Biofuels

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Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet Mark Lynas See book keywords and concepts

Probably the worst wedge option of all is that of biofuels. Already corn-derived ethanol is being blended into gasoline in the United States, ostensibly to reduce C02 emissions, but in reality having more to do with subsidising the politically powerful farming lobby in 'red' Republican states. It is also far from clear whether any carbon is actually displaced, given that the production, milling and transportation of corn uses large amounts of fossil fuel in trucks, tractors and factories. Some green enthusiasts already run their cars on used chip fat, and are strong advocates of biofuels.

Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown David Steinman See book keywords and concepts

Additionally, if biofuels really take off, we will have to find ways of growing crops without toxic pesticides. So there are issues here, too, to watch out for. But it is a good move in the right direction. Look for Bio Willie at Carl's Corner Truckstop outside Dallas and in California, Georgia, and South Carolina. Biodiesel costs about $2.30 per gallon for a 20/80 vegetable-oil and diesel blend, and $3.20 to $3.50 for pure biodiesel. For more information, visit www.biodiesel.org and www.wnbiodiesel.com. Canola oil, of course, is a favorite of biodiesel fanatics.

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet Mark Lynas See book keywords and concepts

If we leave biofuels and nuclear out of any prospective energy portfolio because of their obvious drawbacks, we can still get our seven wedges in other ways. We need to halve the distances people drive each year, and we need to double vehicle fuel economy. We need to dramatically increase the efficiency of buildings and fossil-fuelled power stations. We need to construct 2 million 1 MW wind turbines to generate electricity, and cover 2 million hectares of land with solar panels. We need to stop the destruction of tropical forests, and we need to dramatically increase tree cover elsewhere.

The greenwashing of toxic consumer products Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Nowhere is greenwashing more overhyped than in the ethanol biofuels industry, where gullible consumers are being told that we can simply farm our way out of an oil crisis by -- get this -- converting most of our food into fuel! Ethanol from corn is so energy inefficient that it takes almost exactly one barrel of oil from somewhere else to farm, harvest, process and produce one barrel of oil equivalent energy from corn. In other words, it's just a massive U.S. energy shell game with absolutely no net gain in energy production, but a huge net loss in food production.

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet Mark Lynas See book keywords and concepts

A related question arises with the European Union's target of 5 per cent biofuels in its vehicle fleet by 2010. Much of this will come from biodiesel, and a major feedstock for this is palm oil grown on plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia. These plantations have been responsible for disastrous clear-cutting of the fast-declining natural tropical forests, destroying the habitat of rare species like the orangutan and causing major additional carbon releases through the burning of wood and underlying peat.

Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown David Steinman See book keywords and concepts

In addition, we continue our efforts to further expand our position as the largest marketer of biofuels." www.shell.com ' Uni-Solar United Solar Ovonic, also known as Uni-Solar, is an industry leader in solar modules and system. They are working to make it simple for anyone to power a home or business with solar power. While solar power systems in the past had the potential to be somewhat of an eyesore on homes, Uni-Solar is offering options that are thin, lightweight, durable, easy to integrate into a roof, and produce more energy per hour than ever.

Shell is currently partnered with Iogen of Canada to produce biofuels from plant waste. The fuel can be used in today's cars, cutting C02 life cycle emissions by 90 percent compared with conventional fuels. Shell recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Volkswagen and Iogen to explore the economic feasibility of producing cellulose ethanol in Germany. Shell Canada has been working with Iogen to develop a viable commercial framework for a facility in Canada.

These scenarios include doubling the fuel economy of 2 million cars and creating conventional biofuels from crops and trees. www.bp.com Chevron Chevron shares a concern about global climate change, and is taking action with a fourfold plan.43 This plan includes reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency; investing in research, development, and improved technologies; pursuing business opportunities in promising innovative energy technologies; and supporting flexible and economically sound policies that protect the environment.

It is an industrial facility that processes corn into many different products, from hog and cattle feed to biofuels such as ethanol, animal feed nutrients like lysine, and, now, plastics. The entire industrial plant covers more than four hundred acres. Drab industrial buildings and countless distillers, silos, and metal buildings are spread out against the backdrop of cornfields. Corn-carrying cars line the railroad tracks within the complex. They were off-loading raw materials into the corn-mashing machines. A truck with "Sweet Brand" emblazoned on its door drove through the gate.

These must be accomplished in short order to ensure that biofuels are totally carbon-neutral. Retailers Target Take it from Target's own Web site, "what's good for.the environment is good for everyone."51 To live by this philosophy, Target is reducing waste and increasing energy efficiency and sustainability. Through recycling and reuse programs, Target has already cuts its waste by 70 percent. The ultimate goal is to be a "zero waste" company.52 Additionally, Target sponsor's recycling programs in their communities.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century Alex Steffen See book keywords and concepts

Or take the petroleum industry: is it in the business of pumping and refining fossil fuels from the earth's crust, or is it really in the business of providing energy, which might increasingly take the form of renewables or biofuels? Oil or energy? How about the petrochemical industry: is it in the business of solving problems through the invention of clever new (and often toxic) petrochemicals, or of providing the best solutions to technical problems in the best way possible, using biology and the rethinking of processes to minimize the need for chemicals in the first place?

Emergent local food economies in cities around the world are signs of that shift, as are growing markets for biofuels and renewable power generated close to home. In truth, a healthy planet demands a blend of global connectivity and ecosystem attentiveness. As we enter such an era—as the industrial metabolism of society changes and natural ecoregions are reshaped by extinctions, invasive species, and unpredictable shifts triggered by climate change—we will be forced to think of "place" in new ways.

It would also be able to burn biofuels, synthetics, or blends in the engine to further reduce petroleum usage. There are a few challenges, of course, such as the current limitations in the kinds of energy storage (batteries, ultracapacitors) that would be necessary for providing enough power and driving range (the distance the car can be driven before it must be recharged) to substitute for combustion engines. And anytime electricity is involved we have to consider the source of the power and the environmental impact of producing that electricity.

JJF & AS Cooking in the Developing World ¦¦¦¦1 More than half of the world's population cooks using biofuels: wood, charcoal, dung, or crop waste. The demand for these wood stoves contributes to deforestation. The smoke they produce leads to respiratory disease, especially in children. Worldwide, cooking-related indoor air pollution kills more people than cigarettes do, according to the British NGO Practical Action's 2004 report "Smoke: The Killer in the Kitchen." Finding better solutions for cooking food is one of the biggest design-for-development challenges.

Efforts are under way to develop planes that can run on biofuels or solar power. Though widespread application of these solutions won't be possible for some time, a Brazilian company has manufactured a crop-duster plane that runs on ethanol, and the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center recently developed a carbon-neutral biofuel that could be suitable for aircraft use —in some respects, it's actually better than kerosene, which jet fuel is traditionally made from. This fuel will potentially cost less than petroleum-based aviation fuel.

There may be another interesting use for algae: getting the critters to eat carbon dioxide (the greenhouse gas emitted when we burn fossil fuels like coal and oil) and then turning them into biofuels. Chemical engineer Isaac Berzin has developed a method of capturing the carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions using algae. His process, based on technology he developed for NASA in the late 1990s, captures more than 40 percent of emitted C02 (on sunny days, up to 80 percent).

The Great Book of Hemp: The Complete Guide to the Environmental, Commercial, and Medicinal Uses of the World's Most Extraordinary Plant Rowan Robinson See book keywords and concepts

Biofuels have several critical advantages over fossil fuels:10 Plants contain almost no sulfur or a number of the other contaminants which are commonly found in petroleum and cause air pollution when burned as fuel. Sulfur is a major component in acid rain. Local agricultural crops can be converted into fuel. This makes energy more accessible, creates community jobs, and helps stimulate regional economic independence and autonomy. Plants use a chemical process known as photosynthesis to convert water and carbon dioxide (C02) into carbohydrates and oxygen.

On the negative side of biofuels: • Annual crops are harvested seasonally rather than year-round. • Biomass is relatively bulky, which requires compaction and adds to storage and shipping costs. • Considerable capital would need to be invested in the development of pyrolysis and incineration facilities. • Plants require additional processing to be concentrated to the condition of fossil fuels. All in all, the benefits of biofuel greatly outweigh its disadvantages.

Therefore, if two-thirds of that fallow land were used for energy farming, that would give America energy independence based on only 10 percent of current cropland being used for biofuels, or 42 million acres. This amount could also be divided between cropland and pasture so as to leave more land available for food production. This does not take into account use of undeveloped urban areas in vacant lots and industrial areas, which could also be used. The bottom line is that it can be done, given the political will and economic investment, but it won't happen overnight.

Hemp biofuels are even more practical for geographic areas that are less energy-intensive than North America. From a global perspective, it has been argued that hemp is the superlative biomass crop (better than corn or trees, for instance) when sustainable ecological criteria are applied. Such criteria would require the following: • Eliminate all chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and other toxins. • Limit cultivation to natural, organic processes. • Include marginal land areas as well as prime farm land.

The combined effect of these changes will be a more level field of competition, with greater economic and environmental incentives to switch over to biofuels. And that does not even take into consideration the health-care savings afforded by living in a cleaner environment. Research into the potential for using enzymes to extract hydrogen from plant carbohydrates promises a very clean fuel (when hydrogen burns, its only byproduct is H20—water!), but the process is expensive, and the technical infrastructure to use hydrogen effectively is not yet ready for mass production.

GE analyst Gene Kimura expressed concern that, due to concerns over global deforestation, biofuels would be politically viable only in conjunction with "some sort of forest management." Why not leave the forests out of the equation and use an annual farm crop as a biofuel source? In that case, the best option is hemp. There are two major sources of biofuel to be derived from hemp: the seed oil and the stalk. We will consider each of these in turn. HEMP SEED AS AN ENERGY SOURCE Vegetable oils are superior to petroleum on several counts, and hemp seed produces one of nature's finest oils.

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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.