Archive for the ‘Future Fuel’ Category
June 25th, 2008
Biofuels are a “crime against humanity,” according to one United Nations adviser who was quoted in a BBC article on biofuels and poverty. It seems that biofuels are raising food prices so much that upwards of 30 million people have been “dragged into poverty.” While I’m not a huge fan of biofuels, I do feel that some of the non-food based ones are going to be important to our future.
A total world economic collapse due to a lack of fuel is certainly not going to help ease poverty in the long run. So I hope that people can try to take a more measured view of things, rather than making blanket statements likening biofuels to a holocaust. Food prices will also go up if food can’t be transported cheaply. And that’s a direction correlation to our dimishing fuel supplies. We cannot just stop making biofuels and rely on oil – that’s a recipe for total disaster. We’re going to experience pain either way, but I think the pain will be worse if we have no fuel whatsoever.
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June 10th, 2008
Poor biofuel. It’s just not getting any good press lately. Biofuel is now up to $6/gallon and it’s getting blamed for rising food prices.
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May 12th, 2008
My submission to FUH2.com: A tricked out Hummer seen at the Culver City car show on May 10, 2008. There was a noticeable lack of green vehicles at the event.
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May 12th, 2008
Who woulda thought: Grease is now such a hot commodity as biofuel that it is being stolen…
Grease bandits strike as biofuel demand rises
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May 12th, 2008
From the Associated Press: Use of wind energy expected to grow dramatically
Two decades from now Americans could get as much electricity from windmills as from nuclear power plants, according to a government report that lays out a possible plan for wind energy growth.
The report, a collaboration between the Energy Department research labs and industry, concludes wind energy could generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030, about the same share now produced by nuclear reactors.
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May 2nd, 2008
I’m of the mind that if we can convert sunlight into energy there should be no reason why we need to burn crops to get fuel. Some feel that the trend of using cropland for fuel will cause food shortages and more…
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April 23rd, 2008
CNN is reporting about the pain at the pump; will gas prices ever come back down or are we finally seeing the rampant cost of fuel run up as predicted by the peak oil people?
One commenter really struck me:
I waste gas every day. Because even though i could just as easily do my job from home, I am required by my employer to drive into the office every day. My 17 mile commute takes 40 minutes in stop-and-go traffic. I would LOVE to not have to drive in every day. Can someone (eg Congress) please start penalizing businesses that don’t allow people to telecommute where possible??
And I have to say, I am seeing a decided lack of leadership on this issue. Why aren’t we calling for more telecommuting? Why aren’t we encouraging more use of public transit? Why is our government so silent on this issue? Are we just going to sit around and whine or do something about all this?
Telecommuting is cheap and easy to do, and the only reason it is not done more is that bosses are too prone to want to micromanage and control people. With a webcam, the boss could conceivably be looking at you all day at any rate…shades of Big Brother, for sure, but it would solve some of those management fears that instead of working at home, the employees are out partying.
We need to start making some serious changes, NOW. The worst case scenario: If these prices continue to rise so dramatically, it will be too much too soon and our economy could collapse. So let’s start being more proactive, please!
*end of rant*
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April 21st, 2008
How would you like a battery that could charge your car up for a 500 mile trip in just 5 minutes? EEStor’s Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU can apparently do just that:
EEStor’s take on the ultracapacitor — called the Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU — combines the best of both worlds. The advance is based on a barium-titanate insulator claimed to increase the specific energy far beyond that achievable with today’s ultracapacitor technology. It is claimed that this new advance allows for a specific energy of about 280 watts per kilogram — more than double that of the most advanced lithium-ion technology and ten times that of lead-acid batteries. This could translate into an electric vehicle capable of traveling up to 500 miles on a five minute charge, compared with current battery technology which offers an average 50-100 range on an overnight charge. As if that weren’t enough, the company claims they will be able to mass-produce the units at a fraction of the cost.
According to the company, the “battery” (technically, a capactitor) would be much more environmental and have a much longer lifespan than typical batteries.
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April 17th, 2008
There’s a lot of bad news coming out of the airline industry lately. Companies going bankrupt, mergers on the way, and airlines unable to keep up with basic safety inspections. Rising fuel prices are jacking up the costs for both the airlines and consumers. As I blogged here not too long ago, small regional airlines are going the way of the do-do. I wonder if we’ll even have airplanes in the future, unless someone can come up with a cheap alternative fuel that can carry a large jet through the sky. (I suppose we could go back to dirigibles.) (more…)
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April 9th, 2008
I’m watching Oprah’s webcast with Eckhart Tolle, which is funded in part by commercials from Chevy. These commercials consist of a guy talking to a group of little kids, with a lot of happy whistling music in the background, showing the children how “environmental” they can be riding in a large oversized SUV hybrid.
I don’t care that the Chevy Tahoe hybrid gets 21 mpg, as much as a smaller car, so they say in the commercial. It’s still crappy gas mileage, and the car is still wayyyy too big. (more…)
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