Tag: Ethanol

Jul 12 2010

It may be possible to Recycle CO2 — back into Fuel

One of my techie hopes is that Science will one day figure out how to Split our excess CO2 production, back into its component parts:  C and O  (harmless Carbon and Oxygen).

One small problem though — Carbon Chemical Bonds are among the strongest bonds out there.  These chemical bonds are the reason HydroCarbons (long chains of Carbon atoms tied to each other, and padded by Hydrogen Atoms), can power our homes, our vehicles, and our Electric power plants.

Burning a HydroCarbon molecule releases all that condensed Energy, previously stored in those Carbon Chain bonds, by millions of years of Geologic heat and pressure.



Just Think:

methane

propane

butane

pentane

hexane

octane

and you may get an idea WHAT “fueled” our Industrial Age — the quick and easy release of all that Chemical Energy, stored in all those Organic Carbon bonds.

Anyone got a Match?

Nov 03 2009

Utopia 16: Student Driver

               An optimist isn’t necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places–and there are so many–where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.  Howard Zinn

Jul 04 2009

Utopia 11: Jerry’s Story



All the problems we face in the United States today

can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian.



Pat Paulsen

Aug 21 2008

The senator from ethanol-land

I’m at work (this is my work ’til close night), so this will be short.

Original article by Nicole Colson, subheaded Barack Obama has been talking tough about taxing Big Oil, but as Nicole Colson notes, there’s a reason he won’t criticize companies that are reaping record profits off of the current ethanol boondoggle, via socialistworker.org.

Mar 16 2008

Hey! The MSM just figured out what you and I have known for A Long Time.

Guess what?  The media has caught on!  Sure, a couple of years after those of us that have been paying attention already knew the answer, but HEY! at least they decided to report on it.  Only because it helps corporate interests, but they did finally report on it.  

Go figure.

What, you ask, did they finally uncover?  The reason your food is costing more money!  WHOA!  Be still, my bank account.

From a story, issued from MSNBC late Friday afternoon.

If you’re fuming about how high gasoline prices have gotten, why not relax with a nice meal?

Perhaps a few beers and a turkey sandwich? Maybe a chicken Caesar salad?

Well, it’s not just the price of gasoline that’s going up. That beer, turkey and chicken are also costing more too.

Let me see.  What do beer, turkey and chicken have in common?  

Hmmmmmm.  Nope, I can’t figure it out for myself. It must be too obvious or something…

As President Bush noted in his comments on the economy Friday, “Prices are up at the gas pump and in the supermarket.”

Welp, I wonder how that happened on Your Watch, oh enlightened Presnit?  

Lets see, shall we?

Jan 09 2008

Cut CO2 by 94%, Produce 540% EROEI with Switchgrass!

Switchgrass is nothing less than amazing!

BBC News reports on a new study, Grass biofuels ‘cut CO2 by 94%’.

Producing biofuels from a fast-growing grass delivers vast savings of carbon dioxide emissions compared with petrol, a large-scale study has suggested.

A team of US researchers also found that switchgrass-derived ethanol produced 540% more energy than was required to manufacture the fuel.

One acre (0.4 hectares) of the grassland could, on average, deliver 320 gallons of bioethanol, they added.

This is good news for the United States in so many ways:

  1. Fewer CO2 emissions – 94% is almost “carbon neutral”

  2. 540% EROEI – Growing “energy independence”

  3. Better than corn and soy – Less need for harmful herbicides and pesticides, such as Atrazine

  4. Native prairie grass – Improves local biodiversity

  5. Plant once – Reduces erosion and farm fuel consumption