Re: [Biofuel] Biodiesel compatible gravity-fed filter?

[Keith Addison]

Hello Matt

Why bother? Not worth the trouble.

If you make your biodiesel properly, everything that a filter might 
remove will be in the by-product layer, not the biodiesel. So settle 
it properly, separate it carefully, and use it. No need to filter it. 
No need to filter the oil first either, as these two previous posts 
show:

http://snipurl.com/1j20b
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

http://snipurl.com/1j20c
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

Best

Keith


>Hey all,
>
>I would like to filter our biodiesel between our drying/storage 55 
>gal. drum and the truck.  We are using gravity to fill jugs, then 
>use the jugs to fill the tank- we don't have a dedicated fuel pump. 
>I am having a hard time finding an in-line 3/4" fuel filter that is 
>biodiesel compatible but still filters to around 5-10 microns 
>without needing pump pressure. 
>
>I purchased a Goldenrod no. 495 gravity filter, but they only 
>suggest it for B20.   Bio-tek's "High alcohol filter" works with 
>B100, but I was told that it needs the pressure of a pump. 
>
>Any ideas, or am I chasing a mythical beast?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Matt


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Re: [Biofuel] Question about hemp production

[Keith Addison]

Thankyou Kirk, that helps.

I think I'll leave it as it is.

All best

Keith


>from seed to seed in 4 months is a bit quick. People I knew in Ca 
>planted inMarch- April harvested oct -nov
>The plant can be induced to seed by lengthening the night. One 
>fellow I knew (a bucket planter) put them in the garage for the 
>weekend (no light) and that got their chemistry flowering. He then 
>moved them outdoors and even though it was June or July he was 
>producing colas.
>The biomass is there and the seed. I have seen a trunk 4 inches in 
>dia. Plant was 20 feet tall. Not crowded and fertilized though.
>Ah - the good old days ;)
>
>I believe the answer is yes. but not 4 months. I dont authoritively 
>know because I never knew a grower looking to produce seed.
>Truly a GOD given plant for the healing of the nations.
>The oil is one of the few veggie sources of Omega 3
>The fiber is stronger than flax.
>The plant is uv resistant - another interesting factoid.
>
>Kirk
>
>Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>Hello all
>
>It says at our website: "An acre of hemp yields 10 tons of biomass in
>four months, enough to make 1,000 gallons of methanol fuel (by
>pyrolytic distillation), with about 300 lb of oil from the seed
>(about the same as soy)."
>
>That's under "Invisible farming" in this section: "How much fuel can
>we grow? How much land will it take?"
>http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html#howmuch
>
>The 1,000 gallons came from Kirk, in a comment on the usual question,
>"Could we replace all our oil with bio-fuels?" Kirk said "1000
>gallons methanol per acre with hemp if using pyrolytic distillation."
>I think that's right.
>
>My doubt is whether it can produce both the biomass and 300 lb of oil
>from the seed, or whether it's either/or.
>
>Anybody know?
>
>Thanks!
>
>All best
>
>Keith


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Re: [Biofuel] Patented GMO jatropha

[Keith Addison]

>It's from Central America.  The Portuguese and Arabs spread it all 
>over world by the end of the 16th century.  It was prized for soap 
>and perfume production.  The Southern US is it's  northern most 
>range.  It's used for de-desertfication and it is inter cropped with 
>food crops.  So, third world farmers, reclaim farmland, use it a 
>nitrogen fertilizer,  make biodiesel and use the fuel for 
>electrification and water pumping.   See 
> 
>for more details.

http://www.d1plc.com/aboutSustainable.php
D1 Oils - Sustainable development

>Our primary biodiesel feedstock, Jatropha curcas, grows on 
>non-arable, marginal and waste land. It need not compete with vital 
>food crops for good agricultural land.
>
>We are committed to the sustainable planting, harvesting and 
>refining of jatropha and other commercial energy crops.

"Sustainable development" does not result from the "best crop/best 
technology" approach.

Export cropping has not been shown to benefit local communities in 
poor countries, quite the opposite, and export of biofuels to distant 
markets is not something that will survive the carbon economy. Local 
production, local use.

This is how sustainable development works:

http://journeytoforever.org/community.html
Community development

http://journeytoforever.org/community2.html
Community development - poverty and hunger

D1 Oils says: "Rural poverty and unemployment are huge problems in 
the developing world, and energy crops offer the scale to impact 
poverty through providing farming jobs and rejuvenating agriculture 
and the communities that depend upon it."

How involved were the local communities themselves in devising this 
scheme and choosing jatropha? Did DI Oils ask them yet?

How do D1 Oils and their scheme differ from the plantation economies 
of the colonial era, if at all? Why would the results be any 
different?

Best

Keith



>I've no idea what the GMO version will do, pro or con.
>
>
>Regards,
>JQ
>
>
>Joe Street wrote:
>
>>Since that plant is not native to this continent will I have to get 
>>a permit from anyone to import the seeds?
>>What is the procedure with that?
>>Joe
>>
>>James Quaid wrote:
>>
>>>I'd like to give you a recommendation.  But, the last batch of 
>>>seeds I purchased aren't sprouting too well.  This may be due to 
>>>the ground temps being below 70F.  Jat likes 75 - 80F soil temps. 
>>>Contact me in 3 weeks and I'll give you a status report.
>>>
>>>Has anyone else sprouted Jat successfully in the US?  I'm at it's 
>>>most nothern range 33 deg N lat.
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>JQ
>>>
>>>Mike Cappiello wrote:
>>>
please tell me how you aquired the seeds. thanks, Mike
cappiello
--- James Quaid 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:



>Keith,
>
>I'm doing a Jatropha cultivation experiment in AZ.
>It survived the 115F.
>But the 24F killed a 1/3 of my test planting. It is
>very sensitive to a
>hard freeze. And according to what I've read,
>standard breeds will
>produce 300 gal/ acre 600 gal/acre if it blooms
>twice. Jatropha
>originally from Central America. I'd be very
>interested to see what the
>GMO stuff does especially in cold climes.
>
>I'm having a heckuva time sprouting seedlings. The
>current batch of
>seeds I have is from Suriname. We will be doing an
>acre test planting on
>a farm with saline wells. Jatropha can allegedly
>handle salt pretty well.
>
>Here's what the Germans are doing with it:
>
>
>Regards,
>JQ
>
>Keith Addison wrote:
>
>
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-biodiesel1707apr17,0,4223949.s 
tory?


>>track=mostemailedlink
>>'Farming our fuel'
>>Officials from a local company will tout the
>>
>>
>jatropha plant today in
>
>
>>Tallahassee. "We're doing things right here in
>>
>>
>Orlando that are going
>
>
>>to change America."
>>
>>Rich Mckay | Sentinel Staff Writer
>>Posted April 17, 2007
>>
>>ABOUT BIODIESEL
>>What is it?
>>Biodiesel is a fuel made from rendered vegetable
>>
>>
>oils or animal fats
>
>
>>refined through a chemical reaction with an
>>
>>
>alcohol.
>
>
>>What can be used to make it?
>>Soybean oil is used to make most of the biodiesel
>>
>>
>in the U.S.
>
>
>>Restaurant grease or any vegetable oil such as
>>
>>
>corn, canola,
>
>
>>cottonseed, mustard oil also can be used. Jatropha
>>
>>
>oil is widely used
>
>
>>in India and Asia. Other companies are developing
>>
>>
>ways to make
>
>
>>biodiesel out of algae, restaurant scraps and even

Re: [Biofuel] one mans junk is..

[doug]

& I bet the guy who went inside to answer the phone is still wondering 
where his mower went! (etc etc)

regards Doug

PS: in a past life we ran a s/h shop (as in almost-antiques) in the country, & 
a proportion of the junk that we scavenged came from back lanes in the city! 
 
On Wednesday 02 May 2007 01:37:41 pm AltEnergyNetwork wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> It is simply amazing/disgraceful  how much we waste as a society and the
> amount of unnecessary garbage that we generate going into landfills.
> If all the resources of manufacturing, materials and energy wasted
> on making these products in the first place is calculated...then many times
> only to be thrown away is simply criminal.
>
>  Here is a partial list from an informal study we did on what people throw
> out and of what was salvaged simply by evening walks with some friends and
> my dog over the past year on the night
> before trash day. Call it dumpster diving if you want except
>  there are no dumpsters and it's all piled right by the curb.
>  I make no apologies for picking up something I can
> use for free, recycles it and keeps it out of the dump.
>
> Area was a mixed resident working/middle class are of approx 10 square
> blocks. Nothing scientific but it sure was interesting.
>
>
> 8 persian style tapestry carpets
> all 10ftx15ft, clean, no stains, no fraying, no pet pee,  and in perfect
> condition.
>
> 16 microwave ovens, all clean, various sizes, all perfect working
> condition
> 1 micro still scealed in factory plastic. (Who throws out a brand new
> microwave?) I know, I know, some people have concerns about microwave ovens
> but still.
>
> 8 multi disc cd sound systems varied from 20watts-200 watts all
> working
>
> 16 sets of speakers, perfect condition, current models, all working,
> cosmetically a-ok
>
> 6 large boxes of kitchen wares, non chipped or cracked.. soup bowls,
> dinner plates, cups saucers, glasses, table ware,
> cloth napkins, 3 new bath towels, 2 new sheets still in packaging.
>
> 1 large box with 24 sets of unopened boxed candles
>
> 1 LCD flat screen computer monitor, perfect working condition.
>
> 14 recently manufatured (2-3yrs old) computer printers from various makes,
> all working no problems, all drivers downloadable
>
> 1 all in one scanner, printer, copyer,
> a1 condition needs ink
>
>
> 1 projection tv
> cracked plastic but I removed bottom projection system
> and now have a 8ft square screen
> projected on a white wall, pretty cool for a free projection tv!
>
>
> various audio and computer cables, all working
> 2 microphones
>
> 20 different potted house plants from 1ft to 10ft high,
> all healthy
>
> 2 cordless phones, both working,
>
> 4 high end audio amplifiers/tuners, both working
>
> 35 various framed artwork prints, none broken or damaged
>
>
> 2 boxs of kitchen gadgets, garlic press, strainers, food processors,
> clean and working
>
>
> 1 bread machine, a-1 excellent condition, almost brand new
> and makes dilicious homemade bread
> I might add..love it
>
>
> 5 computer keyboards, various configurations, all working fine.
>
> 4 DVD players, all working fine
>
> 1 surround sound tv sound system and 5 compact speakers,
> a1 working..great sound
>
>
> 1 box containing a complete 14 piece high end copper coated cook
> set. pots and pans,
> including lids, clean and in perfect shape
>
>
> 1 ikea style cloths beuro,
> a1, no scratches, nice finish and a bonus. I opened up one of the
> drawers and found an envelope containing a 50 dollar bill!!
> made my day.
>
> 2 brand new quilted bed comforters still in store packaging.
>
>
> 1 thermoelectric 12 volt camp cooler, a1 perfect working condition.
>
> 1 thermoelectric hot/cold water dispenser, a1 working condition
>
> 3 halogen table lamps, a1 working condition
>
> 1 large tupperware container containing 14 high quality cutting knives
> a1 condition
>
> 3 large aquariums, including pumps, filters and clean gravel
>
> 1 weed wacker, perfect condition
>
> 1 gas lawn mower, working condition
>
> 1 hepafilter air cleaner, working condition
>
> large assortment of boxes of screws, fasteners, hinges, nails etc
> all in original packaging
>
> 2 8000btu air conditioners, both recent efficient models, both
> working a-1
>
> 1 box containing 3 recent model harddrives..all working but need
> to be reformatted
>
> 1 walkytalky set..working
>
> 5 oil lamps, various, decorative, working and undamaged
>
> 2 electric cloths irons..brand new, still in original packaging
>
> 1 collapsable snow shovel for car.. cool.. its in my car
> as well as a new high end widow scraper, squeegy, colapsable
>
>
> 1 box containing 6 decorative crystal flower vases
>
> 1 complete ratchet set and ratchet
>
> 2 metal ramps for car repair
>
> 2 metal traction aids for ice
>
> 2 multidriver screwdriver sets with bits
>
>
> 2 brand new tarps one 20ftx 30ft other one 10x15
>
> 1 folded space blanket.(metalized mylar) in original package
>
> 2 deadbolt locks, brand new, including keys
>
> countless

Re: [Biofuel] one mans junk is..

[Darryl McMahon]

Sounds like fertile ground for Freecycling.  I absolutely agree with
your sentiment.  It's shameful to see so much stuff going to landfill.

Similar wandering in my neighbourhood isn't nearly so bountiful, but we
have had a lot of bicycles in various states of disrepair put out of
late.  (I have all the spare parts I can handle already.)
The local scrappers grab those before the municipal collection guys come
around.  Of course, this doesn't count toward the official waste
diversion statistics.

We have a local entrepreneur who is now recycling old (non-functional)
computer parts.  He has to charge about 65 cents a pound to cover his
operational costs.  So, most of this stuff goes to landfill rather than
being environmentally managed.

Darryl

"AltEnergyNetwork" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> 
> Hi all,
> 
> It is simply amazing/disgraceful  how much we waste as a society and
the amount
> of
> unnecessary garbage that we generate going into landfills.
> If all the resources of manufacturing, materials and energy wasted
> on making these products in the first place is calculated...then many
times
> only to be
> thrown away is simply criminal.
> 
>  Here is a partial list from an informal study we did on what people
throw out
> and of what was salvaged simply by evening walks with some friends
> and my dog over the past year on the night
> before trash day. Call it dumpster diving if you want except
>  there are no dumpsters and it's all piled right by the curb.
>  I make no apologies for picking up something I can
> use for free, recycles it and keeps it out of the dump.
> 
> Area was a mixed resident working/middle class are of approx 10 square
blocks.
> Nothing scientific but it sure was interesting.
> 
> 
> 8 persian style tapestry carpets
> all 10ftx15ft, clean, no stains, no fraying, no pet pee,  and in
perfect
> condition.
> 
> 16 microwave ovens, all clean, various sizes, all perfect working
> condition
> 1 micro still scealed in factory plastic. (Who throws out a brand new
> microwave?)
> I know, I know, some people have concerns about microwave ovens but
still.
> 
> 8 multi disc cd sound systems varied from 20watts-200 watts all
> working
> 
> 16 sets of speakers, perfect condition, current models, all working,
> cosmetically a-ok
> 
> 6 large boxes of kitchen wares, non chipped or cracked.. soup bowls,
> dinner plates, cups saucers, glasses, table ware,
> cloth napkins, 3 new bath towels, 2 new sheets still in packaging.
> 
> 1 large box with 24 sets of unopened boxed candles
> 
> 1 LCD flat screen computer monitor, perfect working condition.
> 
> 14 recently manufatured (2-3yrs old) computer printers from various
makes,
> all working no problems, all drivers downloadable
> 
> 1 all in one scanner, printer, copyer,
> a1 condition needs ink
> 
> 
> 1 projection tv
> cracked plastic but I removed bottom projection system
> and now have a 8ft square screen
> projected on a white wall, pretty cool for a free projection tv!
> 
> 
> various audio and computer cables, all working
> 2 microphones
> 
> 20 different potted house plants from 1ft to 10ft high,
> all healthy
> 
> 2 cordless phones, both working,
> 
> 4 high end audio amplifiers/tuners, both working
> 
> 35 various framed artwork prints, none broken or damaged
> 
> 
> 2 boxs of kitchen gadgets, garlic press, strainers, food processors,
> clean and working
> 
> 
> 1 bread machine, a-1 excellent condition, almost brand new
> and makes dilicious homemade bread
> I might add..love it
> 
> 
> 5 computer keyboards, various configurations, all working fine.
> 
> 4 DVD players, all working fine
> 
> 1 surround sound tv sound system and 5 compact speakers,
> a1 working..great sound
> 
> 
> 1 box containing a complete 14 piece high end copper coated cook
> set. pots and pans,
> including lids, clean and in perfect shape
> 
> 
> 1 ikea style cloths beuro,
> a1, no scratches, nice finish and a bonus. I opened up one of the
> drawers and found an envelope containing a 50 dollar bill!!
> made my day.
> 
> 2 brand new quilted bed comforters still in store packaging.
> 
> 
> 1 thermoelectric 12 volt camp cooler, a1 perfect working condition.
> 
> 1 thermoelectric hot/cold water dispenser, a1 working condition
> 
> 3 halogen table lamps, a1 working condition
> 
> 1 large tupperware container containing 14 high quality cutting knives
> a1 condition
> 
> 3 large aquariums, including pumps, filters and clean gravel
> 
> 1 weed wacker, perfect condition
> 
> 1 gas lawn mower, working condition
> 
> 1 hepafilter air cleaner, working condition
> 
> large assortment of boxes of screws, fasteners, hinges, nails etc
> all in original packaging
> 
> 2 8000btu air conditioners, both recent efficient models, both
> working a-1
> 
> 1 box containing 3 recent model harddrives..all working but need
> to be reformatted
> 
> 1 walkytalky set..working
> 
> 5 oil lamps, various, decorative, working and undamaged
> 
> 2 electric cloths irons..brand new, still in original packaging

Re: [Biofuel] one mans junk is..

[Keith Addison]

>& I bet the guy who went inside to answer the phone is still wondering
>where his mower went! (etc etc)

Naah, this is what happens in rich countries. Seen it in Holland, 
Sweden, and here in Japan - this is what Tokyo "gomi" is like 
(garbage). A list of the stuff we picked up from junk when we were 
living in Tokyo reads much the same, that's where we got almost 
everything we had. I couldn't believe what people were throwing away. 
Really disgraceful - but I didn't mind having it! Still got most of 
it.

Best

Keith


>regards Doug
>
>PS: in a past life we ran a s/h shop (as in almost-antiques) in the country, &
>a proportion of the junk that we scavenged came from back lanes in the city!
>
>On Wednesday 02 May 2007 01:37:41 pm AltEnergyNetwork wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > It is simply amazing/disgraceful  how much we waste as a society and the
> > amount of unnecessary garbage that we generate going into landfills.
> > If all the resources of manufacturing, materials and energy wasted
> > on making these products in the first place is calculated...then many times
> > only to be thrown away is simply criminal.
> >
> >  Here is a partial list from an informal study we did on what people throw
> > out and of what was salvaged simply by evening walks with some friends and
> > my dog over the past year on the night
> > before trash day. Call it dumpster diving if you want except
> >  there are no dumpsters and it's all piled right by the curb.
> >  I make no apologies for picking up something I can
> > use for free, recycles it and keeps it out of the dump.
> >
> > Area was a mixed resident working/middle class are of approx 10 square
> > blocks. Nothing scientific but it sure was interesting.
> >
> >
> > 8 persian style tapestry carpets
> > all 10ftx15ft, clean, no stains, no fraying, no pet pee,  and in perfect
> > condition.
> >
> > 16 microwave ovens, all clean, various sizes, all perfect working
> > condition
> > 1 micro still scealed in factory plastic. (Who throws out a brand new
> > microwave?) I know, I know, some people have concerns about microwave ovens
> > but still.
> >
> > 8 multi disc cd sound systems varied from 20watts-200 watts all
> > working
> >
> > 16 sets of speakers, perfect condition, current models, all working,
> > cosmetically a-ok
> >
> > 6 large boxes of kitchen wares, non chipped or cracked.. soup bowls,
> > dinner plates, cups saucers, glasses, table ware,
> > cloth napkins, 3 new bath towels, 2 new sheets still in packaging.
> >
> > 1 large box with 24 sets of unopened boxed candles
> >
> > 1 LCD flat screen computer monitor, perfect working condition.
> >
> > 14 recently manufatured (2-3yrs old) computer printers from various makes,
> > all working no problems, all drivers downloadable
> >
> > 1 all in one scanner, printer, copyer,
> > a1 condition needs ink
> >
> >
> > 1 projection tv
> > cracked plastic but I removed bottom projection system
> > and now have a 8ft square screen
> > projected on a white wall, pretty cool for a free projection tv!
> >
> >
> > various audio and computer cables, all working
> > 2 microphones
> >
> > 20 different potted house plants from 1ft to 10ft high,
> > all healthy
> >
> > 2 cordless phones, both working,
> >
> > 4 high end audio amplifiers/tuners, both working
> >
> > 35 various framed artwork prints, none broken or damaged
> >
> >
> > 2 boxs of kitchen gadgets, garlic press, strainers, food processors,
> > clean and working
> >
> >
> > 1 bread machine, a-1 excellent condition, almost brand new
> > and makes dilicious homemade bread
> > I might add..love it
> >
> >
> > 5 computer keyboards, various configurations, all working fine.
> >
> > 4 DVD players, all working fine
> >
> > 1 surround sound tv sound system and 5 compact speakers,
> > a1 working..great sound
> >
> >
> > 1 box containing a complete 14 piece high end copper coated cook
> > set. pots and pans,
> > including lids, clean and in perfect shape
> >
> >
> > 1 ikea style cloths beuro,
> > a1, no scratches, nice finish and a bonus. I opened up one of the
> > drawers and found an envelope containing a 50 dollar bill!!
> > made my day.
> >
> > 2 brand new quilted bed comforters still in store packaging.
> >
> >
> > 1 thermoelectric 12 volt camp cooler, a1 perfect working condition.
> >
> > 1 thermoelectric hot/cold water dispenser, a1 working condition
> >
> > 3 halogen table lamps, a1 working condition
> >
> > 1 large tupperware container containing 14 high quality cutting knives
> > a1 condition
> >
> > 3 large aquariums, including pumps, filters and clean gravel
> >
> > 1 weed wacker, perfect condition
> >
> > 1 gas lawn mower, working condition
> >
> > 1 hepafilter air cleaner, working condition
> >
> > large assortment of boxes of screws, fasteners, hinges, nails etc
> > all in original packaging
> >
> > 2 8000btu air conditioners, both recent efficient models, both
> > working a-1
> >
> > 1 box containing 3 recent model harddrives..all working but need
> > to be reforma

[Biofuel] Biofuels Report: Forests or Fuel (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=835
Biofuels Report: Forests or Fuel
The world's forests are natural carbon 'sinks' that remove and store 
atmospheric CO2. So why, in the name of saving the earth, asks Renton 
Righelato, are we cutting down these precious resources to make way 
for fuel crops?
Date:01/03/2007 Author:Renton Righelato
 

Most analyses of the benefits of biofuels focus chiefly on the 
crop/fuel cycle, ignoring the value of longterm carbon 'sinks' such 
as forests and grasslands. Yet, to be comprehensive, our approach to 
climate change must also look at the alternative of maintaining or 
restoring these areas, compared to destroying them and turning them 
over to arable production of fuel crops.

When arable land is restored to forest instead of using it for 
biofuel production, carbon stores build up in the soil and vegetation 
and outweigh the emissions avoided by the production of biofuel (see 
illustration). Converting cropland to tropical forest can sequester 
20-30 tonnes CO2/hectare per year - two- to threeefold higher than 
the emissions avoided by sugarcane-derived bioethanol. In temperate 
regions, forest regrowth is slower but the rates of carbon 
sequestration are still two- to threeefold higher than the avoided 
emissions from biofuels produced from temperate crops. The 
sequestration rates fall as forests mature, but only after 50 to 100 
years might the cumulative avoided emissions exceed the carbon 
sequestered by forest restoration.

Where, directly or indirectly, natural forests or grasslands are 
converted to arable land to permit the production of a fuel crop, the 
loss of carbon stored in the biosphere must be factored in. In the 
tropics, the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere in 
conversion of secondary forest to burnt cropland is approximately 600 
tonnes of carbon per hectare; the conversion of primary and logged 
forest releases approximately 700 tonnes carbon per hectare. Most of 
this loss occurs through burning and biodegradation in the months 
following the initial clearance, and its impact on global CO2 and 
warming is immediate.

Balancing this amount of carbon in the atmosphere with the emissions 
avoided through the use of biofuels would take 30 to 50 years. 
Furthermore, removal of forest cover to make way for biofuel crops 
may reduce downwind rainfall, causing a cascade of further forest 
loss, further reducing the biosphere's capacity to sequester carbon 
and accelerating warming.

Replacing diverse natural habitats with monocultures of arable crops 
drastically reduces the range of plants and animals that an area 
supports. This is particularly true in the tropics, where the forests 
are the most biologically diverse regions on the planet and where 
forest loss has already eliminated or endangered many species. 
Intensive agriculture also reduces amenity value: there is less 
countryside for people.

The next few decades are a window of opportunity for us to develop 
real low carbon societies. In this window, to minimise the net flux 
of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, it is clearly better to maintain 
existing forests and regenerate forest on available arable land, 
rather than to produce biofuels from arable crops. Compared with 
large-scale use of bioethanol and biodiesel, this will result in 
lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and it will provide a larger 
more effective carbon sink for the future.

Dr Renton Righelato is chair of the World Land Trust and a Visiting 
Research Fellow at the Environmental Systems Science Centre at the 
University of Reading

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[Biofuel] Biofuels Report (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=837
Biofuels Report: Introduction
Contents

Pat Thomas: Introduction

Robin Maynard: Against the Grain

Renton Righelato: Forests or Fuel?

Mark Anslow: Biofuels - Facts and Fiction

Harriet Williams: How Green is my Tank?

Robin Maynard & Pat Thomas: The Next GM Revolution?

Jeremy Smith & Jon Hughes: Less Waste, More Speed


In his final State of the Union address, George Bush announced his 
support for the adoption of biofuels on a massive scale. But is the 
plan such a good idea? By Pat Thomas
Date:01/03/2007 Author:Pat Thomas
 

There is an old saying: If something sounds too good to be true, it 
probably is.

In the current scramble to face up to the realities of climate change 
and the current peak oil demand, pundits on both sides of the 
ecological debate have embraced the concept of biofuels - renewable 
fuels derived from vegetable matter - as an effective solution to the 
impending global crisis.

The theory seems simple enough. By burning plant-derived energy we 
are burning a carbon-neutral fuel, because the CO2 released through 
combustion of plant fuels is equal to what the plant took out of the 
atmosphere in the first place.

But the science is far from complete, the energy savings far from 
convincing and, although many see biofuels as a way to avoid the kind 
of resource wars currently raging in the Middle East and elsewhere, 
going down that road may in the end provoke a wider series of 
resource wars - this time over food, water and habitable land.

The scale of Bush's and others enthusiasm for biofuels, seems, once 
one knows the details, to make little sense. Except perhaps as one of 
the biggest global investment opportunities in decades.

Currently politicians, global food and fuel corporations and biotech 
companies are all vying for position. The pieces are shifting so 
radically and so quickly on the global chessboard that food 
multinationals like Unilever, fearful of a marketplace that pits food 
against fuel, now find themselves using words like 'deforestation' 
and 'sustainable farming' and rubbing shoulders with non-governmental 
organisations who have been so critical of them in the past.

To make the numbers work, the biofuels industry is being propped up 
by substantial discounts in fuel duties, tax breaks and subsidies, 
import bans and the government mandates to implement them. Without 
these, biofuels - particularly the first-generation biofuels, 
bioethanol and biodiesel - would never find their way to the 
forecourt.

Simply replacing our fossil fuels with biofuels, however, misses the 
point: it is not the world's ability to supply us with energy that is 
the problem, but our inability to know when to stop consuming. To 
solve this we need to look carefully at our total energy landscape: 
how we use our cars, how we heat our homes and how we design our 
houses, flats and public buildings, how we plan our communities, how 
and where we grow our food, the 'environmental footprints' of all the 
things we consume. Without attention to these details the energy 
crisis will only deepen.

In conceiving real solutions we need to be able to look to models of 
genuine sustainability - many of which exist on the local scale - 
rather than those that promote the illusion of sustainability at a 
national or global level. Brazil is a good example of this illusion. 
Biofuel enthusiasts often point to that country as a model for all 
that is good about the biofuel revolution. Yet Brazil is a troubled 
country.

Its sugar-cane industry is built on the back of slavery and low 
wages. It is now converting half of its sugar harvest into bioethanol 
and, while 40 per cent of Brazil's cars may be running on this fuel 
(the figures are not at all clear, since many ordinary people have 
switched back to petrol as the market price for bioethanol there has 
risen), the country's rich and diverse landscape is rapidly being 
ploughed under to make way for more plantations, which will produce 
more ethanol for home and export markets. These days, 80 per cent of 
Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions come not from cars but from 
deforestation.

In the articles that follow, The Ecologist examines the biofuels 
phenomenon from a range of different perspectives, including those of 
farmers, car manufacturers and conservationists. We tackle the myths 
that fuel the current fervour for biofuels, the GM agenda behind 
their promotion and propose simpler, smaller, more localised 
solutions that can make a difference to the energy crisis.

What is clear is that biofuels can only ever make a smallscale 
contribution to our energy demands. Jeffery Dukes, author of Burning 
Buried Sunshine: the human consumption of ancient solar energy, has 
calculated that, at current rates of use, we burn up four centuries' 
worth of fossilised animals and plants in the forms of oil, coal and 
gas. Without positive, even aggressive, efforts to reduce the wor

[Biofuel] Less waste, more speed (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=832

Less waste, more speed

Growing crops to solve the planet's energy needs doesn't work. 
Recycling the energy in our waste just might have a significant part 
to play. By Jeremy Smith & Jon Hughes

Date:29/03/2007 Author:Jeremy Smith & Jon Hughes

Bush's latest' state of the union speech - wanting 20 per cent 
bio-fuels from food crops to be driving the US fleet in 10 years 
-makes two things remarkably clear. First even the Toxic Texan now 
sees the environment as a vote winner. And second, people such as him 
are still looking for the answers in the wrong place.

To see where the answers might lie he needs to look beyond the 
cornfields of the Midwest. To somewhere aiming to be nuclear free by 
2010 and oil-free by 2020. To Sweden. This radical energy policy, the 
most ambitious of its kind in the world, was introduced by the 
socialists and adopted, after a recent change of government, by the 
equivalent of the Tories. In terms of ecological consciousness and 
seeking bipartisan solutions to environmental problems it affirms 
that Sweden is a good 20 years ahead of either Britain or America.

The country's environmental awakening started in the Eighties when 
two separate but connected events shocked the country. First there 
was the bleached coffee filter paper scandal. People liked the filter 
paper for their coffee machines to be white. But then it was 
discovered that the chemicals used in the manufacturing process left 
cancer-causing residues and were causing environmental degradation 
simply so we could have something that looked aesthetically pleasing. 
Then dead seals started to appear off the north-west coast. The 
Swedes put two and two together and realized that the fundamental 
processes used in manufacturing were having a direct impact on the 
environment. And determined that they were going to do something 
about it.

So they set their minds to addressing these issues, as fishing, 
forestry and agriculture are critical parts of their economic 
portfolio. How best to use their natural resources is tantamount. 
Biofuels there have been used as a fuel extender for petrol-engined 
vehicles for years. Today, almost 40,000 cars in the country are 
powered by some form of alternative fuel. Last year sales were up 168 
per cent. By the end of 2006 sales of alternative fuel cars were 
expected to account for about 20 per cent of all new cars sold.

However, the biofuels approach currently being endorsed by Bush and 
others is already recognised by the Swedes as being an ultimately 
unsustainable solution and of little help even in meeting the modest 
targets for cutting C0… emissions set by the EU. So while the rest of 
the world is only now belatedly jumping on the bio-fuels bandwagon, 
the Swedes have already moved on to the next phase.

Today, they are concentrating on non-food-crop biomass for energy 
production and fuel, in the form of biogas, for cars, both of which 
have far greater potential to play a long and lasting role in 
providing green fuel and green energy. Rather than sow new plants 
that compete for space with food crops, they are using the waste 
products of their society - anything from woodchip to slaughterhouse 
slurry - and turning them into fuel.

In December last year they opened the world's largest biogas plant. 
Costing 3.2 million Euro, the Gothenburg plant will be able to 
produce 1,600 cubic metres (cu/m) (56,000 cubic feet) of biogas per 
hour. This will be done by refining gas from the city's wastewater 
treatment plant into biogas.

Outside of Gothenburg, the government and 25 local municipalities 
have backed an initiative to build 200 new biogas stations over the 
next two to three years. Expansion on this scale and at this speed 
will replace the need for around 35 million litres of petrol and 
diesel fuel, cutting emissions by 50,000 tonnes a year; a clear 
signal to business and the public to have confidence and invest in 
the sector.

Last year Sweden unveiled the world's first biogas powered train. 
Driven by two biogas bus engines it can carry 54 passengers at 81mph, 
and run for 372 miles without refuelling

The country already has 779 biogas driven buses. In the city of 
Linköping for example, all the buses and many of the taxis run on 
biogas produced locally from slaughter waste, agricultural waste and 
other kinds of food/organic waste. Across the country, sales of 
biogas-powered cars increased by 49 percent in 2005.

Not that they've stopped there. Last year Sweden unveiled the world's 
first biogas powered train. Driven by two biogas bus engines it can 
carry up to 54 passengers at 81 miles an hour and run for 372 miles 
before it need refuel. It cost them just 1.08 million Euros to 
develop.

Closing the loop

Biogas is produced in essentially two different ways - by 
biodigesters and bioreactors. From the cities of Sweden to remote 
rural villages of China anaerobic biodigesters

[Biofuel] Biofuels Report: The next genetic revolution? (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=831

The next genetic revolution?

We didn't want GM on your table, but the crucial question now is, 
will we allow it in our tanks? Robin Maynard and Pat Thomas report

Date:29/03/2007 Author:Robin Maynard & Pat Thomas

A member of the Brazilian landless worker movement burns transgenic
soya seeds

In recent years, as horror headlines about genetically modified (GM) 
crops have vanished from the mainstream media, it may have seemed as 
if those battling to stop them being produced had won. In reality the 
lack of GM fanfare has been little more than a quiet moment before 
the storm. The ability of biotech companies like Monsanto and 
Syngenta to improve agricultural production is viewed as a lynchpin 
in the success or failure of the biofuels revolution. If the biotech 
industry can cleverly reposition GM crops as a non-food, industrial 
'green' energy commodity, it might just succeed in persuading an 
otherwise reluctant public that GM is a good thing.

Biotech companies aim to do this in two ways. The first is the 
genetic modification of crops such as corn, to increase drought 
resistance and yield and to reduce the cost or increase the 
efficiency of ethanol production. The second is the creation of 
powerful enzymes that will efficiently convert crop waste or plants 
such as switchgrass, which consists largely of hard-to-break-down 
cellulose, into ethanol.

It is estimated that it will take 10 to 15 years of research and 
development work to make the latter technology viable. But 
genetically modified biofuel crops are already a reality, being grown 
and tested in real fields in real world conditions, especially in the 
USA.

GM corn now makes up a substantial part of all corn destined for 
ethanol production in the USA and Monsanto reports that sales of its 
corn seeds and traits have risen 38 per cent in the last year alone. 
However, since these varieties offer no particular advantage over 
conventional corn for ethanol production, it is possible that the 
diversion of GM maize into ethanol production reflects the extent to 
which this commodity has been rejected as a food and feed staple. And 
as biodiesel production relies on oils such as sunflower, palm or 
soya, increased demand will also mean more demand for GM oilseed 
crops, in particular soya beans.

In Europe, where public resistance to growing GM crops remains 
intractable, planting of GM crops is still very limited. Most energy 
crops in Europe are in the form of non-GM sugarbeet, rapeseed and 
corn. However, Syngenta has recently applied for permission to import 
a GM maize into Europe for processing into fuel. The GM maize 
variety, 'Event 3272', has been modified to express an enzyme 
(AMY797E), a key component in the production of bioethanol from maize 
that shortens the time it take to ferment the feedstock into alcohol. 
The company have also developing a GM cassava for use in biofuels.

Food producers are also jumping on the bandwagon. In Europe, the 
Confederation of the food and drink industries of the EU (CIAA) has 
recently called for more GM rapeseed varieties to be authorised for 
import into the EU. By authorising new GM rapeseed varieties the CIAA 
hopes that pressure on non-GM European rapeseed for food purposes 
could be reduced.

Encouragement from eminent scientific and political figures completes 
the pincer movement. Recently, UK Chief Scientist Sir David King 
commented on a government website that 'public acceptance is likely 
to be greater for GM non-food crops.'

Likewise, the biotech industry heartily welcomed President Bush's 
2006 State of the Union address. In a statement the following day, 
James Greenwood, President and CEO of Bio - the biotech industry 
organisation representing more than 1,100 biotech companies, academic 
institutions and centres in the US and worldwide, commented that 'the 
biotechnology industry can play a vital role in meeting the 
President's stated goal of increasing America's energy security by 
replacing imported oil with domestically produced alternative fuels'.

Greenwood went on to state that if the President's Advanced Energy 
Initiative was successful, 'industry will begin investing in 
commercial-scale biorefineries, and consumers could begin buying more 
products - including fuel for their cars and trucks and bioplastics - 
produced in America's heartland. America's breadbasket could soon 
become our energy fields as well.'

Biotech companies have also set their sights on other continents, 
where public resistance is lower or less organised and environmental 
restrictions weaker or absent. Here too, they seek to create a 
distinction in the public's mind between GM as food (not acceptable) 
and GM for industrial uses (acceptable).


Indian farmers in New Delhi protest against GM trials

For example, President Lula of Brazil recently declared that GM soya 
will be used for biofuels, while 'good soya' will be 

[Biofuel] Biofuels Report: Against the Grain (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=834
Biofuels Report: Against the Grain
Plant fuels can never meet our current and growing energy needs and, 
as Robin Maynard reports, adopting a 'carbohydrate economy' may prove 
disastrous for our farmers, our food supply and our future
Date:01/03/2007 Author:Robin Maynard
 

Addressing the Conservative Party Conference in October 2006, the 
President of the National Farmers Union (NFU), Peter Kendall, was 
keen to impress upon delegates 'the key role' his members could play 
in tackling climate change.  Referring to how the country's farmers 
kept Britain fed when imports were blocked by German U-Boats, Kendall 
declared: 'Not since the Second World War has our land, our farming 
and our farmers been so important as a resource.'

In particular, he banged the drum for the large-scale planting of 
biofuel crops - these being the familiar crops of oilseed rape, 
sugar-beet and wheat, but which, rather than being used as human or 
animal foodstuffs, would be processed into fuel, namely biodiesel or 
bioethanol.



In seeking to ally his members' interests to those of the newly 
carbon-conscious Conservatives, Kendall clearly sees an opportunity 
to revive the reputation and fortunes of UK farmers. For decades, UK 
farming has stood accused of all manner of ills - of producing 
surpluses that swallowed up vast subsidies from UK taxpayers; of then 
dumping these surpluses on world markets, undercutting prices and 
destroying the livelihoods of poor farmers in the developing world; 
and of all the while ploughing up wildflower-rich meadows, decimating 
insects and other wildlife through indiscriminate pesticide use, and 
polluting rivers and under ground aquifers with fertiliser run-off. 
More accurately and justly, these ills should be laid at the door of 
the industrial end of agriculture and the agribusinesses constantly 
pushing the agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and farm machinery that 
fuel intensive farming. Indeed, during those decades, it's not just 
wildlife, but hundreds of thousands of family farmers and 
farm-workers who have also disappeared from our farmland.

What a PR coup for the industrial farming lobby to now be seen as the 
good guys, making common cause with environmentalists to tackle 
climate change through the grow-ing of 'green' energy crops. Farmers 
across the world who have seen the prices they receive for producing 
their crops fall relative to the costs of growing them, would have a 
new, booming market and they would be valued for producing something 
everybody needs: energy. Meanwhile, processors of crops for food oils 
and other industrial uses would gain a bigger, competitive market for 
their outputs. For local politicians, more crushing and refining 
plants equals more jobs.

Vested interests

Whatever the NFU's vested interest in pushing biofuels, the policy 
framework coming from the European Commission and UK government seems 
modest and reasonable. The EU Directive 'on the promotion of biofuels 
or other renewable fuels for transport' sets a target for member 
states to achieve a substitution of petrol and diesel with biofuels 
of 5.75 per cent by 2010, with an estimated maximum of around 10 per 
cent by 2015.

Yet even meeting these targets will be near impossible, and indeed 
many member states, Britain among them, are already falling behind. 
Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 
Development (OECD) show that Europe would need to convert more than 
70 per cent of its total arable land to raise the proportion of 
biofuel currently used in road transport to a mere 10 per cent.

In the UK, we currently use 37.6 million tonnes of petroleum products 
annually. To replace that with biodiesel from oilseed rape would 
require 25.9 million hectares of land - which is not only four and 
half times greater than our total current area of arable land (on 
which the first-generation biofuel crops of oilseed rape, sugar-beet 
and wheat would be grown), but also greater than the entire area of 
agricultural land in the UK (18.5 million hectares).

The story is the same in the USA. Despite turning 55 million tons of 
maize into bioethanol, equivalent to one sixth of the entire US corn 
harvest, this distils down to only enough biofuel to substitute for 
three per cent or current oil and diesel used in road transport.

The rich countries of Europe and the USA are also looking further 
afield in pursuit of the maximum economic gain. Malaysia and 
Indonesia have cleared huge swathes of rainforest - one of the 
world's most valuable resources for natural carbon storage and 
biodiversity - to plant oil palms for biofuel production. 'The demand 
for biofuel will come from the EU,' Malaysian newspapers confidently 
report. The country now has over 30 refineries for producing biofuel 
from palm oil, including joint ventures with European-based 
companies, such as Dutch producers Biox, which have set up ju

[Biofuel] Biofuels Report: How Green is my Tank? (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=836
Biofuels Report:How Green is my Tank?
Unless automakers accept the need for serious action on fuel economy 
in addition to lower-carbon fuels, biofuels will remain a dangerous 
distraction. Harriet Williams reports
Date:01/03/2007 Author:Harriet Williams
 

'Live Green, Go Yellow' exhorts a multimillion-dollar ad campaign 
from General Motors (GM), the world's largest automaker, promoting 
flexible fuel cars capable of running on blends of up to 85 per cent 
ethanol, mainly derived from corn. 'GM FlexFuel vehicles lead the way 
to a cleaner, less oil-dependent future, when they run on renewable, 
US grown fuel. Join the ride!'

Global bioethanol production more than doubled between 2000 and 2005 
to 36 billion litres, with Brazilian sugar cane and US corn together 
accounting for more than 80 per cent of this total. Production of 
biodiesel, starting from a much smaller base, expanded fourfold to 
nearly four billion litres, ninetenths of it produced in the EU. 
Countries as varied as Colombia, Japan, Canada, South Africa and the 
Philippines are contemplating mandatory biofuel blends for their auto 
fleets. The world's eyes are focused enviously on Brazil, nicknamed 
the Saudi Arabia of biofuel, where bioethanol accounts for 40 per 
cent of the fuel used by the country's cars and avoids the need for 
roughly $69 billion a year in oil imports.

Despite all this activity, in 2005 ethanol powered only 0.8 per cent 
of the distance travelled by the world's auto fleet. If and when this 
proportion increases, the physical availability of biofuel will be 
only one factor - future trends in fuel economy of individual 
vehicles and in the total mileage people travel are equally important.

GM and the other Big Three US automakers, Ford and Daimler Chrysler, 
have all vowed to double production of flex-fuel vehicles by 2010. 
Officially, car-makers like the yellow stuff because it offers the 
prospect of boosting energy security - a hot topic in the USA - and 
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which strikes chords in Europe.

Unofficially, biofuels offer automakers a convenient way out of any 
number of tricky corners. Ten per cent of the world's oil is burnt on 
US roads - one in every two barrels it consumes - and automakers were 
clearly in the frame when President Bush decried the country's 
'addiction to oil' and its unpleasant side-effects, which include 
spending half a million dollars every minute on petroleum imports. 
High oil prices and the war in Iraq have fuelled criticism of the Big 
Three for producing gas-guzzling vehicles, while nimbler Asian rivals 
such as Toyota and Honda increase market share with less fuel-hungry 
technologies such as hybrid engines.

Then there is all the bad press over climate change. Road transport 
already accounts for around one quarter of carbon emissions in most 
developed countries, a figure set to grow as car use increases 
relative to other energy-hungry sectors that are reining in their 
emissions.

An obvious fix for these ills - increasing the mileage per gallon 
(mpg) travelled by the average car - has conspicuously failed to 
materialise. And yet a 10mpg increase in the average fuel economy of 
US cars, for instance, would reduce oil demand by 3.5 million barrels 
a day. By contrast, even if the USA diverted its entire corn yield to 
ethanol, it would only displace 1.35 million barrels, or 15 per cent, 
of the nine million barrels (and rising) consumed by US cars every 
day.

Instead, the trend for bigger, more powerful vehicles has cancelled 
out a series of impressive efficiency gains. The average weight of 
new US cars has increased 24 per cent between 1981 and 2001, with a 
93 per cent increase in horsepower over the same period. All this 
means that the average fuel economy for the whole fleet is an 
oil-thirsty 19.6mpg - worse than that of the Model T Ford launched in 
1908. The reason is simple: profit margins are highest on large, fast 
cars, and automakers have deliberately stoked consumer demand for 
these vehicles. A 2006 Friends of the Earth report on car advertising 
in the UK, for instance, found that nearly two thirds of adverts were 
for vehicles in the two most polluting categories.

Political failures

Car-makers' dismal record on improving fuel economy has led to a 
clutch of initiatives and agreements on fuel economy action on both 
sides of the Atlantic, which the industry is determined to fight off.

In the USA, the federal fuel economy standard for new cars has 
stalled at 27.5mpg since the mid-1980s, and automakers have filed a 
legal challenge against Californian proposals mandating lower carbon 
emissions. Over the years, the state of California has helped set the 
agenda for US environmental politics and, with another 13 states 
lined up to adopt the proposals, and California suing automakers for 
contributing to global warming, car manufacturers are fearful that 
t

[Biofuel] 230 say 'no' to EU's biofuels directive (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=784
230 say 'no' to EU's biofuels directive
An open letter signed by over 230 organisations and individuals - 
including author/campaigner Mark Lynas and Green Party MEP Caroline 
Lucas - has been sent to the European Union calling for ministers to 
vote against planned biofuel targets at the EU Summit on Friday.
Date:07/03/2007 Author:News
 

The letter argues that if EU's targets of a 10% biofuel blend in 
ordinary petrol and diesel by 2010 are met, the impact on 
biodiversity and increased carbon dioxide emissions will be 
significant.
 
Many campaigners have argued that the use of biofuels will help to 
reduce emissions of CO2 by burning a fuel that has absorbed CO2 while 
it was growing. But a groundswell of evidence, including the 
Ecologist's own analysis, now shows that the ancillary processes 
involved in producing biofuels - such as creating fertilisers, 
ploughing fields, distilling the fuels and destroying natural 
habitats - actually exacerbate the problems of climate change.
 
The signatories to the letter maintain that growing or importing fuel 
crops instead of food runs counter to the EU's Millenium Development 
Goals, which pledge support to the less industrialised world, and 
that the benefit, if any, that biofuels could provide would be 
minimal: less than a 1 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases at the 
pump. They call on the EU to introduce more stringent car emissions 
standards and for measures to reduce our demand for energy.
 
Almuth Ernsting, from the campaign group Biofuel Watch, said:
'If the EU Summitt says says "yes" to mandatory biofuel targets, it 
will be giving the green light to plans to convert millions of 
hectares of rainforest, grasslands and traditional farmland across 
Latin America, Asia and Africa into biofuel monocultures. The 
greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, peat drainage and from 
intensive agriculture will far outweigh any apparent carbon savings 
from using less fossil fuels.'

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[Biofuel] Biofuels - facts and fiction (The Ecologist)

[Keith Addison]

If you see a report titled something like "Biofuels - facts and 
fiction" what are the chances you'll find "David Pimentel" in the 
first paragraph? And will he be represented as fact or as fiction? No 
prizes...



http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=755
Biofuels - facts and fiction
The claims for biofuels make it seem truly a wonder crop. Mark Anslow 
separates the wheat from the chaff

Date:19/02/2007 Author:Mark Anslow
 

Claim 1: You get more out than you put in

For more than 15 years, David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology and 
Agriculture at Cornell University in New York, and his colleague, 
Professor Tad Patzek at Berkeley, have published peer-reviewed 
research showing that biofuels give out less energy when burnt than 
was used in their manufacture.

By using a 'cradle-to-grave' approach - measuring all the energy 
inputs to the production of ethanol from the production of nitrogen 
fertiliser, through to the energy required to clean up the waste from 
bio-refineries - they have shown that while it takes 6,597 
kilocalories of nonrenewable energy to produce a litre of ethanol 
from corn, that same litre contains only 5,130 kilocalories of energy 
- a 22 per cent loss.(1)

Their work has been fiercely attacked by the biofuel lobby, who argue 
that Pimentel and Patzek include too many 'energy input' costs, and 
fail to give credit to the other, useful 'co-products' created in the 
process of refining biofuel.(2)

Neither objection stands up under closer scrutiny. In fact, corn uses 
more herbicides, insecticides and fertiliser than any other crop(3); 
and 99 per cent of all cornfields used for producing bioethanol are 
heavily fertilised with nitrogen.(4) Pimentel and Patzek have shown 
that although the energy costs involved with fertiliser production 
have fallen, most of the factories producing nitrate fertiliser in 
the USA today were built in the 1960s and are highly inefficient.(5) 
As such, they estimate that the energy costs of nitrogen fertiliser 
manufacture account for over 30 per cent of the total energy needed 
to grow corn. When the energy costs of labour, machinery, petrol and 
diesel, other fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides and corn seed 
production are figured into the equation, merely growing corn using 
intensive agriculture accounts for 38 per cent of the energy needed 
to produce a litre of ethanol.

To make their energy costs appear more favourable, proponents of 
biofuels frequently 'off-set' the energy value of other substances 
produced during the refining process against the total energy used to 
produce the fuel. For bioethanol, these co-products include animal 
feed and carbon dioxide gas. For biodiesel, they include animal feed 
and glycerine, a component of soap. They argue that, by calculating 
the energy that would have been required to produce these substances 
by themselves, the amount of energy accounted for in the biofuel 
production process can be reduced. In some studies, the energy value 
of co-products has been calculated at 150 per cent more than the 
energy required to produce the fuel.(6)

But the energy and monetary value of these co-products is highly 
subjective. In the UK, the production of glycerine, which biodiesel 
producers had hoped to sell to cosmetics companies to offset the 
costs of production, has reached such levels that supply is exceeding 
demand. Some refiners have been forced to simply burn it. In the US, 
the value of the grains left over after ethanol distillation has been 
much touted as an animal feed. But research has shown that this grain 
contains less energy than normal animal feed (usually made from much 
less fertiliser-intensive soya),(7) and that production of soya has 
not fallen as ethanol production has risen, indicating that livestock 
farmers have been reluctant to change the their animals' diet and use 
the new feed.(8) David Morris, a biofuel lobbyist, has even admitted 
that it may benefit refiners more to burn the animal feed as fuel 
than to sell it.(9)

Some ethanol distilleries have bottled the carbon dioxide that is 
given off during the fermentation process and sold it to carbonated 
drinks manufacturers, counting the value of the by-product against 
their overall energy costs. Most, however, have not.(10)

Energy offset benefits can only be counted if the co-products are 
genuinely used in substitute for another product. Refining ethanol 
produces roughly equal parts ethanol, carbon dioxide and animal 
feed.(11) Given that US corn-based ethanol production in 2005 peaked 
at 16.2 billion litres, this means that an almost equivalent amount 
of co-products (by volume) must have been produced. If these products 
are, as market figures suggest, unwanted, then instead of providing a 
useful 'offset', they are set to become a serious waste problem.

Claim 2: It makes economic sense

In 2006, the American government handed out between $5.1 and $6.8 
billion in ethanol subsidies. Th

Re: [Biofuel] Biodiesel compatible gravity-fed filter?

[Joe Street]

Pushing a fluid with the viscosity BD can have through a 10 micron pore 
size filter just requires some pressure or a lot of time take your 
pick.  However there is nothing stopping you from rigging up a block and 
tackle to the top of the barn and hoisting the barrel up 40 or 50 feet 
to give you some head pressure.


Joe

Matt Wilson wrote:


Hey all,

I would like to filter our biodiesel between our drying/storage 55 
gal. drum and the truck.  We are using gravity to fill jugs, then use 
the jugs to fill the tank- we don't have a dedicated fuel pump.  I am 
having a hard time finding an in-line 3/4" fuel filter that is 
biodiesel compatible but still filters to around 5-10 microns without 
needing pump pressure. 

I purchased a Goldenrod no. 495 gravity filter, but they only suggest 
it for B20.   Bio-tek's "High alcohol filter" works with B100, but I 
was told that it needs the pressure of a pump. 


Any ideas, or am I chasing a mythical beast?

Thanks,

Matt


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[Biofuel] this will never change until 3 piece suits do time

[Kirk McLoren]

 
   
   
http://www.nj.com/news/asbestos/times/index.ssf?/news/times/stories/anatomy.html
  Anatomy of an environmental fiasco  Assembly meets today about tremolite at 
Grace factory 
  Tuesday, May 10, 2005   By TRACEY L. REGAN
Staff Writer 
  HAMILTON - For four decades, the furnaces at W.R. Grace & Co.'s Zonolite 
factory spewed sparkling metallic dust and fine white powder into the air that 
clung to workers' clothes, coated cars on neighboring properties and were once 
reported to have covered lawns in a housing development more than a mile from 
the plant.
  Though regulators from state and federal agencies inspected the fireproofing 
and insulation plant or its records starting in the late 1960s, no one sounded 
the alarm that the vermiculite ore the plant workers heated, mixed and bagged 
was laced with a dangerous form of asbestos called tremolite. 
  It wasn't until five years ago - after disclosures of widespread lung disease 
among the Libby, Mont., workers who mined the ore - and five years after the 
plant closed that federal agencies began to investigate asbestos contamination 
left on the plant grounds here and documented in W.R. Grace & Co.'s own 
internal health surveys.
  How state and federal government oversight could fail to protect workers at 
the small plant, where more than two dozen workers were stricken with lung 
disease and other occupational injuries over the past two decades, will be 
examined today by a joint Assembly committee at the State House.
  Interviews with federal and state regulators show a fractured system in which 
companies were not required to disclose data from their own health studies or 
even admit they were processing a dangerous substance.
  Government agencies, as it turned out, were not required to share with fellow 
regulators what they knew about problems with Libby tremolite and in some cases 
simply failed to do so.
  New Jersey elected officials have been calling on the plant's owners and 
regulators to explain their actions since The Times reported in February that 
federal health investigators were studying toxic exposures at the plant and 
that a government contractor had quietly trucked away more than 9,000 tons of 
polluted soil from the grounds at the behest of the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA).
  Little reaction to finding
  In a federal indictment handed down earlier this year, prosecutors in Montana 
have charged W.R. Grace with concealing information about the hazardous nature 
of its Libby ore since the 1970s.
  Federal agencies, reports show, began studying the hazards of tremolite a 
decade later. But that knowledge failed to trickle down to other agencies, and 
particularly to local regulators charged with overseeing W.R. Grace's dozens of 
vermiculite processing plants around the country.
  In New Jersey, the first time the word "asbestos" appeared in state 
regulatory documents on the Hamilton plant was in 1989 - 26 years after W.R. 
Grace took over the plant from the former owner, the Zonolite Co., a review of 
2 1/2 decades of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) records shows.
  The company's acknowledgment came in tiny scrawl in that year's Community 
Right to Know survey, an environmental program adopted in the 1980s that 
requires companies to report hazardous chemicals kept on their grounds. The 
words "asbestos - process waste vermiculite" appeared in a long list of toxic 
materials, including gasoline and fuel oil.
  DEP spokesman Fred Mumford confirmed last week that it was the first written 
notification of asbestos on site that the agency could find in its records.
  Even then, the disclosure did not create a stir. In subsequent visits to the 
plant by DEP inspectors, the question of asbestos on the site was never raised, 
the records show.
  "The issue of what communications took place in and among agencies and 
programs is something we need to look at," said DEP Commissioner Bradley 
Campbell, who said his agency "still had more questions than answers" about the 
company's disclosures and his predecessors' oversight.
  Not rated as hazardous
  After recently reviewing Grace's 1989 survey, Mumford said the two-digit code 
next to the asbestos entry indicated that the vermiculite it described 
contained between 1 and 9 percent of the fibrous material, an amount that 
should have required Grace to label it as an asbestos-containing material.
  Under rules established by the EPA, materials that contain 1 percent or more 
asbestos by weight meet that designation.
  Former employees at the plant say that no raw material coming in or finished 
products leaving the grounds were ever marked as hazardous, however.
  "Nothing was labeled as containing asbestos," said Karen Miller, who kept the 
books for the plant from 1973 to 1981. "In fact, I did quality control for the 
plant, testing (fireproof coating) mixes, and even then it never came up."
  W.R. Grace spokesman Greg Euston declined to answer question

Re: [Biofuel] Biofuels - facts and fiction (The Ecologist)

[Joe Street]

Interesting that the article criticizes the biofuel lobby for claiming 
some energy output derived from waste or 'co-product' streams and yet 
the article goes on to state that anaerobic digestion of vinasse from 
ethanol production results in methane gas which they choose to call a 
greenhouse gas rather than an energy producing fuel.

Who are these guys working for I wonder?

Joe


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[Biofuel] Fruit Trees and Compost

[robert and benita rabello]

Hello Everyone!

   Although the weather around here has been warmer than it was a 
couple of months ago, it's still quite cool, rather cloudy and we've had 
a lot of rain.  It's warm enough, however, to warrant "selection" of 
desired plants over Keith's beloved "deep rooting herbs"--a task I 
generally perform with my boys as kind of a family outing on late Sunday 
afternoons.


   Two nights ago I received a phone call from an elderly friend of 
ours who lives in Kamloops--a city roughly three hours to the 
northeast.  Mr. Lunan has been working with fruit trees far longer than 
I've been alive, and has come over to teach me how to prune and offer 
advice for maximizing healthy fruit production.  He affirms my efforts 
to grow food without inputs, other than compost and compost tea, and 
phoned to inquire about our blossoms.


   My trees have been COVERED in blossoms, but there haven't been very 
many bees out.  Normally it's rather warm at this time of year and I can 
actually hear the sound of beating insect wings from inside the house.  
It's been too cold to warrant opening windows, so I've missed the sound, 
and after reading Kirk's post on vanishing bees I wondered how much 
fruit my trees would actually produce this year . . .


   Last autumn I spread a LOT of compost around my trees.  This was 
before my compost bin disaster occurred, so I had some decent material 
to work with.  Now, even the sickly pink dogwood that lives in our front 
yard has burst with a flurry of flowering I've never seen before.  Our 
magnolia had so many blossoms on it some of the branches actually BROKE 
in the wind!  (And we've had a LOT of wind!)


   But now the blossoms have mostly fallen off.  (The apple tree in our 
backyard is an exception.)  Mr. Lunan told me to mix a concoction of 
baking soda and water, with a little bit of dish soap to act as a 
surficant (Surfacant?  If the root word is "surface," why does the 
spelling change?  Sometimes I HATE this language!) and spray my trees as 
soon as the blossoms fell off.  I expressed concern that this might have 
a negative impact on the wasp colony that feeds on my insect pests, but 
he said that it shouldn't be toxic to the predators.


   Hmm . . .  How can that be?

   Having written this, I noticed that the plum trees and the apple 
have ALREADY begun suffering from pestilence.  Some of the tender, new 
leaves are folded within the silky embrace of Archips argyrospila (a 
moth) nests, while other leaves have been perforated by larval feeding.  
My trees are probably healthier than they've ever been, but I decided to 
make Mr. Lunan's concoction and give it a try.


   I've learned to start spraying at the bottom of the tree and work 
up, using a ladder, so that nothing drips on me.  I heard NO bee wings, 
but I did see the occasional fly while I was working.  In all, I used 
less than a liter of my homebrew insecticide and I'll be watching my 
trees carefully to see what happens.


   On the compost front, I've taken advice from Fritz and obtained 
sawdust from my saintly father in law.  Whenever I add something to the 
pile, I cover it with sawdust and put the lid back on.  Last Sunday when 
I opened the lid to dump new kitchen scraps inside, I was rewarded with 
a rush of heat . . .  My composter is FINALLY hot!!!  So thanks for the 
suggestion, Fritz!  It seems to be working now.


   We're probably going to have to wait for planting because it's still 
very cold and wet.  I need to get the rotovator into the main part of 
the garden, but it'll get stuck because the ground is still WAY too 
soft.  For the first time in two years, I'm battling equisetum arvense 
in the main part of the garden.  That's a pretty strong indicator that 
beneath the surface the soil is VERY wet.  I put four blueberry bushes 
into the back yard near our peach trees (which are growing more 
vigorously than any other tree on the property!), and while digging I 
was pleased to discover that we've got at least 15 cm of good soil in 
the garden before my shovel hit the clay muck that underlies the entire lot.


   Progress is SO MUCH nicer to report than trouble!

robert luis rabello
"The Edge of Justice"
"The Long Journey"
New Adventure for Your Mind
http://www.newadventure.ca

Ranger Supercharger Project Page
http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/

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Re: [Biofuel] Biodiesel compatible gravity-fed filter?

[Matt Wilson]

Thanks, Keith!

Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello Matt

Why bother? Not worth the trouble.

If you make your biodiesel properly, everything that a filter might 
remove will be in the by-product layer, not the biodiesel. So settle 
it properly, separate it carefully, and use it. No need to filter it. 
No need to filter the oil first either, as these two previous posts 
show:

http://snipurl.com/1j20b
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

http://snipurl.com/1j20c
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

Best

Keith


>Hey all,
>
>I would like to filter our biodiesel between our drying/storage 55 
>gal. drum and the truck.  We are using gravity to fill jugs, then 
>use the jugs to fill the tank- we don't have a dedicated fuel pump. 
>I am having a hard time finding an in-line 3/4" fuel filter that is 
>biodiesel compatible but still filters to around 5-10 microns 
>without needing pump pressure. 
>
>I purchased a Goldenrod no. 495 gravity filter, but they only 
>suggest it for B20.   Bio-tek's "High alcohol filter" works with 
>B100, but I was told that it needs the pressure of a pump. 
>
>Any ideas, or am I chasing a mythical beast?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Matt


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Re: [Biofuel] Fruit Trees and Compost

[dwoodard]

Robert, is this really supposed to be an insecticide or is it an 
anti-fungal agent?

By the way, I think the word you're looking for is "surfactant."

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario


On Wed, 2 May 2007, robert and benita rabello wrote:

> Mr. Lunan told me to mix a concoction of baking 
> soda and water, with a little bit of dish soap to act as a surficant 
> (Surfacant?  If the root word is "surface," why does the spelling change? 
> Sometimes I HATE this language!) and spray my trees as soon as the blossoms 
> fell off.  I expressed concern that this might have a negative impact on the 
> wasp colony that feeds on my insect pests, but he said that it shouldn't be 
> toxic to the predators.
>
>   Hmm . . .  How can that be?

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Re: [Biofuel] Fruit Trees and Compost

[robert and benita rabello]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

>Robert, is this really supposed to be an insecticide or is it an 
>anti-fungal agent?
>  
>

He said it would kill aphids.  I've used ordinary dish soap for this 
in the past, and it works, but I worry about my friends, the wasps.

>By the way, I think the word you're looking for is "surfactant."
>  
>

It figures I'd get it wrong . . .  What a bizarre language!

robert luis rabello
"The Edge of Justice"
"The Long Journey"
New Adventure for Your Mind
http://www.newadventure.ca

Ranger Supercharger Project Page
http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/


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Re: [Biofuel] Biofuels Report: How Green is my Tank? (The Ecologist)

[Jason& Katie]

i propose a new fuel economy goal. 100mpg @ 100mph!

any design ideas? i'm thinking a 4cyl UHC diesel engine with at least 10 
forward gears in a vehicle body weighing no more than 2500lbs.



-- 
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[Biofuel] if at all possible view this.

[Kirk McLoren]

  


http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/69

With stunning photos and stories, National Geographic Explorer Wade 
Davis celebrates the diversity of the world's indigenous cultures, now 
disappearing from the planet at an alarming rate. He argues 
passionately that we should be concerned not only for preserving the 
biosphere, but also the "ethnosphere" -- "the sum total of all thoughts 
and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being 
by the human imagination."


resonate, verb, (-nated, -nating).
v.i. 1. to exhibit resonance; resound.
2. to oscillate with the same frequency as the source.



   
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Re: [Biofuel] Biodiesel compatible gravity-fed filter?

[Derick Giorchino]

Hello Matt
I have used a under the sink type water filter for experimental purposes. it
has a 1" fitting on both sides. I used a 2 micron carbon filter element for
the micron size only. the string filter was 20 micron. I put freshly
processed and washed cloudy bio in and got crystal clear fuel out. I have no
idea what the carbon does to the mix pros or cons. maybe some one on the
list has some insight.
 Good luck Derick.

  _  

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Wilson
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 12:46 PM
To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Biodiesel compatible gravity-fed filter?


Thanks, Keith!

Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 

Hello Matt

Why bother? Not worth the trouble.

If you make your biodiesel properly, everything that a filter might 
remove will be in the by-product layer, not the biodiesel. So settle 
it properly, separate it carefully, and use it. No need to filter it. 
No need to filter the oil first either, as these two previous posts 
show:

http://snipurl.com/1j20b
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

http://snipurl.com/1j20c
Re: [Biofuel] Filtering - was Re: Vegtable oil sources...

Best

Keith


>Hey all,
>
>I would like to filter our biodiesel between our drying/storage 55 
>gal. drum and the truck. We are using gravity to fill jugs, then 
>use the jugs to fill the tank- we don't have a dedicated fuel pump. 
>I am having a hard time finding an in-line 3/4" fuel filter that is 
>biodiesel compatible but still filters to around 5-10 microns 
>without needing pump pressure. 
>
>I purchased a Goldenrod no. 495 gravity filter, but they only 
>suggest it for B20. Bio-tek's "High alcohol filter" works with 
>B100, but I was told that it needs the pressure of a pump. 
>
>Any ideas, or am I chasing a mythical beast?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Matt


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 cars
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Re: [Biofuel] Isuzu NPR

[fresheggs141]

i have a 93 that i have run on b100 for over 2 years, the only problem is the 
stock filter is VERY sensitive to any level of gelling. cold morning starts are 
impossible unless you have a heater. i run my fuel line through the heater 
hose, so once it is started it works great.another thing ive done is use a home 
heating oil filter to pre filter my fuel before it reaches the stock filter . 
they can be replced for about a dollar and  filter down to about  10 microns. 
the whole setup is only about $20 and eliminates expensive filter changes 
 -- Original message --
From: "George Page" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Anyone have experience running B99 in an Isuzu NPR?  I have a recently
> purchased 1989 4 Cyl. NPR.  I also have a local source (Vashon Island, WA
> USA) of B20 and B99 (Williams Heating).  Any warnings, precautions or
> recommendations?  I'm also looking at purchasing a new Isuzu NPR 4 cyl.
> Diesel as well as a new Mitsubishi FUSO 4x4 FG140 4 cyl. diesel and would be
> interested in running b99 in those vehicles.  Is it better to start with a
> new vehicle?  Do you thereby eliminate some of the concerns caused by
> dinodiesel use?  I saw nothing in the archives re: NPRs, so I'm a little
> nervous...
> 
> Thanks much,
> 
> George
> 
> George Page
> www.seabreezefarm.net
> Vashon Island, WA USA
> 
> 
> 
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> 


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[Biofuel] Titration question from a Newbie

[shawn patrick]

Good Day to all,

I have a question about the purity of Isopropyl alcohol. Will 90% yield good
results or does it have to be 99%??



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