Cow dung for the climate
A model biogas project is creating a win-win situation for rural Nepalese, the industrialised world and the atmosphere.
Biomass
Sustainability and Solutions Headlines – 19 August, 2005
Bhutan puts farms before markets / Confronting the World’s All-Consuming Passions / Big game ‘could roam US plains’ / Crop diversity is dying / Farming with the Wild / Big cities’ future is our future / 10th annual Solfest puts spotlight on solar energy
Fuel’s gold – Turning corn into ethanol may not be worth it
Most people would agree that the United States needs a new source of fuel: something renewable and nonpolluting with which to replace gasoline … something that could be produced right here at home. Deep in America’s heartland, a lot of people think they know the answer: ethanol, a fuel made from fermented corn.
Sustainability & Environment Headlines – 2 August, 2005
Wind Powered Liberty / Windmills generate energy, criticism, praise / Wind farm in gorge may blow others away / New air conditioner to put electricity demand on ice / Ray of sunshine seen in energy legislation / L.A. alternative-energy fees to rise / Afghans see forests, tree by tree / How ‘Green’ Is Home Cooking? / Hot enough for you? June-July top the all-time charts for [north-east N.America] / As planet warms, storms grow stronger / Bad to the Last Drop / Australia claims part credit for “Beyond Kyoto”
The Tragic Abuse of Corn
It was one of those things that you can’t quite believe is real. I was flipping through a magazine and saw an ad for a stove that burns corn kernels. For heat. Corn is food, not fuel, I thought, but the ad assured me that “Corn is replenished annually. It is a never-ending energy source, and thus is the new alternative fuel of choice.”
Jatropha oil: A promising, clean alternative energy
Discovering an affordable and cleaner burning alternative energy source has long been the dream of industrial chemical engineer Robert Manurung.
There’s no fuel like an old fuel
Strongly reasoned case put for biofuels as the solution to decline of fossil oil supply. Dr Chia (cardiologist) calmly lays out the Hubbert/depletionists case, dismisses any central role for nuclear energy, and goes on to advocate bioengineered phyto-fuels (for biodiesel etc) and the development of artificial photosynthesis.
Progress in production of hydrogen by microbial fuel cells
Penn State environmental engineers and a scientist at Ion Power Inc. have developed an electrically assisted process that enables bacteria to coax four times as much hydrogen directly out of biomass than can be generated typically by fermentation alone.
Charcoal fuel gets green light
A shift from burning wood to burning charcoal in African households could save millions of lives and substantially reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, say US researchers.
A model alternative-fuel strategy for U.S.
Andres Oppenheimer argues that the US should follow Brazil’s example in starting a massive biodiesel and fuel ethanol industry.
German Biofuel Firms to Become Large Grain Buyers
New plants for production of bioethanol fuel entering service in Germany will start consuming significant volumes of grain this year — but only at very low prices, market players fear.
Biodiesel Boom Raises Ethical Issues -Analyst
High crude oil prices may have galvanized bio-diesel production, but some questions are now being asked in industry circles about the ethics of using a limited edible resource to meet the world’s energy needs, said an influential edible oils industry analyst.