Here’s a presentation for those who want to know more about the breakthrough in biofuels I wrote about earlier today, and who understand things like: “Pyruvate decarboxylase catalyzes the non-oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to produce acetaldehyde.” Personally, I function better at the level at which Tom Blakeslee explained it to me in his email: “GMO algae sweats ethanol.”
Thanks, Tom; that’s much better.
2GreenEnergy supporter Tom Blakeslee is a prolific author, the president of the non-profit Clearlight Foundation, and an all-around terrific human being. I smiled when I just checked my email and found that he had sent me this fascinating piece on Algenol Biofuels, which boasts a considerable breakthrough in this arena.
9000 acres of ethanol per acre per year? That really sounds attractive. By my calculations, the energy equivalent of an acre of PV with a capacity factor of 20% is about 6.5 times that amount, but there is no doubt that creating a liquid fuel is of considerable value, and Algenol’s results are more than 20 times that of corn ethanol.
Comments?
Because Noam Chomsky is so far out of the mainstream discussion, I believe this post may be the first of our 3000+ in which I’ve quoted this American linguist, philosopher, logician, cognitive scientist, historian, political critic, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he worked for over 50 years. In addition to his work in linguistics, he has written on war, politics, and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books. He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and he was voted the “world’s top public intellectual” in a 2005 poll. (more…)
I thought readers might be interested in a conversation I’m having with my colleague Jon Lesage, alt-fuel auto industry guru:
Jon (in his newsletter): Hybrid electric vehicles are doing much better at retaining their market value than are plug-in electric vehicles, according to Kelley Blue Book. Used electric vehicles are retaining nearly 55% of their original MSRP, while hybrids are much higher with retained average value at 74.3%.
Craig: On the resale of the EVs and HEVs, how are you doing this? Are you sure you’re comparing apples to apples? Sounds like a difficult challenge to me. (more…)
Actor/director Robert Redford is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and an extremely active advocate for climate change mitigation. In this short video linked above, he calls upon U.S. President Obama to keep his word, and fulfill the promise he made in his second inaugural speech, in which he pledged to lead America forward in this arena.
Redford doesn’t exactly look like the Sundance Kid anymore (as if anyone looks as good at age 77 as he did at 33), but he sure continues to perform several extremely important functions in our society. Good going, sir.
As a set of technologies, solar thermal, aka concentrated solar power (CSP), lags at least a couple of decades behind the more mature industries of wind energy and photovoltaics. That means that we can expect lots of interesting advancements as solar thermal transforms itself right before our eyes. (more…)
As Jon Wellinghoff steps down from his position as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) we read various articles summing up his accomplishments. In my estimation, Wellinghoff will be best remembered for establishing “dynamic pricing,” aligning consumer and wholesale electricity rates. (more…)
In a large warehouse, employees work tirelessly at all hours of the day—with the help of hundreds or thousands of lights.
Commercial spaces—like large warehouses—can be energy suckers, with a significant amount of energy being used to light indoor and outdoor areas. With some being open nearly everyday for extended hours, energy usage can pile up quickly. Parking lot lights, ceiling lights, display lights. Someone needs to see it, they need to illuminate it. And providing energy to these lights can seem insurmountable. (more…)
Going green is a huge movement around the world.
As climate change becomes ever more apparent, people want to do their part to help the planet. Humans create a large eco-footprint with all of their activities.
Homes are one of the largest offenders, even though most people aren’t aware of just how much of an impact their living quarters have on the environment. This is one reason that green building is becoming more popular around the world. (more…)
I wrote a short piece last week suggesting that, although the bad consequences of climate change outweigh the good, there are, in fact, some positive results of a warming planet. An example is longer growing seasons for Canadian farmers.
But here’s another bad one that we don’t read too much about – the spread of diseases in both human and animal populations, and in interactions between the two. (more…)
