Sporty Diesel 157 mpg for $13,000 and Biodiesel

1 Florida Company Looks to E-Grass as Biofuel Feedstock
Egrass
Green Car Congress

February 20, 2006

A West Florida company is looking to rent 11,000 hectares (42.5 square miles) of land in the Philippines to grow e-grass as biomass input to a gasification process to produce transportation fuels.

The Biomass Investment Group (BIG), based in Gulf Breeze (near Pensacola), is offering as much as $400 (around P20,000) per hectare per year for farmers who would be leasing their lands to the project according to papers submitted to the Sarangani Provincial Investment and Promotion Center. BIG is offering to pay the farmers five years in advance for leased lands.

E-grass usually refers to Miscanthus x giganteus, an infertile hybrid of other species of Miscanthus grasses. Miscanthus is a genus of about 15 species of perennial grasses native to subtropical and tropical regions of Africa and Asia.

Miscanthus is being grown experimentally in at least 10 European countries as an energy crop. The crop is established by planting pieces of the root called rhizomes, which are usually collected from nursery fields where miscanthus has already been established.

Miscanthus has relatively high yields of 8-15 tons/hectare (3-6 t/acre) dry weight, low moisture content, low mineral content, and a good energy balance and output/input ratio compared with some other biomass options. It requires about 25 inches of water per year to survive, tolerates brackish water, and uses a minimal amount of nutrients from the soil

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have concluded that Giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), a species of elephant grass, could serve as a clean substitute for solid fuel for use in power generation. They predicted that if just 10% of Illinois land mass was devoted to Miscanthus, it could provide 50% of Illinois electricity needs. Using Miscanthus for energy would not necessarily reduce energy costs in the short term, but there would be significant savings in carbon dioxide production.

BIG's business plan calls for the conversion of e-grass into electricity through gasification, with expansion into the conversion of the syngas into liquid fuels such as ethanol and eventually hydrogen. BIG eventually plans to offer complete bio-refineries, consisting of large-scale commercial production of e-grass and other dedicated crops for production of thermal and electrical energy, transportation fuels, and a variety of value-added bio-based products.

Resources:
1. ORNL Miscanthus factoid

2. treehugger--Loremo AG: Sporty 157 mpg Diesel

The concept is refreshingly simple: make an ultra-efficient car that's light, has exceptionally low drag, and sips diesel with a small engine. This is the Loremo AG, a car that is a combination
of innovative technology and back-to-basics thinking. To be shown at the upcoming car show in Geneva, this German creation claims a fuel economy of 157 mpg with no fancy hybrid drive train, fuel cells, or plug in paraphernalia. Weighing less than a thousand pounds, the sporty rear-wheel drive 4-seater is designed to be maximally aerodynamic. the Loremo sports a modest 2-cylinder, 20 hp turbo diesel motor, has a top speed of 100 mph, and does 0-60 in ten seconds. If that sounds like less than elite performance, the anticipated $13,000 price tag should put it in a bit more perspective. The Loremo is due to come onto the European market in 2009.
Loremo AG via I4U News

NY Times says peak oil "almost certainly correct"

There is lots of positive information rolling past my eyes tonight. This article from the Energy Bulletin is one of them. It mentions the NYT as going on record and confirming peak oil! Further info is on the Oil Drum. But click here for the EB link.

"A Syriana Moment"--Early Warning blog

Stu has some very good writing skills. I implore you to bookmark this blog and go back to it often. I visited George Washington's mansion as a child while on a vacation. I remember the views he is talking about. I loved that place.

Click here to read "A Syriana Moment".

America's Transportation Network--(high speed rail)

On the way home from my training session for my new job, I happened to hear about a Purdue project called America's Transportation Project on NPR. Several people on my discussion group list had mentioned in the past ideas about how to reconstruct our infrastructure to accommodate light rail for passengers and high-speed rail for goods. Well, here it is. It's a group looking at ways to build a high-speed rail system down the medians of the highways already constructed. In our group, someone had already come up with that idea!

Here's the link.

Oilephant Down--Richard Embleton

I have a friend from one of my Yahoogroups that has written a book! From what he has said, it is a non-fictional account of the end of the age of cheap oil from a Canadian perspective. I am going to buy it at my local store, so I haven't read it yet. I believe it is featured on 15 online sites now. The book's debut is not until March, though. I thought I'd give you all a "heads up" for my friend!

Here are the main online bookstore links to his book:
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

on edit: I stand corrected. The book is not fictional, it's non-fictional. I misunderstood and thought it was a *story* of a peak oil scenario from a Canadian perspective. Hope Richard forgives my mistake.

Links to Sustainability: acquaponics, organic farming, power generation

Hello!
Links to Sustainability: acquaponics, organic farming, power generation

Just a few links to whet your appetite for sustainable technology:

Acquaponics:

(barrel acquaponics & supplies)

Fish ponds
Web of Creation - Chapter 1
Web of Creation - Chapter 3
Mother Earth News

General Info
ibiblio.org (mostly older posts from 1990s)
and
ibiblio.org (a mixture of old and new as of 2005)

One Source in Particular:
March 27 & 28, 2006 - Barrel Aquaponics – Construction and Operation
Workshop, Bryson City, NC. Each participant will construct and learn
to operate a productive small-scale system capable of producing high
quality organic vegetables and fish. For more information or to
register, visit: Aqua Culture International, or write:
Aquaculture International, Inc., PO Box 606, Andrews, NC 28901

Videos of Aquaculture International Training (related to aquacultureinternational.org)

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural areas

The Aquaponics Journal Site

Hydroponic Information and Magazine

S&S Aqua Farm

Helpful Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Western Regional Aquaculture Center

Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture

Aquaculture Network Information Center

Fisheries Publications at Texas A&M


Power Generation:
One source in particular caught my eye:
jxcrystals.com (Thermo-PV)

Quote:

Infrared Cell Technology: The foundation of the company is gallium antimonide (GaSb) photovoltaic cells, which respond to longer wavelength radiation than either traditional silicon cells or newer gallium arsenide cells. That is, anything which is hot radiates energy in waves of varying length; silicon cells and GaAs cells capture energy in the visible light spectrum, but not in the longer wavelength infrared spectrum.

GaSb cells make a new type of electric generator possible, because 90% of the available energy is in the infrared spectrum, beyond the band edge of silicon or GaAs cells. To put the significance of this in perspective, consider that a one cm2 silicon cell in direct sunlight will generate about 0.01 Watts and a GaSb cell of equal size will produce a full Watt in a fuel-fired system. Energy densities of more than 100 times are possible, so GaSb photovoltaic cells produced in high volume can generate electricity economically. Development of the first commercially viable "thermophotovoltaic" generator is seen as the top priority of JX Crystals, and the company holds twelve patents on the technology and a copyright on the name Midnight Sun®.

Sustainable Wishes
Sustain_ability

I'm the Area Oil Awareness MeetUp Leader Now

I finally did it. I've succumbed to paying the $19/month to become the Oil Awareness Meetup leader for my area. So far, no joiners. I decided to do it so I won't have to drive to the designated locations outside of my town. I probably won't get many joiners because *they* probably don't want to drive to my town! Oh, well, we'll see what transpires. I had been on the list waiting for a group to start for over a year but nobody took the initiative.

I see where Peak Oil NYC has many members but not many attend all the meetings. If only 1 in 100,000 have joined in NYC, I probably won't have much luck. I'm trying anyway. If after a year nobody has joined, I'll just forget about it. There's probably going to be as much interest in this as I had with my "End of Suburbia" presentation--zilch.

"My Name is Randy, And I'm Addicted To Oil"--Willamette Week Online

Willamette Week Online

Randy White was a few minutes late to his Wednesday-night meeting in the basement cafeteria of the St. Francis church in Southeast Portland.

He dragged a seat up to the 40 or so addicts who sat in a circle of folding chairs on the Smurf-blue linoleum.

Over the past year or so, White, 29, has gotten serious about throwing off the trappings of his old lifestyle, the habits that drove him to use more and more of the stuff, but it hasn't been easy.

By his own admission, White is still hopelessly hooked. It's hard, he confides, when almost everyone you know—even your wife—is strung out, too.

Randy White is addicted to oil.

Then again, he would say, so are the rest of us. At least he's trying to do something about it.

"I'm the guy waving his arms saying, 'Hey, wake up! This is important!'" White says.

Rob Hopkins--Peak Oil, the Loch Ness Monster and Energy Descent

via the Energy Bulletin here

OK, its a tenuous link but stick with me. Last week President Bush announced that the US is ‘addicted to oil’. He unveiled his version of what is going to be done about it, which doesn’t really come close to what actually needs to be done, and seems to amount to letting his friends build lots more nuclear power stations to produce hydrogen to keep the cars on the road, but I suppose we should see it as some kind of a start. It did however raise for me the question as to what we ‘peakniks’ are supposed to do once everyone cops on as to the reality of peak oil. If George Bush feels compelled to ‘fess up’, then we must be pretty close.

In Richard Heinberg’s book ‘Powerdown’, he identifies 4 options we can choose in the face of peak oil. they are Last Man Standing, which is the fight to the end for the last remaining resources (Dick Cheney’s “war that won’t end in our lifetimes”), Waiting for the Magic Elixir, that is the belief that ‘they’ will invent a new power source as versatile as oil and capable of being scaled up and rolled out to the world in a few years), Powerdown, a national government-led process of reorienting the economy for contraction and self-reliance, and Building Lifeboats, which is a ground-up process of communities building their own self reliance.

Bush’s speech comes closer to Waiting for the Magic Elixir than Powerdown. The thing that struck me about it, was that, as I have discussed in previous posts, peak oil is one of those things that people will ignore and deny until it has already happened, and then, once it has happened, all talk about as if they had always known about it. The other morning on Radio 5 Live a Liberal politician was talking and just dropping in the term peak oil as if he had been saying it since primary school.

The First Amendment (not PO related)

Red State, Meet Police State: Boise Weekly

I know this isn't peak oil related but it makes me mad and upset. What has become of our nation? Maybe this was one of the reasons why I grew up hating war and everything about it. Like excessive abusive drinking combined with family life, there is nothing positive about it as far as I can tell.

Karavans--another cool peak oil blog

"Cheney's Got A Gun"

Big Gav from Peak Energy linked me to this blog that had some lyrics to substitute for that Aerosmith song "Janie's Got a Gun". The link happens to be yet another nice peak oil blog.

Harvard Gazette: End of the fossil fuel era?

click here for full story

Simmons recommended starting to work on alternative energy sources now, rather than waiting for an energy shock. He said a major restructuring of the way freight is carried would help, reducing the reliance on trucks in favor of more efficient trains and barges.

He recommended a push to grow more foods closer to home to eliminate the long-distance shipping and encouraged the use of technology that would allow more people to work from home, saving gasoline spent today on long commutes and hours stuck in traffic.

He also recommended letting oil's price rise to reflect its true value. Higher oil prices, he said, would not only encourage conservation, they would increase profits for the industry, encourage new investment in infrastructure and exploration to find new oil sources.

"High energy prices are salvation," he said. "Low energy prices are a curse. The sooner people understand that, the better off we'll all be."

In addition to those moves to change how oil and natural gas are used, Simmons said increased use of coal and nuclear power will be in our energy future. Wind and solar power will also be part of the mix, he said, with wind power already competitive price-wise with oil, and solar power heading in that direction.

"This is a very easy issue for people to be in denial about," Simmons said

The Great Tsunami--Online Journal

click here for full story

To conclude, while I could go on and portray many other elements of the devastating effect that Peak Oil will have upon our society, my message to the American people is just this. To the millions upon millions of Americans who are content to be safely tucked into their protective cocoons, in a self-imposed state of apathy and disinterest relating to these massive problems that America faces, this may be the very final wake-up call. If we, as a nation do not collectively recognize the threat of this great tsunami, refuse to think more deeply or get educated and involved, we will be sealing the fate of our children, our grandchildren and those who follow. They are the ones who matter. We simply cannot refuse to address this monumental issue that threatens their very future existence!

When Peak Oil slams into our society with its tsunami-like force, there will be an instant negative effect on each and every one of us. The US government will have to take immediate measures to prioritize the uses of petroleum for the good of the nation in an effort to overcome the horrendous obstacles that we will face. I am sure that the military, our national police forces, energy providers, the agriculture industry, water supply sources and other critical users of gasoline and natural gas will be given the highest priorities. All other uses of petroleum will be given much lower priorities and will not be considered critical. And that is exactly why lifestyles will be altered drastically.
We simply cannot let our insatiable, our totally out-of-control thirst for oil, cripple our nation and our society as we stand in a completely docile, sheep-like state and just let it happen; just let nature take its course. Just as the Titanic went down with the loss of more than 1,500 passengers who believed she was invincible, Peak Oil will bring down America (and actually the entire world) if we, collectively, do not have the heart and the desire to get involved and demand solutions.

Bernanke: Look for more rate hikes--CNN Money

click here for full story

I thought this was funny. Read energy and food is not included in inflation rates!

Bernanke said that, despite his inflation concerns, the Fed forecast that so-called "core" inflation measures, excluding volatile food and energy prices, should be up about 2 percent this year and 1.75 percent to 2 percent next year.

Pulled Plug on Renewable Energy Gurus--Denver Post

click here for full story

The day Carol Tombari got fired plays in her head like a scene from a cheesy espionage thriller.

She arrived at work and was told to appear at a mandatory meeting in 20 minutes. It was there that she learned she was being laid off and that she had five hours to pack and vacate the premises.

When she returned to her desk, her computer had been disabled, her phone service cut.

She had to cancel an appearance the next day at a regional mayors' caucus. Her presentation on the importance of energy efficiency to local governments was locked in her computer.

She was among the disappeared from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, where 31 workers were dismissed seven days after President Bush read the words "addicted to oil" off the teleprompter and announced yet another "Advanced Energy Initiative."