Worldwatch: Biofuels poised to replace oil
Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel can significantly reduce global dependence on oil, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute.
Food
Solutions & sustainability – June 11
Darley: Relocalization for architects and developers /
Preparation for the future (thoughts For 30-somethings) /
A visit to the Eden project … Wow / Sustainable architecture can reduce CO2 / Is the battle for South Central Farm near a close? / HP cuts back on telecommuting / TIME: Lure of the 100-mile diet /
Gathering highlights power of the blog
Lessons for California and the U.S. from movie “How Cuba survived Peak Oil”
After seeing the film The Power of Community: How Cuba survived Peak Oil at a San Francisco Oil Awareness meeting in May, I thought about how those lessons might apply to California Agriculture. California grows about one-third of the U.S. food supply.
Biofuels and agriculture – Jun 8
Ethanol: “laundering fossil fuels” (Audio) /
Thermodynamics of the corn-ethanol biofuel cycle (Audio) /
Pimental on organic agriculture (Audio) /
The Dirty Truth About Green Fuel
Solutions & sustainability – Jun 7
Peak Moment TV: Community Responses to a Changing Energy Future /
Relocalization – Our Only Solution to Peak Oil /
Mass Natural (on Wal-Mart organics) /
The Grass-Fed Revolution /
Chinese take to solar-powered water heaters /
Australian science body: Solar thermal will soon match coal
Solutions & sustainability – Jun 1
A real-world island experiment /
A family of 4 — but no car /
Tending ‘Defiant Gardens’ during wartime /
Big Organic vs. local food /
Biodegradable plastics
Peak oil – May 31
David Holmgren on permaculture and oil peak / Julian Darley at the NYC conference / ISN Security Watch: The end of the ‘age of oil’ / PO will not help us in the climate change fight / Peak oil is ‘an opportunity’ / News from here, there…
The newest guest at your dinner table: your car
Of the more than 6 billion people now on earth, 3.7 billion suffer from some form of malnutrition. For these reasons and others now does not seem like a good time to embark on a program to turn a significant portion of the world’s food crops into fuel for automobiles.
Solutions & sustainability – May 29
“Freegans” forage for food in bins / Sustainability conference June 10-11 in Seattle / Richard Register’s proposal for a global rebuilding program / Micropatronage – a new way to finance innovation /
UK: Eco villages springing up all over / Evangelical Virginia farmer sees a revolution against industrial agriculture / Growing hope (gardening in Guantanamo) /
An evening in Peter Harper’s garden / Building with hemp
Ethanol and Peak Food
The food vs. ethanol production debate is beginning to heat up. However it will be short one, writes Tom Whipple. While there are acceptable alternatives to putting corn into your gas tank such as slowing down, staying home, taking a bus, or joining a car pool, there are no substitutes for eating.
Will biofuels always be hopeless?
Do biofuels suck for deep fundamental unchangeable reasons? Or for contingent reasons that might be amenable to change over time with technological innovation? The answer might not be so obvious.
A new protest song: Joan Baez – she shall overcome
A veteran of 40 years of demonstrations, the American folk singer’s latest campaign involves camping in a tree to save a 14-acre farm from the developers (South Central Farm in Los Angeles)