[biofuels-biz] NIR
Keith Here's a start to the aforementioned NIR research http://www.foss-nirsystems.com/ (full of different ways to apply the technique (incl continuous process monitoring, note the links link at the top) http://www.thermo.com Again, huge product line; one of many interesting ones is; http://www.thermo.com/eThermo/CDA/Products/Product_Listing/0,12299,127 57-1,00.html another huge product range here, and an interesting compact version; http://www.bruker.com/optics/pages/products/nir/matrix.htm http://www.ltindustries.com/prod01.htm quite tantalising, but leaves you short with info (ie price!!) http://www.topac.com/spectrophotometer.html (finally a price. This appears to be an 'entry level' unit!) I am awaiting quotes/reply email. Regards Steve Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuels-biz] [biofuel] Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate
No biodiesel! :-( Comment from Pedro Macanas: What can we do to help to appear biodiesel in the The Airstream trailer . Perhaps an american ( straight ) biodiesel company can sponsor some gallons for demostrations ( perhaps, the company would recieve publicity and subscribe contracts with local companies ?? ) ?? In any case, perhaps we, biodieselers and specially biodiesel companies, can organize similar for Biodiesel, if necessary. It«s very important the truck-trailer must be powered by biodiesel ;-) Like said in another mine posts, Biodiesel must be know like alternative energy to nuclear-fossil energy ;) and we, biodieselers, have a great paper there. All the best. http://inq.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2001/07/25/business/ENERGY25.htm Wednesday, July 25, 2001 Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate The Airstream trailer in which three energy-efficiency tour members stay has solar panels on the roof that power the refrigerator and air conditioner. (VICKI VALERIO / Inquirer Staff Photographer)By Thomas J. Brady INQUIRER STAFF WRITER America's Energy Future Tour stopped off at City Hall yesterday to demonstrate fuel-efficient and alternative-energy vehicles and appliances. The purpose of the tour is to help consumers understand energy choices and the effect they can have on the environment. It is billed as a counterpoint to President Bush's energy plan that would include new oil and gas exploration in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and other federal lands, and expanded use of coal and nuclear energy. Among the exhibits are hybrid-fuel vehicles, a solar-powered Airstream trailer, energy-efficient appliances, fuel cells, and demonstrations of wind power. There is even a solar-powered laptop computer. The 27-city tour, which began July 10 in Maine and ends Sept. 10 in Albuquerque, N.M., continues today in Dover, Del. It is sponsored by the National Environmental Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes public understanding of environmental issues. The problem with the Bush energy plan is that it takes us back to drilling for oil and digging for coal, 19th-century technologies, said John Flowers, director of the Energy Tour. We need to take a step forward to 21st-century technologies. The display includes a Toyota Prius, a gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle. Unlike electric-only cars, its power system never needs to be recharged from an outside source. The car has a fuel efficiency of 52 miles per gallon in the city and 48 on the highway. As Flowers explained it, the car runs mostly on electricity in the city. An onboard computer switches the car's energy source between gasoline and electricity. The car's battery is recharged using energy generated in braking, a system called regenerative braking. The Airstream trailer, in which the three members of the group traveling with the tour stay, has retractable solar panels on the roof that power the refrigerator, air conditioner and even a computer. The trailer also contains displays on net metering, through which excess power created by the solar panels can be stored or sent back to the electric grid, saving money for the consumer by rolling back the electric meter. The tour features fuel cells, which convert the energy of a fuel (hydrogen, natural gas, methanol) and an oxidant (air or oxygen) into electricity. Also on display yesterday were a number of human/electric-powered utility vehicles manufactured by Kronosport Inc., a Philadelphia company. Among the pedal-powered vehicles was a rickshawlike taxi, 10 of which were used at last summer's Republican National Convention. Edward A. Kron, president and chief executive officer of the company, noted that the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had bought two of the company's nonpolluting cargo vans. The tour also features a number of speakers. In Philadelphia yesterday, Joseph Otis Minott, executive director of the Clean Air Council, a nonprofit environmental organization, said, The answer to the United States' energy needs lies in energy-efficiency and clean renewable energy. Having an energy policy that relies on fossil fuel is a giant step backward for the United States. Beth McConnell, clean air and energy advocate with PennPirg, the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, said that the examples of clean, efficient energy technologies around us are proof that we can meet our energy needs without drilling, spilling, polluting or meltdowns. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM -~- Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject
[biofuel] Nuclear
Keith wrote: So global warming's a plot, GMOs are good for you, and now nukes are cleaner than Kleenex? They just had a bad press? And as with the other two, no references, no citations, just opinion, unsupported, no visible foundation (same as bubbles, which soon burst). It's not a very effective way of persuading people. But I suppose those that want to believe it will. You could start where I did - Petr Beckman's The Health Hazards of NOT Going Nuclear, which was more or less forced down my throat by a friend who was getting a little tired of my ill-informed anti-nuclear rants. It contains further references. I don't think it's in print, but there might be used copies available. I think I've given mine away. I read it intending to refute it and set my friend straight, but it didn't quite work out that way. The key reference listed in Beckman, which I checked out, was a Department of Labor [?] study of the total casualty cost of the nuclear fuel cycle, from mining to disposal, compared with other sources of energy. This was a very thorough actuarial study which included not only actual deaths and injuries per energy unit generated, but expected excess deaths from long-term effects of release of radioactive matierials, occupational and casual radiation exposure. Nuclear came out neck-and-neck for first [safest] place with natural gas. That forced me to look further, because there was no way to reconcile those well-documented (and publicly available) figures with the anti-nuclear crowd's propaganda - it wasn't simply a matter of opinion or interpretation. It didn't take me long to develop an extremely jaundiced view of the anti-nuclear crowd and their propaganda, which at that time was mild and seemed rational. I think that even without Beckman, I would have eventually been made suspicious by rhetorical tricks like using the same word nuke for both nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs, but Beckman gave me an early start. Marc de Piolenc Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Nuclear
You wouldn't think so from the publicity that BNFL puts out. Come and see how safe Windscale/Sellafield (change the name get rid of the problem) is. You can eat your tea off the floor,or at least off the glossy brochure. That reactor was the same design as Chernobyl. Absolutely false. Chernobyl (RBMK): low pressure water moderated, no containment, positive void coefficient [and I think a positive thermal coefficient, too, but I don't have that reference in front of me] British reactors are either pressurized water with strong negative void coefficient la USA, or Magnox which are graphite moderated and gas-cooled, with a negative thermal coefficient of reactivity. I don't know which category Windscale belongs to, but neither has anything in common with Chernobyl other than the use of fissile fuels. All British reactors have containment structures, as do all commercial reactors in the West. The Russians never exported the RBMK, whic was considered a State secret because originally developed primarily as a plutonium breeder. I suspect that the fact that it was known to be unstable at low power coefficients might have had some influence, too! Even the Soviet reactors that WERE exported, e.g. to Finland, were provided at the customer's demand with containment and additional controls, even though the Russians didn't implement those at home. The RBMK would in any case never have passed licensing in the West, as it has a positive void coefficient. What this means is that if steam bubbles begin to form in the water moderator, the reactivity of the core increases - that is it goes supercritical, and does it so quickly that even dropping safety rods may not save the day. All commercial liquid-moderated reactors in the West are designed so that void formation REDUCES reactivity, a stabilizing effect. Likewise, fuel elements are designed to have a negative temperature coefficient of reactivity, reducing reactivity as temperature rises. An extreme case of this kind of design is the TRIGA research reactor, which is deliberately driven supercritical by rapid withdrawal of its control rods, but instantly damps itself down again. It can only be fired again after the rods have been reinserted and the core allowed to cool. Produces a strong neutron pulse for research as well as a beautiful blue flash for entertainment. Marc de Piolenc Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Book Recommendations
Recently resurrected from storage: Anderson, Russell E.: Biological Paths to Energy Self-Sufficiency (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979). Very useful because it's a monograph, by an author who really did his homework. The style and presentation are therefore completely consistent throughout the book. Bolton, James R. (Ed.): Solar Power and Fuels (Academic Press, 1977). Covers several technologies for storing solar radiant power directly in chemical form (i.e. not via photovoltaic effect and electrolysis): photolysis of water using analogs of plant chloroplasts; reversible photo-reactions etc. Baker, Bernard S. (Ed): Hydrocarbon Fuel Cell Technology (Academic Press, 1965). Not originally written to support biomass-based energy schemes, burt fits right in. Only one recent development - proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells - is not covered. Marc de Piolenc Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Why biofuels ???
It's a con job. Are you always going to be stupid? - Original Message - From: Pedro M. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@vm8-ext.prodigy.net; Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 3:18 PM Subject: [biofuel] Why biofuels ??? It has just been created nuclear-fossil-dangers in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nuclear-fossil-dangers where we can send post about the new energy politics and their dangers, like a base for an alternative answer : the biofuels, biodiesel and renowable energy. A place for deep questions ;) All the best. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Unadulterated Nuclear Cow Flop was Re: [biofuel] Nuclear
To all list members, I make apology in advance for the following comments, as some will see them as overtly or intentionally inflammatory and off the biofuels path. With full knowledge of the military and commercial nuclear industries' disastrous record - which spans a 360 degree circle of repetitive and on going ignorance, accidents, disasters, deception and gambling with human capital, I find myself in virtual agreement with list member Bob Golding who stated: The only safe nuclear reactor is one not operated by humans. I would place it about 93,000,000 miles away, [then lay] back and enjoy it. Marc, You have made some pretty healthy, positive and constructive contributions to the biofuels list in the past. But I have to say without reservation that this piece of nuclear mis-and dis-information (see below) is pure, unadulterated, horse crap cow flop of the highest order. Going back to 1991, results from long term (multi-year) studies on the effects of low dose radiation started to pop up left and right. Some were performed by private institutions. Others were funded by the US Department of Energy. The end conclusions were that decades old concerns were confirmed by the increased percentages of cancers and birth abnormalities found within the study areas. As I cannot justify the excessive expenditure of energies required to pander to argumentative consciences who support indefensible issues, I'll let the record on acceptable exposure limits and the words of Dr. John W. Goffman speak for themselves. Dr. Goffman is a radiation scientist, co-discoverer of Uranium 233's fissionability and co-refiner of the first milligram of plutonium. He states: We have already accepted the policy of experimentation on involuntary human subjects. I am on record in 1957 as NOT being worried about the fallout and still being optimistic about the benefits of nuclear power. There is no way I can justify my failure to help sound an alarm over these activities many years sooner than I did. I feel that at least several hundred scientists trained in the biomedical aspect of atomic energy - myself definitely included - are candidates for Nuremburg-type trials for crimes against humanity through our gross negligence and irresponsibility. Now that we KNOW the hazard of low-dose radiation, the crime is not experimentation - it's murder. As for acceptable exposure limits? 1934 - 50 rems annually or 1/5th of a rem daily 1936 - 25 rems annually or 1/10th of a rem daily 1950 - 15 rems annually or 3/10ths of a rem weekly 1956 - 5 rems annually or 1/50th of a rem daily Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, who worked on the US nuclear program for 25 years and is known to most at the Father of Health Physics, believes that the acceptable exposure limit should be lowered even further - by a factor of 240. Dr. Morgan was responsible for the safe exposure limits established in the 1940's and 50's. His conclusions were derived in the mid 1980's, a revision which the nuclear industry continues to virulently refuse a need for. As for your question, Which plant? What area? When? relative to Kirk's comment, The plant that burned on the coast of England was graphite moderated. Permanently poisoned a large area. The answer is Britain's Windscale/Sellafield, considered by all accounts to be 1,000 times dirtier (radiologically speaking) than its closest competition, Cap de la Hugue, France. Four known disasters have occurred at this plant in 1956, 1957, 1981 and 1985. The 1957 disaster was a near meltdown and the world's worst nuclear plant disaster on record prior to Chernobyl. Oddly enough, only days after the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Britain's Margaret Thatcher intentionally misrepresented Sellafield's and Britain's nuclear safety record, proclaiming that A Chernobyl accident would not happen here. The record of our own nuclear power industry is absolutely superb, she said Bull shit. Intentional, unadulterated, dis-informational and mis-informational bull shit. And you sir, are tracking the same type of crap into this forum, relative to your nuclear misrepresentations. Perhaps, were someone to invite you to Portsmouth, Ohio, where a gaseous diffusion plant has been in operation for decades, you could review firsthand exactly what type deception is perpetrated upon nuclear industry workers and the public at large, hundreds of times over, and over, and over again. It is an industry wide deception campaign that has gone on literally since 1913, and one that will continue as long as your brand of nuclear cow flop flows without rebut. Todd Swearingen Appal Energy [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: F. Marc de Piolenc [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 2:44 AM Subject: [biofuel] Nuclear I realize this is a largely anti-nuclear forum, so I'll say all this quickly and only once, and only because somebody else brought it up.
Re: [biofuel] Nuclear
It's because we are the only thing between freedom and anarchy. Other countries hate the U.S. until someone else threatens them then we become their best friend and they ask for help. We are slowly losing our freedoms also and when all is said and done the whole world will be under a one world government. It's all about money and power. The U.S. is the richest and most powerful nation on the earth, we have helped more nations than any other nation in the world and they still call us evil. They have borrowed money and never paid it back. They want what we have but are unwilling to pay the price. They also forget that indivdual freedom is earned not given. I get tired of hearing the same old rhetoric about how EVIL we are. Do we have a lot, YES. Does that make us evil, NO. I've been reading this garbage for months. If these people would just expend their energy towards the energy problem and stop all this political hogwash things might be better. Let's keep the conversations about energy and how to solve the problems. There are plenty of intelligent people on the web site to change things for the better but cutting the U.S. down isn't going to solve one of them. - Original Message - From: Martin Klingensmith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 10:17 PM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Nuclear Why is it that most things American on this list are automatically named as 'EVIL'? American's can produce good cars, as others have said it is the subsidy and corporate welfare that keeps fuel so cheap, I know fuel price increases would aggravate me and everyone else in the US but it's the only way a more fuel efficient car would be accepted. Does this mean the US can only produce BAD cars? As for roads, where does this statement come from? Tell me of a country that has more 4 lane interstate highway miles to drive on as related to total land mass. There isn't a comparison. --- Harmon Seaver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Maybe so, maybe not, but it's irrelevant --- the basic problem with nukes as far as I can see, and the reason I will *always* absolutely oppose all of them, no matter what the design, is the human factor. Someone else mentioned the terrorist problem, which is a a growing threat, but the bottom line is this: American workers and industry cannot even produce a decent car, or decent roads to drive them on --- the worker sabotage and carelessness, and the official and industrial corruption are such that they never, ever will. And the same is true of the nuclear industry --- there will never, ever, at any time be a safe nuclear plant built in this country. I've worked both in construction and also in auto plants -- sabotage and absurd design are a given and always will be. = http://devzero.ath.cx/ Visit the Systems Information Database Have some interesting information? Put it up on the SID. -Martin Klingensmith __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] NOT Nuclear
Did the virus affect the routing of postings too? -- Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] the story on dyno-jell
I'm still looking for more details on the company but here is the script This is copy of a script on the dyno-jell story. I hope it is what you are looking for. I could not find the other story. (nats) Cordani-As soon as the powder gets out there it will turn into a gel until it grows and grows until its a thousand times its own size... THIS IS THE CHEMICAL. A SPECIAL POLYMER WHCIH ABSORBS MOISTURE. IT HAD BEEN TESTED IN THE LAB...NOW CAME TIME FOR THE REAL WORLD EXPERIMENT. (nat boat) (sot) We're hoping they'll spray it over the cloud and it will dissipate over the cloud. THE GOAL WAS TO HAVE A PLANE DROP OVER TWO THOUSAND POUNDS OF THE CHEMICAL INTO THE CLOUDS. IF IT WORKED, THE CLOUD WOULD BE CUT IN HALF, AND ALL ITS MOSTURE WOULD FALL INTO THE SEA. (sot) It'll be the first time in history a cloud will be dissipated or be absorbed. THIS WAS THE FIFTH TIME THESE RESEARCHERS HAD SET SAIL FOR THE OPEN SEAS. PETER CORDANI HAD BEEN LOSING SLEEP...HIS BUSINESS NEEDED A SUCCESSFUL RUN...AND LATELY, THERE HADN'T BEEN A LOT OF CLOUDS. (sot) Cordani - A little bit frustrating, it's been five days, and mother nature has been taking us apart. SO THE DYNO-MAT TEAM GAVE IT ANOTHER RUNTHEY HAD TO COORDINATE BETWEEN THEIR BOAT AND A CROP-DUSTER TAKING OFF FROM THE PALM BEACH AIRPORTAND ONCE THEY SPOTTED THE PLANE..THE RUN WAS ON...ALL THEY NEEDED WAS THE PERFECT CLOUD. THE PLANE DID SEVERAL FLY-BY'S BUT FINALLY SETTLED ON A CLOUD IT COULD HIT. (nats) THE PLANE DUMPED SEVERAL LOADS..AND THOUGH HARD TO SEE..YOU CAN TELL THE CLOUD IS SLOWLY BEGINNING TO DISSIPATE. AFTER ABOUT FIVE MINUTES, THIS IS ALL THAT'S LEFT. SEVERAL DARK CLOUDS, FLOATING REMNANTS OF A ONCE MIGHTIER PIECE OF SKY...THE TEAM WAS ECSTATIC. (nats) the clouds are gone, aren't they? THE GOAL IS TO MAKE SURE THIS CHEMICAL CAN BE USED IN STORM CLOUDS, IDEALLY THOSE FOUND IN A HURRICANE. THE TEAM STILL HAS PLENTY OF TESTING LEFT TO DO...BUT THEY HAVE GRAND GOALS FOR THE CHEMICAL WHICH THEY SAY CAN CUT THROUGH CLOUDS. (sot) dutton - With testing like this, we're all very excited...coastlines around the world. Assistant News Director WAVY-TV/WVBT-TV Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Nuclear
Martin Klingensmith wrote: Why is it that most things American on this list are automatically named as 'EVIL'? Is that really true? I don't think it's true. American's can produce good cars, as others have said it is the subsidy and corporate welfare that keeps fuel so cheap, I know fuel price increases would aggravate me and everyone else in the US but it's the only way a more fuel efficient car would be accepted. Does this mean the US can only produce BAD cars? As for roads, where does this statement come from? Tell me of a country that has more 4 lane interstate highway miles to drive on as related to total land mass. There isn't a comparison. --- Harmon Seaver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Maybe so, maybe not, but it's irrelevant --- the basic problem with nukes as far as I can see, and the reason I will *always* absolutely oppose all of them, no matter what the design, is the human factor. Someone else mentioned the terrorist problem, which is a a growing threat, but the bottom line is this: American workers and industry cannot even produce a decent car, or decent roads to drive them on --- the worker sabotage and carelessness, and the official and industrial corruption are such that they never, ever will. And the same is true of the nuclear industry --- there will never, ever, at any time be a safe nuclear plant built in this country. I've worked both in construction and also in auto plants -- sabotage and absurd design are a given and always will be. However... http://auto.com/industry/iwirb25_20010725.htm Study: Suppliers skimp on quality to meet automakers' cost-cutting demands July 25, 2001 BY ED GARSTEN ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT -- A little thinner coating on the trim, a few less stitches on seating -- just some examples of how automotive suppliers are skimping on quality in order to meet cost-cutting demands of U.S. automakers, a study found. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STUDY Some of the highlights of a study performed by Birmingham, Mich.-based Planning Perspectives on how cost cutting has effected quality among 261 major suppliers to the automotive industry: QUALITY: 7 percent to 9 percent lowered quality to meet automakers' price cut demands; 20 percent improved quality; 75 percent maintained current quality standards. TECHNOLOGY REDUCTION: 20 percent withheld some new technology from automakers. SERVICE REDUCTION: 7 percent to 18 percent reduced services to automakers, such as consulting engineers. PRICE VS. QUALITY: General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG place two to three time greater emphasis on price than quality when choosing suppliers, while Toyota and Honda balance price with quality. Suppliers who were pressed by automakers to lower their prices to the point where it was difficult to turn a profit either maintained or lowered the quality of their products, according to the 2001 North American Automotive Supplier Survey, performed by Birmingham, Mich.-based Planning Perspectives. The study looked at responses from 261 suppliers received between March and May. Only 20 percent of the suppliers said they were improving quality. Seventy-five percent said they're keeping quality as it is now, said John Henke, president of Planning Perspectives and the author of the study released this week. Faced with a slowing automotive market coming off the record sales pace of 2000, automakers have put price reduction edicts of from 3 percent to 8 percent or more on their suppliers. The challenge has been for suppliers to cut prices enough to hang onto their contracts while remaining profitable. The answer, according to the study, has been to cut corners. The study found the situations were consistent with suppliers regardless of their size. But Henke said occupant safety has not suffered. The goods are still at a very high quality, Henke said. They look for areas where you can reduce quality without jeopardizing safety. Henke said as other cost-cutting tactics, suppliers are cutting back support and services to the automakers, and withholding certain new technologies and extra testing. Both extra services and technology almost always have a relationship to the quality of the product, Henke said. They're meeting the specifications of the automakers but not moving forward on quality. Delphi Automotive Systems, the largest supplier in North America, took issue with the study and said its quality has steadily improved. Delphi is committed to providing our global customers with industry-leading technology and high quality and cost-effective products. We strive to achieve this through the Delphi manufacturing system which is our approach to lean manufacturing and by partnering with our customers to meet their objectives, Delphi said in a statement. The study concluded that suppliers must abandon the past practice of applying one business plan to all their customers and adapt the practice of developing
Political hogwash and the evil US - was Re: [biofuel] Nuclear
ronald miller sr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Well, actually, I'm trying to figure out quite what it is that he wrote. What are you talking about Ron? It's because we are the only thing between freedom and anarchy. Other countries hate the U.S. until someone else threatens them then we become their best friend and they ask for help. We are slowly losing our freedoms also and when all is said and done the whole world will be under a one world government. It's all about money and power. The U.S. is the richest and most powerful nation on the earth, we have helped more nations than any other nation in the world and they still call us evil. Who is calling Americans evil? Martin just said someone did, or everyone does, but I don't know what he's talking about either. He also said it happens on this list. Automatically, in fact. If so, it's surely escaped me, which would be odd, I think. Martin was responding to a message from Harmon (a fellow American), who questioned the quality of US production (though I don't think I agree with him). But he didn't call it evil. List members were questioning the (questionable) fuel efficiency of US cars recently (which Martin also questions, it seems), but they didn't call them evil. Someone called them crap, but he's British, and they don't really build British cars anymore (except in India) so he doesn't have many legs to stand on. They have borrowed money and never paid it back. They want what we have but are unwilling to pay the price. They also forget that indivdual freedom is earned not given. Who be they exactly? I get tired of hearing the same old rhetoric about how EVIL we are. Do we have a lot, YES. Does that make us evil, NO. I've been reading this garbage for months. Where, here? Please point me towards some of this endless list rhetoric about how evil you are that you've been reading for months. If these people Which people? would just expend their energy towards the energy problem and stop all this political hogwash things might be better. Let's keep the conversations about energy and how to solve the problems. There are plenty of intelligent people on the web site to change things for the better but cutting the U.S. down isn't going to solve one of them. Huh? Well, maybe you're a bit sensitive at the moment, the US isn't winning many world popularity polls right now it's true, though I don't think that has much to do with thwarted envy, as you imply. But I'd have to say that if anything qualifies as political hogwash it'd have to be your letter. And fairly impenetrable with it. Freedom is a US franchise, eh? You're the sole bulwark against anarchy? Not hogwash? On-topic? As for this: Let's keep the conversations about energy and how to solve the problems. Please see separate message: On-topic defined - please read Best wishes Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ - Original Message - From: Martin Klingensmith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 10:17 PM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Nuclear Why is it that most things American on this list are automatically named as 'EVIL'? American's can produce good cars, as others have said it is the subsidy and corporate welfare that keeps fuel so cheap, I know fuel price increases would aggravate me and everyone else in the US but it's the only way a more fuel efficient car would be accepted. Does this mean the US can only produce BAD cars? As for roads, where does this statement come from? Tell me of a country that has more 4 lane interstate highway miles to drive on as related to total land mass. There isn't a comparison. --- Harmon Seaver [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Maybe so, maybe not, but it's irrelevant --- the basic problem with nukes as far as I can see, and the reason I will *always* absolutely oppose all of them, no matter what the design, is the human factor. Someone else mentioned the terrorist problem, which is a a growing threat, but the bottom line is this: American workers and industry cannot even produce a decent car, or decent roads to drive them on --- the worker sabotage and carelessness, and the official and industrial corruption are such that they never, ever will. And the same is true of the nuclear industry --- there will never, ever, at any time be a safe nuclear plant built in this country. I've worked both in construction and also in auto plants -- sabotage and absurd design are a given and always will be. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to:
[biofuel] On-topic defined - please read
Message from the list owner. Every now and then someone takes it upon himself to declaim about what's on-topic and what's not, generally calling for an end to this, that or the other hogwash, babble, politics, or whatever. The list rules are a bit hard to discern I know, so let me spell it out a bit. Of course you're entitled to your view of what's on-topic and what's not, but you're not entitled to impose it on anyone else: your view will most certainly not be shared by all 700+ list members from umpteen different cultures and more than 90 countries. So who decides what's on-topic or not? If you care to trawl the message archives you'll find quite a lot on the on-off-topic topic. I said this in one previous message on the subject: Some of the guys were talking about the wonders of New Zealand honey the other day, clearly off-topic, but they're sensible and didn't push it too far. So fine, honey's off-topic, put it on the banned list. Er, but before you ban it, do an archive search and you'll find discussion on using honey as a feedstock for ethanol. So maybe you could define it as 'off-topic, unless it's on-topic'? And so on and on. Biofuels is not a narrow subject, it comes with a vast, varied and essential context. For all the people who've demanded that the subject-matter be restricted, I've not yet heard any sensible suggestions on how it could be done without doing more harm than good, and without it having to be changed every 10 minutes. Not restricting it is the only practical choice. As for politics and so on, all that means is what I don't agree with. It often goes with a topic definition that boils down to: Let's talk about what *I* want to talk about. So, who decides? Again from a previous message: Actually nobody decides, everybody decides. It works very well. It's called democracy. I like it! So, feel free. Let me say that again: FEEL FREE! Say whatever you like, discuss whatever you want. To hell with what's on-topic and what's not. You're intelligent and responsible people, you know how to behave. Go off-topic if you like, I know you won't push it too far. So far very few (far fewer than 1%) have proved me wrong about any of this. But, be considerate, practice good netiquette, remember that there are many different kinds of people here, remember for instance that while profanity might be lingua franca in your culture, it could seriously offend others. No SPAM, of course, and NO ABUSE - if you're going to be rude to somebody at least do it politely. :-) Any complaints, difficulties, problems, please write to me off-list and I'll do my best to help. Enjoy! Best wishes Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ Biofuel list owner Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Millennium Cell
http://www.millenniumcell.com Millennium Cell is a development stage company focused on the generation of a new, clean, abundant and renewable source of energy. Millennium Cell's patented boron-based energy technology delivers a hydrogen fuel that is safe, clean and easily transported, without the need for compression or liquefaction. In addition, we are developing longer-life batteries based on boron electrochemistry. Have you folks heard of this before? I guess not actually a biofuel, but seems very relevant. Tim Hi Tim Some further gleanings: http://www.calstart.org/newsSearch/selDis.html?cmd=98083948 CALSTART -- News Notes CALSTART News Notes 07/19/2001 - Millennium Cell, U.S. Borax Team on Fuel Cells Boron, Calif. - Millennium Cell, Inc. and U.S. Borax, Inc. announced a joint venture development agreement for research into synthesis conversion processes. A joint release described the scope of the project, which is to accelerate development of a synthesis process to convert sodium borates to sodium borohydride. U.S. Borax is one of the largest supplier of borax in the world. Millennium's Hydrogen on Demand system safely generates pure hydrogen or electricity from water and sodium borohydroxide, a borax derivative. The pure hydrogen created is suitable for energy generation, without liquefaction or compression, in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. (NewsNotes 05/03/01) The two companies will develop intellectual property rights in a lower-cost process for manufacturing and recycling of sodium borohydride, creating an environmentally-friendly technology which may be licensed to other companies. TWENTY MULES. This editor should get a kick from a mule for the following statement in last week's ENERGIES -- For hydrogen to be a truly zero-emission fuel it must be extracted from water using a zero-emission source of energy --. This editor apologizes to Millennium Cell for ignoring the company's proprietary Hydrogen on Demand (tm) technology. Hydrogen on Demand uses sodium borohydride in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrogen or electricity. Hydrogen could be produced as needed to power a fuel cell or an internal combustion engine without the need for storage. Sodium borohydride is a derivative of borax. In the next step to commercialize Hydrogen on Demand, Millennium Cell has signed a joint agreement with U.S. Borax to accelerate the development of a process to convert sodium borates into sodium borohydride. U.S Borax has been in business for 130 years and ships nearly one-million tons of refined borates to customers worldwide each year. The company is often remembered for its Twenty Mule Team wagons which at one time hauled Borax products out of Death Valley, California. At least one of those mules has its eye on this editor. Visit Millennium Cell at http://www.millenniumcell.com/ . From ENERGIES... week of 7/15/01 [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] EREN Network News -- 07/25/01
= EREN NETWORK NEWS -- July 25, 2001 A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN). http://www.eren.doe.gov/ = Featuring: *News and Events U.S. Investment in Energy Efficiency Research Pays Off Company Builds First 5,000-Horsepower HTS Motor Honda, BMW Start Up Hydrogen Fueling Stations Texas Wind Plant Expands; Shell Buys Wyoming Plant Tyson Foods to Convert Chicken Manure to Energy University of Michigan Leads American Solar Challenge *Site News Green Energy Ohio *Energy Facts and Tips Study: Earth Likely to Warm 4 to 7 Degrees by 2100 *About this Newsletter -- NEWS AND EVENTS -- U.S. Investment in Energy Efficiency Research Pays Off The United States has reaped huge economic benefits from its investments in energy efficiency research and development, says a report released last week by the National Research Council (NRC). An NRC panel examined 17 energy efficiency projects that represented $1.6 billion in federal investment, or roughly 20 percent of the $7.3 billion that DOE has spent over the past 22 years. The panel estimates that the $1.6 billion investment yielded net economic benefits of $30 billion. Incredibly, three DOE projects that cost only $11 million resulted in most of the economic benefit: compressors for refrigerators and freezers, energy-efficient fluorescent- lighting components called electronic ballasts, and low- emission (low-e) window glass that resists the transmission of heat through windows. The NRC also credits federal standards and regulations that incorporated the efficiencies attainable by these new technologies, ensuring that the technologies would be adopted nationwide. As part of the report, the panel also examined federal investments in fossil energy research and development. For 22 projects costing $11 billion -- about 73 percent of the $15 billion spent over 22 years -- the NRC estimates net economic benefits of $10.8 billion. See the July 17th press release on the National Academies Web site at: http://nationalacademies.org/topnews/. See also the full report -- especially the executive Summary -- on the National Academy Press Web site at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074487/html/. Company Builds First 5,000-Horsepower HTS Motor American Superconductor Corporation has built the first 5,000-horsepower motor that uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires in its rotor, the company announced last week. Because HTS wires carry large amounts of electrical current with low energy losses, the HTS motor is roughly half the size and weight of a conventional motor, and also reduces the energy losses by up to 50 percent. According to the company, motors greater than 1,000 horsepower in size use one-quarter of the electricity generated in the United States, so the potential energy savings from large HTS motors could be significant. See the American Superconductor Web site at: http://www.amsuper.com/5000htsmotor.htm. Honda, BMW Start Up Hydrogen Fueling Stations American Honda Motor Co., Inc. announced in early July the startup of a hydrogen fueling station for its fuel-cell-powered vehicles. Located at Honda's research and development center in Torrance, California, the station uses solar power to extract hydrogen from water. The solar panels on the station generate enough hydrogen to power one fuel-cell vehicle, but additional electrical power from the power grid is used to increase the hydrogen production capacity. The new station will support Honda's fuel cell vehicle development program and will be used for hydrogen production, storage and fueling. See the July 10th press release on the Honda Web site at: http://www.hondacorporate.com/press/index.html?s=americany=2001. BMW also opened a hydrogen fueling station this month. The company's new liquid hydrogen fuel station is located at its Engineering and Emissions Control Test Center in Oxnard, California. BMW is taking a different approach than most car companies, burning hydrogen directly in advanced internal-combustion engines. A fleet of its 12-cylinder hydrogen-fueled cars came to Los Angeles this month as part of the company's CleanEnergy WorldTour 2001 -- several of the cars will remain at the Oxnard facility for extensive testing and demonstrations. See the BMW press release at: http://www.bmwusa.com/news_events/news_l.cfm?item_id=2035600115. QUANTUM Technologies WorldWide, Inc. is also doing its part for hydrogen-powered vehicles: the company has developed a vehicle storage tank for hydrogen that can hold the gas at pressures of 10,000 pounds per square inch. See the press release at:
Re: [biofuel] Why biofuels ???
You have defined yourself by saying these things without rational arguments, but it«s ask for too much Be polite and we can dialoge interesting things and be more personally rich in culture. But, be sure I like to look for the true and nobody ( because of money interests, corporation interests and so on ) will can kill my voice. - Original Message - From: Chuck [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 2:12 PM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Why biofuels ??? It's a con job. Are you always going to be stupid? - Original Message - From: Pedro M. [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@vm8-ext.prodigy.net; Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 3:18 PM Subject: [biofuel] Why biofuels ??? It has just been created nuclear-fossil-dangers in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nuclear-fossil-dangers where we can send post about the new energy politics and their dangers, like a base for an alternative answer : the biofuels, biodiesel and renowable energy. A place for deep questions ;) All the best. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Where direct the money
- Original Message - From: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 5:27 AM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Where direct the money They respond to polls, up to a point. Know your enemy, it's said. Chairman Mao (Chairperson Mao?) said My enemy's enemy is my friend. I find that obnoxious, but it probably works okay. You say nuclear-fossil industries, but are they really that close? I don't know if they are or not. Mark Moody Stuart, CEO of Shell, is a main mover behind the G8 Renewables initiative (which I think Bush has opposed). Shell, Does shell sell biodiesel in all its petrol-stations ??. I don«t know, because shell it«s not a head company in my Land. and BP, BP . BP has impugned the Biodiesel exempton in my land Spain :-( Really, the Petrol companies have sometimes double face. I cannot sell biodiesel in Spain, between another thing, because the Goverment doesn«t want to give the exemption because the petrol companies have impugned it in the Courts. Because of this, I love heard anothers«oponions ( not like another Hitler«s minded persons ), because I rich my personality with other data. have both been investing heavily in renewables (though with much Are Big Oil and nukes really such good friends? I don't think they have such a lot in common. No, for sure they are not good friends, but at least Big Oils in my land ( straight petrol companies, to name them differently from Shell and another biodiesel friend companies ??? - biodiesel friend company it«s this one that sell biodiesel in its fuel-stations - ) don«t sell biodiesel and hold oligopolistic laws. Nukes and Petrol are TRADITIONAL energies. Renowable are too named ALTERNATIVE energies. Because of this biodiesel it«s different ( alternative ) to nuclear-fossil ( traditional ) energy ;) . Traditional energy it«s the big part ( in umber ) of the energy used. This is an important part of the kernel of the question. In any case, I think it«s important that a straight biodiesel oil company ( this is, a company that ONLY sells biofuels ) would be participating in this Renowable Energy G8 Tasks Force. Though, as Todd pointed out, the nuclear industry is a heavy user of fossil energy (and thus isn't at all carbon-free). Another argument to call them nuclear-fossil ;) like the same thing. It should be possible to get some support for the idea of a UN Renewable Energy Agency, get a campaign going. Saying (as you did) that there's already an Atomic Energy Agency is a good argument for it. Hard work though. Best Thank you my friend. But think this is a common ( group ) task too ;) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Nuclear
- Original Message - From: Martin Klingensmith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 5:17 AM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Nuclear Why is it that most things American on this list are automatically named as 'EVIL'? What are you saying ??. I think in America there is two ways for energy politics ( and in the World too ) : nuclear-fossil and renowable. Nuclear-fossil it«s not the american culture XDD I think that amercian nuclear-fossilers are so hatable (hate-able) like non-american nuclear-fossilers -- Peter, doing the evil«s paper with petrol-nuclear industry ;) http://www.opec.org/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Millennium Cell
Hi Keith and All, Before you get to enthusiastic find out how much energy it take to make this stuff. It may not be eff. Also many catalyst use very expensive materials. That's the big hangup with fuel cells now. jerry dycus --- Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.millenniumcell.com Millennium Cell is a development stage company focused on the generation of a new, clean, abundant and renewable source of energy. __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] air car missconceptions
how these threads take off !!! anyhow, here's a few items of info that seem to have been overlooked: high pressure (over 3000 psi) tanks are installed in all sort of passenger carrying vehicles, such as aeroplanes, cars, and buses. all big birds have high pressure hydraulic reservoirs, usually made from epoxy/kevlar windings, besides high pressure oxy/air bottles (that feed all of those drop down masks). little birds, and war birds have hp oxy/air bottles for pilot reliability. and then there are millions of cars and buses being run world wide on compressed natural gas. these are usually aluminium bottles, and seem to be holding their own pretty well. the same service stations that today fuel compressed natural gas vehicles can service compressed air vehicles. it takes 1.5 to 3 minutes to fuel a compressed natural gas vehicle, with enough 'fuel' to run a mid size car up to 200 km. or so. filling a compressed air vehicle will not take longer. the air tanks in the air car we are discussing are fibre wound, and are designed to split along a failure seam, downwards, rather than through catastrophic focused failure. the aircar's tanks are long and narrow, being nested next to the chassis longerons. in/out is through lateral openings. the air car is presently manufactured in france. it is a thoroughly road tested vehicle. there is one us franchise already, so local non-believers will soon be able to stand corrected. it is an urban car. lightweight, agile, easy to fix/repair, crashworthy tested. an entry level urban car, low priced, and versatile (there are delivery van/pick-up/taxi/passenger car versions). and it is not the 'ultimate' solution. no vehicle is. mtbf, service requirements, topography, user profile, mission profile, opportunity cost, operating cost, are just a few of the variables that should be taken into account when comparing vehicles. as to the ev/air car non-controversy, i go back to my initial statement: we should compare energy densities, and more precisely weight/energy densities. someone posted that rolling resistance was only influential to 25 mph. i would hazard that most urban situations will be well within that envelope. once more onto the breach, my dear friends, once more.(ws) cheers, dick 'what have they that i don't ? well, for one, they snipthis is a public service message. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Why biofuels ???
Hi Keith and All, If Chuck is this rude again we should axe him. It's uncalled for. I disagree with Pedro too but would never be as disrespectful as Chuck. jerry dycus --- Chuck [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It's a con job. Are you always going to be stupid? - Original Message - From: Pedro M. [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] lifespan of natural gas
Does anyone have any reliable information as to how long supplies of natural gas are expected to last? I know some oil platforms used to burn it off because they considered it ineffective [as far as money goes] to transport it to land, this being relevant because I figure there must be a whole lot of it to be found, but I am not knowledgable about this. The most I know is that my grandfather gets free NG service because he has a well on his property [WV, USA] = http://devzero.ath.cx/ Visit the Systems Information Database Have some interesting information? Put it up on the SID. -Martin Klingensmith __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] air car missconceptions, you got that right:
Hi Dick and All, --- Dick Carlstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: the air car is presently manufactured in france. it is a thoroughly road tested vehicle. there is one us franchise already, so local non-believers will soon be able to stand corrected. Do you have an URL for it? How many have been built? it is an urban car. lightweight, agile, easy to fix/repair, crashworthy tested. an entry level urban car, low priced, and versatile (there are delivery van/pick-up/taxi/passenger car versions). What is it's range? Who is using it besides the factory? Who verified the performance? and it is not the 'ultimate' solution. no vehicle is. mtbf, service requirements, topography, user profile, mission profile, opportunity cost, operating cost, are just a few of the variables that should be taken into account when comparing vehicles. as to the ev/air car non-controversy, i go back to my initial statement: we should compare energy densities, and more precisely weight/energy densities. someone posted that rolling resistance was only influential to 25 mph. i would hazard that most urban situations will be well within that envelope. EV's can get over 230 plus mile range verified in an EV traveling on I-95 at 75 mph between Boston and NY. This EV only weighs 2300 lbs, carries 4 passengers and a top speed regulated to 85 mph. Selectra Sunrise is it's make, model. Is that good enough density for you? Can an air powered car do it? What would an air car with these ratings weigh? Could it even be built? With air cars energy/ volume would be the problem too. What is it? The other person was talking about long range. If you only need a 5 mile range air may work. Not good for most people. The one's built in the US were really bad in these points. Some barely went 1 mile and they froze up. Waiting for verifiable facts, I have mine, waiting for yours, jerry dycus once more onto the breach, my dear friends, once more.(ws) cheers, dick __ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Millennium Cell
Hi Keith and All, Before you get to enthusiastic find out how much energy it take to make this stuff. It may not be eff. Also many catalyst use very expensive materials. That's the big hangup with fuel cells now. jerry dycus --- Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.millenniumcell.com Millennium Cell is a development stage company focused on the generation of a new, clean, abundant and renewable source of energy. Hi Jerry Oh, I'm not being enthusiastic, just chucking some of the birds that fly into my net into the soup-pot. Feathers and all! Tim asked for an opinion, I don't have one, but I found some further information. Best Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] ABA Supports Tripling of Ethanol Market
http://www.usnewswire.com:80/topnews/Current_Releases/0724-122.html ABA Supports Tripling of Ethanol Market U.S. Newswire 24 Jul 14:49 ABA Supports Tripling of Ethanol Market, Warns Proposed 10-Fold Increase Might Be Biting Off More Corn Than the Market Can Chew To: National Desk, Energy Reporter Contact: Jamie Shor, 202-299-0577, for the American Bioenergy Association WASHINGTON, July 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In testimony this morning before a House Small Business Subcommittee regarding renewable fuels, the American Bioenergy Association (ABA) said that the dual issues of increased energy demand and the need for reducing our dependency on foreign oil has put us at a crossroads of our energy policy. This situation, although not new, opens the door for policymakers to redirect priorities towards cleaner, cheaper energy sources that satisfy our nation's supply and demand issues. Low-value/high-quantity cellulosic biomass is widely available throughout the United States, mostly in the form of agriculture and forest residues, and is found in every state of our nation. However, Megan Smith, ABA co-director, said any plan regarding the use of cellulosic biomass for conversion to a renewable fuel such as ethanol is going to take a large commitment on the part of our nation. At the same time, she said an increased use of corn for ethanol production would require a large amount of support from key decision makers in the U.S., especially for reaching the production goals contained in various legislation now being considered by Congress. In consideration of increasing the market for ethanol, however, Smith warned the Subcommittee that it must be done prudently. Chairman John R. Thune's (R-S.D.) bill, H.R.2423, 'Renewable Fuels for Energy Security Act of 2001', now being considered by Congress is a concern in that it might be biting off more corn than the U.S. fuel market can chew. While ABA agrees with the premise of this bill, that is, to displace imported oil used in transportation in the form of gasoline with the renewable fuel ethanol, we feel that the goal of increasing the ethanol market by almost 10-fold may be out of reach for passage and possibly even detrimental to the volatile commodity market of corn. Smith continued, The USDA has studied up to a three-fold increase in ethanol production from today's market, a 10-fold increase from the current market has not been studied extensively; therefore, this increase may be pre-mature for now Smith added that H.R. 2423 does not include any special provision for biomass ethanol production, such as the 1.5 to 1 leveraging plan contained in Senators Daschle and Lugar's S.670, the Renewable Fuels Act of 2001, a bill that would triple the market for ethanol by 2011. The U.S.' ever-increasing dependency on hydrocarbons in the form of petroleum has put us in a precarious position both with respect to our economy and national security, as energy is the lifeblood of this great country, Smith said. If we could begin to phase-down our hydrocarbon use and phase-in our biomass, or carbohydrate, use, the impact would be tremendous. We would start down a critical path of true energy security, while helping to stabilize our economy overall, increasing jobs around the U.S. for many put out of work in rural areas where the majority of biomass is grown. Low-value biomass can be converted to several high-value products, such as electricity, ethanol for transportation, and chemicals. Markets will determine which of these three is the highest-value in that particular situation, and industry will adapt these 'bio-refineries' accordingly. Cellulosic biomass ethanol differs from corn-starch ethanol in that it is more energy efficient, using the lignin in the biomass to fuel its conversion process. This will allow for biomass ethanol to compete head-to-head with gasoline within the next decade. KEYWORDS: ENERGY POLICY, POLICY, ENVIRONMENT -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 07/24 12:49 Copyright 2001, U.S. Newswire Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Cars From Coconuts
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11194 AlterNet -- Cars From Coconuts Jim Motavalli, E Magazine July 17, 2001 The northern Brazilian state of Par, set in the largest contiguous tropical rainforest in the world, is four times the size of Germany but has a tiny fraction of that industrialized country's economic activity. That's why defenders of the rainforest say it's important to build a sustainable economy in Brazil's rural areas, where a quarter of the country's 167 million people live. It starts with coconuts. There's a well-established market for coconut milk and meat in Par state, but coconut shells traditionally have been discarded or burned, adding to the pall of smoke already hanging over rainforest land cleared for subsistence agriculture. In a small way, that situation is changing as the unlikely partnership between a tiny Brazilian nonprofit group and one of the world's biggest auto giants, DaimlerChrysler, is getting those coconut shells out of the waste stream. In the small community of Praia Grande on idyllic Maraj Island off Brazil's northern coast, 10 workers are employed by the modest, low-tech factory that processes the coconut fiber, turning it into headrests and seat padding for Mercedes cars and trucks. There are eight facilities like the one on Maraj Island, and together they keep 900 farm families at work gathering the coconut husks. The coconut project began in 1991, with the creation of Program Pobreze e Meio Ambiente na Amaznia (POEMA), which uses sustainable agriculture to protect the rainforest from short-term subsistence farming. The German connection was established early on. Willi Hoss, a former Green Party member of the German Parliament and an unofficial ambassador for the Federal University of Par, approached the Brazilian subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler (then Daimler-Benz) for financial and technical support. A German-born sociology professor at the university, Dr. Thomas Mitschein, became POEMA's director in 1992, and he launched the coconut project as well as a series of clean water and sustainable agriculture projects around Par state. We saw that 11 percent of the Brazilian rainforest had become altered or degraded, and our challenge was to come up with ways to rebuild those altered areas while also creating livelihoods for the people here, says Mitschein. It was a big challenge. But the development model then being followed was a scenario for destruction. According to Enrique Vascos, who heads the Praia Grande smallholder association, coconut yields have more than doubled since the farmers began planting a variety of soil-enriching field crops (including limes, bananas and a variety of palms) to supplement what had been a coconut monoculture. In addition, says Vascos, a POEMA-sponsored wind- and solar-operated clean water system has eliminated the parasites that used to plague the children of the community. The initial coconut operation is decidedly low-tech. The husks are soaked in water to loosen the fibers, then hand-fed into a grinder powered by a small electric motor. The fibers are twisted into ropes and sprayed with natural latex, which increases their elasticity. DaimlerChrysler helped pay for a $3.5 million semi-automated plant in Ananindeua that creates the headrests, sun visors, interior panels and other parts made from the fiber base for Brazilian-made Mercedes cars and trucks. By the end of 2001, the plant will be able to manufacture 30 metric tons of coconut products per month; it's enough work to provide income for more than 5,000 people. DaimlerChrysler is now simply a customer of POEMATEC, the for-profit arm of POEMA, which is also in negotiations to become a supplier to Honda and Volkswagen. The Brazil operation mirrors a similar program in South Africa, where DaimlerChrysler is working with local farm workers to process sisal leaves, which are combined with recycled cotton to make material for use in rear parcel shelves for Mercedes-Benz C-Class cars. Ford is also getting involved in sustainable development, though in a completely different way. The company's Rouge Plant, a 15 million-square-foot symbol of the industrial age, was built by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan in 1917. Now his great-grandson, William Clay Ford, Jr., is overseeing a $2 billion redevelopment of the site as a model of sustainability. It will even have a grass roof. This factory roof will have four inches of water running through it, says William McDonough, the environmental architect who is piloting the project for Ford. The water will flow through living systems, get polished by plants, then flow back into the Rouge River. How many industrial plants can say that they produce oxygen? The emerging site includes porous parking areas that absorb water rather than run it off into storm drains. We want to restore the Rouge River, not just reduce the pollution flowing into it, McDonough
[biofuel] Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate
No biodiesel! :-( http://inq.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2001/07/25/business/ENERGY25.htm Wednesday, July 25, 2001 Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate The Airstream trailer in which three energy-efficiency tour members stay has solar panels on the roof that power the refrigerator and air conditioner. (VICKI VALERIO / Inquirer Staff Photographer)By Thomas J. Brady INQUIRER STAFF WRITER America's Energy Future Tour stopped off at City Hall yesterday to demonstrate fuel-efficient and alternative-energy vehicles and appliances. The purpose of the tour is to help consumers understand energy choices and the effect they can have on the environment. It is billed as a counterpoint to President Bush's energy plan that would include new oil and gas exploration in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and other federal lands, and expanded use of coal and nuclear energy. Among the exhibits are hybrid-fuel vehicles, a solar-powered Airstream trailer, energy-efficient appliances, fuel cells, and demonstrations of wind power. There is even a solar-powered laptop computer. The 27-city tour, which began July 10 in Maine and ends Sept. 10 in Albuquerque, N.M., continues today in Dover, Del. It is sponsored by the National Environmental Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes public understanding of environmental issues. The problem with the Bush energy plan is that it takes us back to drilling for oil and digging for coal, 19th-century technologies, said John Flowers, director of the Energy Tour. We need to take a step forward to 21st-century technologies. The display includes a Toyota Prius, a gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle. Unlike electric-only cars, its power system never needs to be recharged from an outside source. The car has a fuel efficiency of 52 miles per gallon in the city and 48 on the highway. As Flowers explained it, the car runs mostly on electricity in the city. An onboard computer switches the car's energy source between gasoline and electricity. The car's battery is recharged using energy generated in braking, a system called regenerative braking. The Airstream trailer, in which the three members of the group traveling with the tour stay, has retractable solar panels on the roof that power the refrigerator, air conditioner and even a computer. The trailer also contains displays on net metering, through which excess power created by the solar panels can be stored or sent back to the electric grid, saving money for the consumer by rolling back the electric meter. The tour features fuel cells, which convert the energy of a fuel (hydrogen, natural gas, methanol) and an oxidant (air or oxygen) into electricity. Also on display yesterday were a number of human/electric-powered utility vehicles manufactured by Kronosport Inc., a Philadelphia company. Among the pedal-powered vehicles was a rickshawlike taxi, 10 of which were used at last summer's Republican National Convention. Edward A. Kron, president and chief executive officer of the company, noted that the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had bought two of the company's nonpolluting cargo vans. The tour also features a number of speakers. In Philadelphia yesterday, Joseph Otis Minott, executive director of the Clean Air Council, a nonprofit environmental organization, said, The answer to the United States' energy needs lies in energy-efficiency and clean renewable energy. Having an energy policy that relies on fossil fuel is a giant step backward for the United States. Beth McConnell, clean air and energy advocate with PennPirg, the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, said that the examples of clean, efficient energy technologies around us are proof that we can meet our energy needs without drilling, spilling, polluting or meltdowns. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Spills and explosions reveal lax regulation of powerful industry
http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/sunday/news_1.html Austin American Statesman Sunday, July 22 Spills and explosions reveal lax regulation of powerful industry By Jeff Nesmith and Ralph K.M. Haurwitz American-Statesman staff Sunday, July 22, 2001 WASHINGTON -- Out of sight and unnoticed, America's sprawling oil and natural gas pipelines are leaking on the scale of a ruptured supertanker. They are fouling the environment and causing fires and explosions that have killed more than 200 people and injured more than 1,000 in the past decade. And the numbers are increasing steadily -- from 161 serious incidents in 1989 to 222 in 1999. Yet the federal government relies on a small, underfunded and understaffed agency to police a powerful and wealthy industry. Together, the largest pipeline companies in America each year earn more than enough to run the agency that regulates them for a century. The Office of Pipeline Safety has 55 inspectors and is budgeted for 107 full-time employees. But the agency has jurisdiction over more than 2 million miles of interstate, intrastate and local pipelines -- enough to reach around the Earth 88 times. It rarely imposes fines, even when a pipeline explosion leads to death. For decades, the agency hasn't known the precise whereabouts of thousands of miles of pipelines under its jurisdiction. There is almost an absence of regulation, said Jim Hall, until recently chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent federal agency that investigates airliner crashes, train wrecks and other transportation disasters. Speaking at a pipeline safety conference convened last year by Texas Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, Hall said: There is no justification for the federal government or state governments permitting something that is potentially hazardous from operating in basically an environment that has . . . no real effective oversight. The lack of oversight comes at a critical juncture: The Bush administration's call for increased energy production promises to put additional pressure on an aging pipeline infrastructure and an overwhelmed regulatory agency. An OPS database shows that 67 million gallons of crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products dripped and poured from holes in the nation's pipelines during the 1990s. But there is consensus -- among the industry, its regulators and its critics -- that the database underrepresents the quantity of oil products that escapes from pipelines. Responding to a written question, OPS officials said they believe their database covers the majority of true pipeline spill volume. A single undetected, or ghost, leak can spill several hundred thousand gallons of petroleum liquid in a year. Some spill volumes are understated in the government statistics, and other spills are not reported at all. The actual pollution load is much greater than the annual reported average of 6.7 million gallons, possibly twice that much -- the equivalent of the 11 million-gallon Exxon Valdez spill. But unlike the huge tanker spill, which shocked the nation 12 years ago with images of oil-soaked seabirds and miles of fouled Alaskan beaches, many pipeline oil spills are underground and dispersed, unseen and unnoticed. At the same time, enormous quantities of natural gas escape from a separate pipeline system plagued by pinhole leaks, any one of which could give way to a neighborhood-leveling explosion at any moment. Sections of some natural gas lines are so corroded that experts have a slang term for it: Swiss cheese. To some critics, it looks as though the industry weighs the expense of fixing a problem against the risk of an accident. If they suspect they have a problem, they can say, `Well, gee, should we shut down the pipeline and go in and fix that thing, or just keep running it until it breaks?' said Frank King, whose 10-year-old son, Wade, was burned to death in a 1999 gasoline pipeline explosion in Bellingham, Wash. Maybe it won't break and they'll never have to fix it. The federal government gives pipeline companies broad authority to inspect their own lines and decide when they should be repaired or taken out of service. But a yearlong examination found this system of loose regulation subjects the public and the environment to increased risk. Among the findings: * Companies have continued operating lines known to be damaged. After test results showed there were anomalies in the pipeline that ran through Bellingham, Olympic Pipe Line Co. failed to excavate the section of pipe, according to an interim report by the NTSB. The following year, Wade King, a 10-year-old playmate and an 18-year-old man died when 277,000 gallons of gasoline burst through that section of line and ignited. * Many pipeline spills never get reported to the federal government. The Austin American-Statesman found dozens of unreported spills in the past few years, including nine
[biofuel] Study: Revise smog-check system
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com:80/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/ display?slug=smog19date=20010719 The Seattle Times: Nation World : Thursday, July 19, 2001 Study: Revise smog-check system By Gary Polakovic Los Angeles Times Smog check, a critical program for cutting tailpipe exhaust coast to coast, needs an overhaul because it fails to cut emissions sufficiently and doesn't concentrate on the dirtiest cars, according to a new study released yesterday by the National Research Council. The program, mandatory in many states, requires motorists to have their cars tested for excessive emissions and make necessary repairs. Smog check is one of the few anti-smog measures that affects almost every driver and puts the onus on them to pay for pollution cleanup. The study says most states are only achieving half or less of the anticipated emissions reductions from cars and trucks. The findings call into question the effectiveness of local and state clean-air plans, the study says. The findings by a panel of experts assembled by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, provide a comprehensive overview of how states administer the program, which is required in smoggy regions. Congress sought the review based on similar conclusions in other surveys. Despite the shortcomings in smog check, however, the panel says the program should be improved, not scrapped. Vehicles produce about 50 percent of the smog-forming emissions nationwide. Smog check is the only pollution-control program that targets cars after they have left the assembly line. Inspection and maintenance programs should focus on repairing the worst-polluting vehicles and verifying repairs, but in ways that are both cost-effective for states and not overly burdensome for owners, said University of California, Irvine, Chancellor Ralph Cicerone, who chaired the committee that wrote the report. We also need better methods of evaluating the impact of these programs, but having said that, it's important to emphasize that these programs are absolutely necessary to reduce harmful auto emissions and achieve better air quality. In the report, investigators found too much attention focused on new cars, which typically run very clean, and not enough attention on the dirtiest cars. Old models account for only 10 percent of all cars, but they produce about half the emissions. As many as one in four dirty cars never pass the test, but many of them remain on the road, the study shows. But concentrating on the dirtiest cars would be a burden for low-income motorists driving old cars, who would be required to bear a greater share of cleanup costs. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Support Grows for Corn-Based Fuel Despite Critics
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/business/23ETHA.html July 23, 2001 Support Grows for Corn-Based Fuel Despite Critics By LIZETTE ALVAREZ with DAVID BARBOZA WASHINGTON, July 22 - Supporters of ethanol, a fuel made from corn, are gaining in their push to make it a major part of the nation's energy policy, despite persistent doubts about its economic and environmental benefits. The Senate's new Democratic leaders and the Bush administration are promoting a growing number of measures to bolster ethanol demand significantly, including a nationwide mandate to blend ethanol with gasoline. Supporters say that using ethanol, a renewable fuel, helps struggling farmers, combats greenhouse gas emissions and reduces the nation's reliance on imported oil. Just last month, the Bush administration, heavily lobbied by lawmakers, governors and agricultural trade groups, required California to use ethanol as a fuel additive to comply with the Clear Air Act. The order is expected to increase the nation's ethanol production by about 25 percent by 2003. Administration officials say their decision was a matter of air quality and current law, not politics, explaining that ethanol allows gasoline to burn more cleanly. New York may also have to rely on ethanol as an additive to its gasoline. Hoping to build on Mr. Bush's decision, farm state lawmakers, including Senator Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, who is the new Senate majority leader, have drafted several bills, among them one that would create up to 10 times as much ethanol demand over the next 15 years as there is now. The backing of a powerful group of senators, which also includes Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who heads the Agriculture Committee, gives such measures their best chance in years. The legislation also has the advantage of coming up while Congress is focusing on energy policy and a major new farm bill. But ethanol, which has been heavily subsidized for years, also has its detractors. The ethanol program, as some experts describe it, essentially takes money that would have gone to the Federal Highway Trust Fund, through gasoline taxes, and shifts it to American agriculture. It is a program to help farmers at the expense of another sector of the economy, Keith Collins, the chief economist at the Department of Agriculture, said. The demand for ethanol raises corn prices, according to many studies, and backers of the subsidies say that farmers benefit substantially. The National Corn Growers Association estimates that ethanol production raises the price of corn by about 30 cents a bushel. The need for other agricultural subsidies, the association says, is therefore reduced. But there is mounting evidence questioning the environmental benefits of using ethanol and the advantages to farmers. Critics say that most of the benefits go to large, corporate ethanol distillers. In some cases, ethanol programs have backfired. One of the smaller programs, meant to raise fuel efficiency by encouraging automakers to produce cars capable of using ethanol, has relied on incentives that allow them to sell more gas-guzzlers. A federal panel, in a draft report, has recommended that the program be eliminated. Some studies suggest that ethanol, a form of alcohol, offers no significant environmental benefits. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences reported that when ethanol is blended with gasoline, it does not significantly reduce pollution and may even increase the pollutants that cause smog. Still, many small farmers are convinced that soaring demand for ethanol will help lift depressed corn prices. Lawmakers from farm states say the tax incentives that are encouraging the boom in ethanol production, a figure that approaches $1 billion a year, could help prop up a flagging farm economy. We have an obligation to help agriculture get on its feet, said Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, which is a major producer of corn and ethanol. There have always been enough tax benefits to go around for virtually everybody. That's the way the system works to promote the economy. In the wake of the California decision, farmers and big agricultural companies are scrambling to build new ethanol plants in the Midwest and Plains states. But, according to many economists and agricultural experts, the bulk of the profits generated from ethanol go to agriculture processors like the Archer Daniels Midland Company (news/quote), which is turning greater volumes of low-priced corn into a high-priced fuel. A.D.M., Cargill Inc. and other processors benefit from federal tax incentives, worth 53 cents for each gallon of ethanol, that encourage gasoline refiners to create a blend containing about 10 percent ethanol. Because of that subsidy, which has cost about $10 billion since the program began in 1979, ethanol consumption is expected to approach two billion gallons this year. A.D.M., the nation's largest
[biofuel] Truck and bus operators to study idle emissions controls
http://www.enn.com:80/news/enn-stories/2001/07/07192001/truck_44358.asp Truck and bus operators to study idle emissions controls Thursday, July 19, 2001 By Environmental News Network Diesel bus in Madison, Wis. Anyone who has ever traveled America's highways has pulled into a gas station or a rest stop where diesel trucks and buses are standing, waiting for their drivers and passengers to climb aboard. The clouds of smelly diesel fumes from these idling vehicles can be choking, and they create haze that obscures visibility in open areas. Urban buses can put out the same diesel emissions while waiting in transfer areas or in traffic jams. New technologies that control emissions from idling diesel engines do exist, but many bus and truck operators don't know how to implement them. Northern Arizona University is stepping in to bridge this gap with a workshop in August for owners and operators of diesel powered vehicles and large truck stops. It will address air emissions and fuel consumption from idling diesel trucks and buses in the Southwestern United States. The Flagstaff, Ariz., university has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to host the workshop. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said, Emissions from idling trucks and buses contribute to air pollution and haze throughout the nation, including areas such as Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Denver. Reducing air pollution from diesel vehicles will help improve visibility and air quality in many of our country's national parks and wilderness areas. The workshop is in two parts. The first will focus on owners and operators of tour buses carrying millions of visitors annually to Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.; Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.; American Indian lands; and other publicly and privately owned attractions in the Southwest. Owners and operators will learn about the various idling control technologies that exist today and how to implement these technologies. The workshop will also focus on how these technologies can reduce emissions from idling vehicles at truck stops and other rest areas. Installing and using idling control technologies can reduce harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up to 90 percent. With fuel prices now at 10-year highs, the trucking industry has been forced to reexamine fuel conservation strategies to remain competitive. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) says that engine idling not associated with normal driving makes up as much as 30 to 50 percent of truck operating hours. Fuel consumption tests conducted by the ATA Technology and Maintenance Council reveal that heavy-duty diesel trucks consume one gallon of fuel for every two hours of idling. The ATA says the trucking industry purchases 43 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel annually. It can cost nearly $500 each time truckers fill up the fuel tanks on their 18-wheelers, a powerful incentive to save the fuel consumed by idling. EPA's idling initiative is part of the Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program, which is designed to reduce emissions and save fuel from existing diesel vehicles and equipment by installing idle-control technologies. Idle-control technologies provide potential reductions of carbon dioxide of approximately 8.1 million tons per year and the potential reductions of diesel fuel consumption of approximately 1.2 billion gallons per year, according to the EPA. The agency's idling program brings together partners such as the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the American Trucking Associations, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, manufacturers of idle-control technologies, local fleet operators, and truck-stop operators. All of these organizations work together to implement idle-control strategies. Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] American stuff, was Nuclear
Martin Klingensmith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Why is it that most things American on this list are automatically named as 'EVIL'? Not generally everything american. Just many of our public corporations and the by products they produce. The major problem with public corporations is that the bottom line is the only thing they are allowed by their investors to be interested in. No matter the product. This attitude of bottom line above all else is what has led to most of the corruption, creative finance, and other underhandedness in american industries of all kinds. This same kind of attitude is what has produced the ugly sides of corporations as diverse as Micro$oft, Monsanto, DuPont, GM, and ADM. All of whom have some really seriously ugly sides. As I understand it, it works something like this: If the CEO doesn't produce results the stockholders will fire him and probably sue him. If the VP's don't produce results the CEO will fire them. If the Junior VP's don't produce results the VP's will fire them. If the Department Managers don't produce results the JrVP's will fire them. If the Middle Managers don't produce results the Department managers will fire them. Results here can be defined as Return On Investment. And so on, all the way down the food chain. As you see, the problem starts with the stockholder demanding the absolute maximum return on their investment. This is why in the last 50 years the average corporate proffit margin has gone from around 8% to around 20%. To any public corporation the only thing can matter is the bottom line. Sound energy policy, sound environmental policy, sound ethical policy all count for little or nothing. However good they try to make themselves look on the surface, they're like dogs. If you look closely at any dog you will find, just under the surface, a wolf. American's can produce good cars, Indeed we can. But don't forget that in the late '70's and early '80's the american automobile industry had to be dragged kicking and screaming into producing cars that matched the reliability, longevity, and efficiency of their foreign competition. During that time there were prejudices formed against american nameplate cars that persist to this day. In any event, many American cars may not be as american as you might think. Likewise many Foreign cars might be more american than some of the American cars. I wrote an article about this, but it's way too long, and way too off topic to post here unless requested by enough people to do so. I'll send it to you in private email if you like. as others have said it is the subsidy and corporate welfare that keeps fuel so cheap. Well documented. I know fuel price increases would aggravate me and everyone else in the US but it's the only way a more fuel efficient car would be accepted. As has been proven before. Particularly in the mid '70's during and after the Arab Oil Embargo when Detroit insisted on continuing to produce big gas guzzlers, and the american market went running to Japanese and European car manufacturers who knew how to make fuel efficient cars. Does this mean the US can only produce BAD cars? Not really. It's more a comment on the attitude of many of the workers in the auto industry. A teacher of mine used to work in a Buick engine plant in Detroit. There were guys there that knew the timing of the engine line so well that they knew how long it would take an engine to get from their station to the test stand. One of the favorite passtimes of these guys was to drop a bolt into an engine at just a certain point so that when they went on their break they could go over to the test stand and watch it blow up. While it isn't as prevalent anymore, this kind of attitude ran rampant all over the rust belt for many years. As for roads, where does this statement come from? Tell me of a country that has more 4 lane interstate highway miles to drive on as related to total land mass. There isn't a comparison. Indeed. It is hard to find a better system of highways than we have in the US. As far as the physical quality of the road goes, IMHO the only set of highways that bests our interstate system is Germany's Autobahns. But then my experience driving outside the US is rather limited. Mostly to Germany, with a little bit of Austria and France. -- Aviation is more than a hobby. It is more than a job. It is more than a career. Aviation is a way of life. A second language for the world: www.esperanto.org Processor cycles are a terrible thing to waste. www.distributed.net Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send
[biofuel] RE: Nuclear
ronald miller sr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If these people would just expend their energy towards the energy problem and stop all this political hogwash things might be better. See, that's just the problem. Politics plays an integral role in the problem. Politics has to be part of the solution. One of the favorite games industries play is to lobby politicians to make laws or change laws in their favor. They want laws that make them proffits. One of the biggest problems is that so few people actually elect our politicians. Even in a presidential election, only about a third of registered voters actually turn out to the polls. In other elections, I've seen the turnout as low as 8%. And we wonder why we have such corrupt boneheads as politicians? -- Aviation is more than a hobby. It is more than a job. It is more than a career. Aviation is a way of life. A second language for the world: www.esperanto.org Processor cycles are a terrible thing to waste. www.distributed.net Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Support Grows for Corn-Based Fuel Despite Critics
I have a niggling feeling that 10 years from now, the environmentalists will be fighting the ethanol industry tooth and nail. anything can be done badly, and I expect the ADM's of the world will be successful in turning a clean renewable resource into a dirty unsustainable one.. Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter: http://www.webconx.com/subscribe.htm Renewable Energy Pages - http://www.webconx.com Palm Pilot Pages - http://www.webconx.com/palm X10 Home Automation - http://www.webconx.com/x10 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (212) 894-3704 x3154 - voicemail/fax We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. -- - Original Message - From: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 2:16 AM Subject: [biofuel] Support Grows for Corn-Based Fuel Despite Critics http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/business/23ETHA.html July 23, 2001 Support Grows for Corn-Based Fuel Despite Critics By LIZETTE ALVAREZ with DAVID BARBOZA WASHINGTON, July 22 - Supporters of ethanol, a fuel made from corn, are gaining in their push to make it a major part of the nation's energy policy, despite persistent doubts about its economic and environmental benefits. The Senate's new Democratic leaders and the Bush administration are promoting a growing number of measures to bolster ethanol demand significantly, including a nationwide mandate to blend ethanol with gasoline. Supporters say that using ethanol, a renewable fuel, helps struggling farmers, combats greenhouse gas emissions and reduces the nation's reliance on imported oil. Just last month, the Bush administration, heavily lobbied by lawmakers, governors and agricultural trade groups, required California to use ethanol as a fuel additive to comply with the Clear Air Act. The order is expected to increase the nation's ethanol production by about 25 percent by 2003. Administration officials say their decision was a matter of air quality and current law, not politics, explaining that ethanol allows gasoline to burn more cleanly. New York may also have to rely on ethanol as an additive to its gasoline. Hoping to build on Mr. Bush's decision, farm state lawmakers, including Senator Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, who is the new Senate majority leader, have drafted several bills, among them one that would create up to 10 times as much ethanol demand over the next 15 years as there is now. The backing of a powerful group of senators, which also includes Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who heads the Agriculture Committee, gives such measures their best chance in years. The legislation also has the advantage of coming up while Congress is focusing on energy policy and a major new farm bill. But ethanol, which has been heavily subsidized for years, also has its detractors. The ethanol program, as some experts describe it, essentially takes money that would have gone to the Federal Highway Trust Fund, through gasoline taxes, and shifts it to American agriculture. It is a program to help farmers at the expense of another sector of the economy, Keith Collins, the chief economist at the Department of Agriculture, said. The demand for ethanol raises corn prices, according to many studies, and backers of the subsidies say that farmers benefit substantially. The National Corn Growers Association estimates that ethanol production raises the price of corn by about 30 cents a bushel. The need for other agricultural subsidies, the association says, is therefore reduced. But there is mounting evidence questioning the environmental benefits of using ethanol and the advantages to farmers. Critics say that most of the benefits go to large, corporate ethanol distillers. In some cases, ethanol programs have backfired. One of the smaller programs, meant to raise fuel efficiency by encouraging automakers to produce cars capable of using ethanol, has relied on incentives that allow them to sell more gas-guzzlers. A federal panel, in a draft report, has recommended that the program be eliminated. Some studies suggest that ethanol, a form of alcohol, offers no significant environmental benefits. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences reported that when ethanol is blended with gasoline, it does not significantly reduce pollution and may even increase the pollutants that cause smog. Still, many small farmers are convinced that soaring demand for ethanol will help lift depressed corn prices. Lawmakers from farm states say the tax incentives that are encouraging the boom in ethanol production, a figure that approaches $1 billion a year, could help prop up a flagging farm economy. We have an obligation to help agriculture get on its feet, said Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, which is a major producer of corn and ethanol. There have always been enough tax benefits to go around for virtually everybody. That's the way
[biofuel] air car primer
negre's aircar is an urban, repeat, urban vehicle. it is not designed or meant to travel on i-95 from boston to ny. it is meant to travel within an urban environment, moving driver plus four passengers. it uses 70 % of the road space, and costs 25 % of what the selectra costs. it weighs 700 + pounds less than the selectra. if we are to constructively compare it to an ev (and i don't see why we can't have both, instead of having to choose between one or the other), we should perhaps compare it to town cars such as the ford 'think' (formerly pivco), or similar. with a full charge of air the range varies between 62 and 186 miles, depending on how fast, or uphill, or heavy, you travel. it can re-charge to 100 % in less than three minutes, which neither the solectra, or any other electric car for that matter, can do. (100 %, not 80 %) it is an alternative, not a magic bullet. just as the selectra, or the think, are alternatives. it is innovative, and affordable. the final decision will be the market's, in which neither the selectra, or the think, have had much success so far. the think has been on trial in california for close to five years now, with little to show for it. the original company, even though it had government support, went belly-up, and ford bought it to re-float the idea, probably as a pr spin. the aircar is 100 % privately funded, and has no direct or indirect connection to any car manufacturer. and the more the market knows about alternatives, the wiser the choice it can make. berating somebody's effort, or ideas, just because they don't coincide with yours, is not my idea of progress. and using information out of context -- as when comparing apples and pears -- is like cheating at solitaire. imho. '...or close up the wall with our english dead...' (again, ws) cheers, dick. i notice you snip; thanks for being considerate. this is a public service message. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate
What can we do to help to appear biodiesel in the The Airstream trailer . Perhaps an american ( straight ) biodiesel company can sponsor some gallons for demostrations ( perhaps, the company would recieve publicity and subscribe contracts with local companies ?? ) ?? In any case, perhaps we, biodieselers and specially biodiesel companies, can organize similar for Biodiesel, if necessary. It«s very important the truck-trailer must be powered by biodiesel ;-) Like said in another mine posts, Biodiesel must be know like alternative energy to nuclear-fossil energy ;) and we, biodieselers, have a great paper there. All the best. - Biodiesel success it«s a everyday action. - Original Message - From: Keith Addison [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 8:16 AM Subject: [biofuel] Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate No biodiesel! :-( http://inq.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2001/07/25/business/ENERGY25.htm Wednesday, July 25, 2001 Have energy-efficiency, will travel and educate The Airstream trailer in which three energy-efficiency tour members stay has solar panels on the roof that power the refrigerator and air conditioner. (VICKI VALERIO / Inquirer Staff Photographer)By Thomas J. Brady INQUIRER STAFF WRITER America's Energy Future Tour stopped off at City Hall yesterday to demonstrate fuel-efficient and alternative-energy vehicles and appliances. The purpose of the tour is to help consumers understand energy choices and the effect they can have on the environment. It is billed as a counterpoint to President Bush's energy plan that would include new oil and gas exploration in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and other federal lands, and expanded use of coal and nuclear energy. Among the exhibits are hybrid-fuel vehicles, a solar-powered Airstream trailer, energy-efficient appliances, fuel cells, and demonstrations of wind power. There is even a solar-powered laptop computer. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
