good start to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
The Renew Energy Blog has another perspective on this.
Fight Rising Home Heating Costs
Natural gas prices have more than doubled since last year. Homeowners can expect to see, on average, a 50-percent increase in their bills this winter.
Renee Montagne talks to Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, about what homeowners can do to save on their heating bills.
Getting Oil from Shale a Complex Process
Outside Vernal, Utah, officials with Oil-Tech Inc. say they have perfected an older technology of baking oil from shale in a furnace and wants government approval to mine 1,600 acres of state land plus access to 30,000 tons of shale left outside an abandoned mine on federal land.