Obama Voices Biofuel Doubts

That's the headline over at the Wired Science blog.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that stays up on this topic that biofuels are looking less and less like what we need and more and more like the same problem that we have now just waiting to re-happen. It's the classic push-pull scenario where addressing one problem causes another serious one to appear. Biofuels are a very interesting sector of technology, it's a great lesson in thermodynamics to see machines (mechanical) powered by the same thing that powers other machines (biological), and 60+ MPG is a great thing but you can't mess with a necessity (food supply) to power a non-essential (sorry, but in the grand scheme of things, planes, trains, and automobiles are non-essential).

In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, the Democratic presidential candidate said "there's no doubt that biofuels may be contributing" to falling food supplies and rising prices.

That's a terrible quote ("no doubt that [it] may be contributing") but a serious implication.

"We've got a serious food problem around the world. We've got rising food prices here in the United States. In other countries we're seeing riots because of the lack of food supplies. So this is something that we're going to have to deal with," said Obama.

Ya rly.

I try to be as careful as I can be with respect to jumping on the media bandwagon with ANYTHING, green or otherwise. I want the reason why we're supposed to be thinking/acting a certain way or the concrete reason to be scared of something. I don't need abject, out-of-proportion fear based on specious evidence (if you're laughing at me because you think global warming falls under that category, please stop reading this blog).

That being said, this food thing is getting a lot of attention. Just a few links for you:

Food riots in Haiti (CNN) ["Food prices, which have risen 40 percent on average globally since mid-2007, are causing unrest around the world."]

Potential rice riots in the Far East? (Times Online) ["Analysts give warning of governments across the region resorting to a “starve-your-neighbour” policy in an effort to becalm rioting domestic populations, and the UN International Fund for Agriculture has previously said that food riots will become commonplace."]


Food Crisis > Climate Change (Guardian)

Strikes, Protest in Egypt (BBC)

A UN task force for the global food crisis (AP)

I've seen a steady increase in stories like this from all over the web but that's only really been in April. I read about the corn shortage starting last year (connected to ethanol production) but that was the only big news. Now it's a generic "food crisis" as opposed to just one particular export (though rice is getting a large portion of the attention).

The point being that if we MIGHT BE (or are) facing a food crisis then we MIGHT (or do) want to look at something OTHER than food to be powering our nation/world. Diesel from used cooking oil is one thing but ethanol from edible, now expensive corn is not a good idea.

Anyways, the cherry on top of this story (the Wired one) is this quote:

Corn growers are especially powerful in Obama's home state of Illinois, and the candidate has long been a biofuel booster -- which makes his comments on Meet the Press all the more welcome.

It's not very often that a politician will just change their mind on something, especially if it is "close to their hearts." The fact that Obama will change is mind is a very good thing, especially about something like this. All too often it seems like families, companies, countries get stuck in an endless loop in certain respects because people are too scared to say "I was wrong and now I think I'm right."

Obama in 2008, baby!

Discrepancy

I don't usually post items about human-interest stuff but this literally made me sick...

Poor Haitians Resort to Eating Dirt

From here:

It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies. Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.

The story only gets worse...

At the market in the La Saline slum, two cups of rice now sell for 60 cents, up 10 cents from December and 50 percent from a year ago. Beans, condensed milk and fruit have gone up at a similar rate, and even the price of the edible clay has risen over the past year by almost $1.50. Dirt to make 100 cookies now costs $5, the cookie makers say.

Imagine if our food went up 20% in a month or two. Are we headed for that?

Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher oil prices, needed for fertilizer, irrigation and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well.

GROWING OUR FUEL IS NOT GOING TO WORK, PERIOD.

"My" Idea

I say that because this came to me a little while back. I certainly claim no sovereignty over it, just explaining why I thought this was so neat.

The article

On a beautiful, crisp late fall afternoon, rock icon Neil Young took his 1959 Lincoln Continental for one last spin before a team of mechanics ripped out its gas-guzzling engine to make way for an electric motor.

What a great idea! Reminds me of the high school I posted about a few months ago. I love the idea of switching such a great, old car into a symbol of sustainable transportation. It's also nice to see celebrities doing the right thing.

Car in question (not actually his):



The article goes on to quote Neil as saying it will get 100 MPG and runs off of biodiesel. Transformation apparently takes 45 days... I'm sure Neil has a replacement.

More interesting than this specific car is the idea itself. I was asked a while back what my dream job would be and I said "CEO/owner/prez of a company that either built sustainable cars or modified current cars to be sustainable." I feel like that would really stretch my business sense, let me work individually with people, keep me in the auto world, let me be an innovator in terms of technique, and really work my entrepreneurial spirit (which really has not had a chance to be seen at this point). It's the perfect job, IMHO. In fact, being the CEO may not be exactly what I want but having something to do with a company like that would be ideal.

Well, the company that is changing this Lincoln is doing just that:

Goodwin is making a name for himself -- and his company, H-Line Conversions -- by turning gas-guzzling behemoths like Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, Jeeps and other big American cars into clean-power machines. The first thing he does is remove the old inefficient engine -- even if it's a brand new vehicle -- and replace it with a diesel engine that can run on biodiesel. What's the drawback of his method? You guessed it. Cost. "It's not cost-effective for someone to run out and spend $40,000 to double the fuel economy, but I have no shortage of customers," Goodwin says. Including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's having his Wagoneer converted to biodiesel. Goodwin, 37, drives a 1987 gas burning Wagoneer, rents his home and will sheepishly tell you he didn't graduate from high school. Expect to hear a lot more about Goodwin in the future. Companies are knocking down the door to work on projects with him.

I'm torn between seeing this as a massive opportunity for the future or scared that someone is already doing it....

What do you do when you see someone else living your dream and it's suddenly very clear to you how real that dream could be??

Sh*t.............................................................

Santa Monica Alt Fuel Car Expo

I drove up to Santa Monica with the girly yesterday for the Alt Car Expo and had a great time walking around the exhibit. This was certainly a lot better than the San Diego one I volunteered for at Balboa Park (thankfully... a 2 hour drive to see 8 cars would not have made me happy). It was also pretty sweet sitting in traffic on a Saturday afternoon for absolutely no reason.

BTW: If you're thinking about hosting an alt fuel event in the San Diego area, I would love to help out and always have great ideas! About everything! Constantly!

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If these things came to the US with the 1.3L turbo that I drove, I would be on the list for sure. I think you can buy them gray market but I'm not totally sold on the idea of a car with no product support and no mechanics willing to touch it. This thing feels surprisingly roomy inside; I fit without a problem and had room to spare. The "trunk" wasn't even that bad. I wouldn't help anyone move in it but you could take a week-long trip no prob. Maybe. At the very least, it was comfortable and quick too!

That's me driving in case you were wondering if I had put on a bunch of weight and changed my hair color. The answer is no.
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Here is the Mercedes Benz F-Cell prototype. It's a prototype because the car actually exists (the platform that is... it's an A-type, sold in Europe) but the hydrogen fuel cell drivetrain is not commercially available. I like the looks of these quite a bit. Unfortunately I was not able to get behind the wheel of this one.
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This was a private vehicle that some guy converted to biodiesel. It was a very well done and had really neat custom badging on the back ("veg powered" on the left and "biodiesel" on the left). It also had an alien badge back there which, combined with the owner's overly serene attitude, made me wonder if he was from Mars... or Venice Beach.
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This big-pimpin' Benzo was an attention-getter for the Earth Friendly Moving company. I met the owner, Spencer Brown, who explained how they take opaque plastic from recyclers and turn it into these tough, plastic containers which they then rent out and deliver to people who are moving (like, from home to home or biz to biz). You pay a low rate, they drop a bunch off, you use them and then they pick them up! No need to drive around looking for boxes or deal with cardboard that falls apart! Spencer was a great guy to talk to so big plug for him:

http://www.earthfriendlymoving.com/

Cool ride too... built by Pimp My Ride, it broke a biodiesel speed record!
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I loved this car... an all-electric converted Porsche 911. It looked like it had some odd 959 kit on it but all the work was very well done. It was great to see such an iconic car with a plug coming out of it!
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I wish I had gathered a little more information on this one but it is an all-electric drag race car. More info (and better pictures) here.
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Same deal here.. not a lot of information to give you. I believe it is an all-electric chopper. It had a lot of presence in person though it does seem awkward in the picture.
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Tesla roadster competition I would assume... very neat looking car in person. Lighting was terrible in this airplane hanger so it does look a little awkward as well. Car has attitude in person, for sure. Interior is just awesome in person; Recaro seats, DVD player, the whole nine. 250 mile range with the battery upgrade, top speed over 100, 0-60 in 7 seconds. More info here
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The star of Who Killed the Electric Car in the, uh, flesh.
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I liked the looks of this little guy... insect-looking, 3-wheel, one-person EV.
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An electric-converted Scion xB (that's its powertrain in the foreground), a Zenn EV commercially available electric vehicle, and a Xebra 3-wheel EV you can buy and register as a motorcycle. These are all totally available to buy and use right now. Good stuff!
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That about does it for my coverage... I will remain forever impressed by the power of human ingenuity and, likely, forever disappointed by the motivation behind the vast majority of its products. This was definitely the minority. Keep fighting the good fight out there! More commentary to come...

BTW: It was great to see you Bridget! Good luck with everything at Fearless Records.

Jump forward for biofuels?

The problem facing "grow-and-go" fuels like ethanol is the agriculture structure leading up to the pump (kinda like hydrogen). Corn takes too much space and resources (see my post on ethanol int he archives). Sugar cane takes tons of water as well as space. How about jatropha? What? From NY Times:

...a plant that can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, that does not require a lot of fertilizer and yields many times as much biofuel per acre planted as corn and many other potential biofuels. By planting a row of jatropha for every seven rows of regular crops, Mr. Banani could double his income on the field in the first year and lose none of his usual yield from his field....jatropha can grow on virtually barren land with relatively little rainfall, so it can be planted in places where food does not grow well. It can also be planted beside other crops farmers grow here, like millet, peanuts and beans, without substantially reducing the yield of the fields; it may even help improve output of food crops by, among other things, preventing erosion and keeping animals out.

Good stuff!

Who thought trans fat could rock so hard?

Rock on! This bike is awesome!

Die Moto, a motorcycle that runs on biodiesel, set national and international records on Monday, cruising to a top speed of 130.6 miles per hour.

Built by The Crucible, a group of industrial artists in Oakland, the bike has a modified BMW car engine and a handcrafted aluminum shell. And it's a green machine, too. Running on B100, or pure bioediesel fuel, the bike emits 78 percent less CO2 than a standard diesel engine. The team eventually hopes to crank it up to 160 miles per hour.

Built by a neat group too:

The Crucible is an educational facility that fosters a collaboration of Arts, Industry and Community. Through training in the fine and industrial arts, The Crucible promotes creative expression, reuse of materials, and innovative design while serving as an accessible arts venue for the general public.

I love that an "art school" made this. They also teach welding, blacksmithing, kinetics, neon and light... I'm going to make it a point to stop by here the next time I drive back to WA.

Video here, sounds MEAN!! You can hear the turbos spool when they give it some gas. I'm also really digging the long and low stance this thing presents. Conjures up images of Akira.

Old News Part 2

A year ago, Click & Clack (a syndicated automotive radio show) took on ethanol from a somewhat uninformed (their words) and objective (mine) view point. What they say is very important to consider when you are comparing, well, anything. LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE.

Q: ...The report on this site says that 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol, but each gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTUs. That means we're losing 54,000 BTUs for every gallon we produce...

RAY: From what we can tell, the basic issue is this: When you calculate how much energy it takes to produce a gallon of ethanol, you have to make certain decisions. Everybody agrees that you need to include the energy needed to plant the corn, water it, harvest it and convert the starch to alcohol. But, for instance, do you include the energy needed to manufacture the tractors that plow the fields? Scientists disagree about that.

TOM: They also disagree about the other side of the equation. The guy whose study you refer to, David Pimentel of Cornell University, is well regarded and has been studying this issue for years. He adds up his calculation of the amount of energy needed to grow the corn, subtracts the amount of energy you get from a gallon of ethanol, and gets a negative number.

RAY: But there are other credible researchers, such as David Lorenz and David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, who take Pimentel's research and say yes, but , a gallon of ethanol isn't the only thing you get from that corn. You also get stuff such as corn oil and gluten feed. So some of the energy that goes into growing the corn has to be assigned to those other byproducts. When they do the numbers, the energy ratio of ethanol comes out positive.

TOM: The answer is not clear. What everybody does agree on is that ethanol made from plants with more cellulose, such as switchgrass or sugar cane, will produce more ethanol per acre than corn will. And that will improve the case for ethanol -- no matter what your starting point.

As it stands, I'm not a huge proponent of ethanol. I don't think it is going to be viable, plain and simple. The fuel you get is not all that great and the way you get it now sucks. I don't see a huge area of improvement with ethanol. I also believe we should not completely choose or completely eliminate any alternative to petroleum unless it proves to be a complete bust. Is ethanol a complete bust? Not in my opinion...

FYI, Pimentel's output to input energy ratio is calculated to be 0.78 (i.e. 78% of the energy put into ethanol production is realized during use). This sucks ("sucking" defined as "not currently preferable or sustainable"). An earlier study by Wang (1999) came up with 0.96; still crappy ("crappy" being generally synonymous with "sucking"). A more recent report (long source... Ethanol as Fuel: Energy, Carbon Dioxide Balances, and Ecological Footprint., By: Dias De Oliveira, Marcelo E., Vaughan, Burton E., Rykiel Jr., Edward J., Bioscience, 00063568, Jul2005, Vol. 55, Issue 7) gives a 1.1 ratio for corn grown in America and a 3.7 ratio for sugarcane grown in Brazil (which is why ethanol works in that country and not here). The report is technical but if you want some true information about it, search it out. It should be free for anyone (search through a university library; that's the easiest way to find it).

I has a corm

Did you know it would take this many states of Texas to fulfill our annual corn need to replace gasoline with E85 fuel?



It is certainly weird that I have the two following images but is it more weird that...

they didn't inspire this post...

they had nothing to do with each other...

and that their connection combined with my possession of them escaped me until just now?

What happened for a year?

From my vantage point, not all that much which I find slightly disturbing but mostly just disappointing.

• We're still talking about ethanol from corn. Why are we still talking about this? Ethanol, as it stands, is going nowhere. Ethanol as a fuel is perfectly fine but ethanol as a transportation model is atrocious. Corn, beets, sugar cane... whatever is grown is going to take tons of water, land and energy which just puts us right back where we started. No sir, I don't like it.
• Hydrogen is exactly what it was before: a perfect solution and just out of reach. To be sure, the problems are being addressed... slowly. The only way this fuel will work is if two very important things happen (which I tend to believe they will): we need to find a renewable, biological-based source for this gas and we need to either figure out a solid-state storage medium. Both of these are feasable, mark my words.
• EVs are still nowhere. Why don't we at least have EVs? Please? The detractors say it is problem swapping but that is oversimplification leading to a false claim. Burning gasoline, diesel or otherwise, will always be dirty. It can get cleaner and cleaner and cleaner and it will still be dirty. Electricity, on the other hand, is dirty but does not have to be dirty. We will always need electricity, right? And we're going to need to get it cleaner than we do now, right? Let's kill two birds with one stone, solve the electicity issue and, at the same time, solve the transportation issue.
• Diesels, somehow, are getting more attractive. VW is releasing a car in the near future getting something like 60 or 70 MPG with really low emissions from diesel. Mercedes has its Bluetec system. Smart has a 60mpg car out in Europe. Who knew good old Grandma Betsy's diesel Rabbit, good bless her soul (and the Rabbit's), with the glow plugs would be a window to the future.
• One one hand, SUVs are still selling like hotcakes. I understand the draw I guess but I don't know why you would intentionally pay more to do the same thing. Driving to work and back when I'm working full-time costs about $90-100 a month for me. Why would I want that to cost $150-200?? I just don't know how you can justify a sub 20 MPG beast as daily commuter car.
• On the other hand...Smart cars are coming! I want one of these damn things so bad. About $15K well-appointed I think. I'm going to drive one and if I love it, it's mine.

Social and political change happens slow, I understand. Just be patient, I know. But can't we all just agree that we need to do something really different and then just go ahead and do it?

I'm afraid I already know the answer to that.

More for the masses

Coincidentally, another article about Stan Ovshinsky -

http://www.easternecho.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?11377

*ignore the word "Scientest"

"Mrs. Ovshinsky said, 'He was so cute. President Bush said, 'I'm not a scientist, I'm a history major.' Then Stan said, 'let's make history together.' It was very positive.' "

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Really want to keep this article around... names specific companies dedicated to the production of cheap, clean energy. Also puts it in a Wall Street mindframe (and we all know that $$$ is the bottom line... don't fool yourself)

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/06/13/interview-with-mark-townsend-cox-of-the-new-energy-fund/

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So close to home! Yet another reason to visit Santa Monica -

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_166172701.html