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U.S. to pay over $440Billion for imported oil in 2008
March 9, 2008 · No Comments
Categories: Big Oil · Politics
GREET model not properly applied in recent biofuels studies. Michael Wang of Argonne Labs responds to Science Mag study
February 20, 2008 · No Comments
Michael Wang of Argonne’s Transportation Technology R&D Center and Zia Haq of the Department of Energy’s Office of Biomass respond to the article by Searchinger et al. in the February 7, 2008, Sciencexpress, “Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases through Emissions from Land Use Change”
______________________________
Letter to Science
Michael Wang
Center for Transportation Research
Argonne National Laboratory
Zia Haq
Office of Biomass Program
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy
The article by Searchinger et al. in Sciencexpress (”Use of U.S.
Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases through Emissions from Land Use Change,” February 7, 200 
provides a timely discussion of fuel ethanol’s effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when taking into account GHG emissions from potential land use changes induced by ethanol production.
Land use change issues associated with biofuels were explored in life-cycle analyses beginning in early 1990s (Delucchi 1991). In general, the land use changes that occur as a result of biofuel production can be separated into two categories: direct and indirect.
Direct land use changes involve direct displacement of land for farming of the feedstocks needed for biofuel production. Indirect land use changes are those made to accommodate farming of food commodities in other places in order to maintain the global food supply and demand balance.
Searchinger et al. used the GREET model developed by one of us at Argonne National Laboratory in their study (see Wang 1999). They correctly stated that the GREET model includes GHG emissions from direct land use changes associated with corn ethanol production; the emissions estimates in GREET are based on land use changes modeled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1999 for an annual production of 4 billion gallons of corn ethanol in the United States by 2010. Needless to say, the ethanol production level simulated by USDA in 1999 has been far exceeded by actual ethanol production - about 6 billion gallons in
2007 (Renewable Fuels Association 2008). Thus, the resultant GHG emissions from land use changes provided in the current GREET version need to be updated. Argonne, and several other organizations, recently began to address both direct and indirect land use changes associated with future, much-expanded U.S. biofuel production. Such an effort requires expansion and use of general equilibrium models at the global scale.
Many critical factors determine GHG emission outcomes of land use changes. First, we need to clearly define a baseline for global food supply and demand and cropland availability without the U.S. biofuel program. It is not clear to us what baseline Searchinger et al. defined in their modeling study.
Searchinger et al. modeled a case in which U.S. corn ethanol production increased from 15 billion gallons a year to 30 billion gallons a year by 2015. However, in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), Congress established an annual corn ethanol production cap of 15 billion gallons by 2015. Congress established the cap - based on its awareness of the resource limitations for corn ethanol production - to help prevent dramatic land use changes. Thus, Searchinger et al. examined a corn ethanol production case that is not directly relevant to U.S. corn ethanol production in the next seven years.
Corn yield per acre is a key factor in determining the total amount of land needed for a given level of corn ethanol production. It is worth noting that U.S. corn yield per acre has steadily increased - nearly 800% in the past 100 years (Perlack et al. 2005). Between 1980 (the beginning of the U.S. corn ethanol program) and 2006, per-acre corn yield in the United States has increased at an annual rate of 1.6% (Wang et al. 2007). Seed companies are developing better corn seeds that resist drought and pests and use nitrogen more efficiently. Corn yield could increase at an annual rate of 2% between now and 2020 and beyond (Korves 2007). Despite these trends, Searchinger et al. used a constant corn yield, assuming that low yields from corn fields converted from marginal land would offset increased yields in existing corn fields. A more accurate approach would be to use the increased yields in existing corn fields, determine how much additional land was required for corn farming in the United States, and then use the corresponding yield of the new corn fields (some of which could be converted from marginal land). Searchinger et al. further assumed constant corn yield in other countries, many of which have lower corn yields and, consequently, greater potential for increased yields.
Searchinger et al. also assumed that distillers’ grains and solubles
(DGS) from corn ethanol plants would displace corn on a pound-for-pound basis. The one-to-one displacement ratio between DGS and corn fails to recognize that the protein content of DGS is much higher than that of corn (28% vs. 9%). The actual displacement value of DGS is estimated to be at least 23% higher than that assumed by Searchinger et al.
(Klopfenstein et al. 2008).
Searchinger et al. estimated that U.S. corn ethanol production (between
15 billion and 30 billion gallons) would result in an additional 10.8 million hectares of crop land worldwide: 2.8 million hectares in Brazil, 2.3 million hectares in China and India, and 2.2 million hectares in the United States, and the remaining hectares in other countries. The researchers maintain that the United States has already experienced a 62% reduction in corn exports. Actually, U.S. corn exports have fluctuated around the 2-billion-bushel-a-year level since 1980. In 2007, when U.S. corn ethanol production increased dramatically, its corn exports increased to 2.45 billion bushels - a 14% increase from the 2006 level. This increase was accompanied by a significant increase in DGS exports by the United States - from 0.6 million metric tons in 1997 to 3 million metric tons in 2007.
Searchinger et al. had to decide what land use changes would be needed in Brazil, the United States, China, and India to meet their simulated requirement for 10.8 million hectares of new crop land. With no data or modeling, Searchinger et al. used the historical land use changes that occurred in the 1990s in individual countries to predict future land use changes in those countries (2015 and beyond). This assumption is seriously flawed by predicting deforestation in the Amazon and conversion of grassland into crop land in China, India, and the United States. The fact is, deforestation rates have already declined through legislation in Brazil and elsewhere. In China, contrary to the Searchinger et al. assumptions, efforts have been made in the past ten years to convert marginal crop land into grassland and forest land in order to prevent soil erosion and other environmental problems.
In estimating the GHG emissions payback period for corn ethanol, Searchinger et al. relied on the 20% reduction in GHG emissions that is provided in the GREET model for the current ethanol industry. Future corn ethanol plants could improve their energy efficiency by avoiding DGS drying (in some ethanol plants) or switching to energy sources other than natural gas or coal, either of which would result in greater GHG emissions reductions for corn ethanol (Wang et al. 2007). Searchinger et al. failed to address this potential for increased efficiency in ethanol production.
In one of the sensitivity cases, Searchinger et al. examined cellulosic ethanol production from switchgrass grown on land converted from corn farms. Cellulosic biomass feedstocks for ethanol production could come from a variety of sources. Oak Ridge National Laboratory completed an extensive assessment of biomass feedstock availability for biofuel production (Perlack et al. 2005). With no conversion of crop land in the United States, the study concludes that more than 1 billion tons of biomass resources are available each year from forest growth and by-products, crop residues, and perennial energy crops on marginal land.
In fact, in the same issue of Sciencexpress as the Searchinger et al.
study is published, Fargione et al. (200 show beneficial GHG results for cellulosic ethanol.
On the basis of our own analyses, production of corn-based ethanol in the United States so far results in moderate GHG emissions reductions.
There has also been no indication that U.S. corn ethanol production has so far caused indirect land use changes in other countries because U.S. corn exports have been maintained at about 2 billion bushels a year and because U.S. DGS exports have steadily increased in the past ten years.
U.S. corn ethanol production is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years - to 15 billion gallons a year by 2015. It remains to be seen whether and how much direct and indirect land use changes will occur as a result of U.S. corn ethanol production.
The Searchinger et al. study demonstrated that indirect land use changes are much more difficult to model than direct land use changes. To do so adequately, researchers must use general equilibrium models that take into account the supply and demand of agricultural commodities, land use patterns, and land availability (all at the global scale), among many other factors. Efforts have only recently begun to address both direct and indirect land use changes (see Birur et al. 2007). At this time, it is not clear what land use changes could occur globally as a result of U.S. corn ethanol production. While scientific assessment of land use change issues is urgently needed in order to design policies that prevent unintended consequences from biofuel production, conclusions regarding the GHG emissions effects of biofuels based on speculative, limited land use change modeling may misguide biofuel policy development.
References
Birur, D.K., T.W. Hertel, and W.E. Tyner, 2007, The Biofuel Boom: The Implications for the World Food Markets, presented at the Food Economy Conference, the Hague, the Netherlands, Oct. 18-19.
Delucchi, M.A., 1991, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from the Use of Transportation Fuels and Electricity, ANL/ESD/TM-22, Volume 1, Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill., Nov.
Fargione, J., J. Hill, D. Tilman, S. Polasky, and P. Hawthorne, 2008, “Land Cleaning and Biofuel Carbon Debt,” Sciencexpress, available at www.sciencexpress.org, Feb. 7.
Klopfenstein, T. J., G.E. Erickson, and V.R. Bremer, 2008, “Use of Distillers’ By-Products in the Beef Cattle Feeding Industry,”
forthcoming in Journal of Animal Science.
Korves, R., 2007, The Potential Role of Corn Ethanol in Meeting the Energy Needs of the United States in 2016-2030, prepared for the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Pro-Exporter Network, Dec.
Perlack, R.D., L.L. Wright, A. Turhollow, R.L. Graham, B. Stokes, and D.C. Urbach, 2005, Biomass as Feedstock for Bioenergy and Bioproducts
Industry: the Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ORNL/TM-2005/66, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., April.
RFA (Renewable Fuels Association), 2008, Industry Statistics, available at http://www. ethanolrfa.org/industry/statistics/, accessed Feb. 13, 2008.
Searchinger, T., R. Heimlich, R.A. Houghton, F. Dong, A. Elobeid, J.
Fabiosa, S. Tokgoz, D. Hayes, and T.H. Yu, 2008, “Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases through Emissions from Land Use Change,” Sciencexpress, available at www.sciencexpress.org, Feb. 7.
Wang, M., 1999, GREET 1.5 - Transportation Fuel-Cycle Model, Volume 1:
Methodology, Development, Use, and Results, ANL/ESD-39, Volume 1, Center for Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ill., Aug.
Wang, M, M. Wu, and H. Hong, 2007, “Life-Cycle Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts of Different Corn Ethanol Plant Types,” Environmental Research Letter, 2: 024001 (13 pages).
Categories: Biodiesel · Biodiesel Production · Biodiesel Research · Climate Change · Emissions · Energy Balance · Feedstocks · Green House Gases (GHG) · Personal Carbon Credits · Politics · blog
New Food Vs Fuel Report
September 6, 2007 · 1 Comment
New Report from Worldwatch Institute…
“Decades of declining agricultural prices have been reversed thanks to the growing use of biofuels,” says Christopher Flavin, president of the Institute. “Farmers in some of the poorest nations have been decimated by U.S. and European subsidies to crops such as corn, cotton, and sugar. Today’s higher prices may allow them to sell their crops at a decent price, but major agriculture reforms and infrastructure development will be needed to ensure that the increased benefits go to the world’s 800 million undernourished people, most of whom live in rural areas.”
Biofuels for Transport, undertaken with support from the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection, assesses the range of “sustainability” issues the biofuels industry will present in the years ahead, ranging from implications for the global climate and water resources to biological diversity and the world’s poor. The book finds that rising food prices are a hardship for some urban poor, who will need increased assistance from the World Food Programme and other relief efforts. However, it notes that the central cause of food scarcity is poverty, and seeking food security by driving agricultural prices ever lower will hurt more people than it helps.
Growth in biofuels production may have unexpected economic benefits, according to the experts who contributed to the report. Of the 47 poorest countries, 38 are net importers of oil and 25 import all of their oil; for these nations, the tripling in oil prices has been an economic disaster. But nations that develop domestic biofuels industries will be able to purchase fuel from their own farmers rather than spending scarce foreign exchange on imported oil.
Categories: Biodiesel · Climate Change · Energy Balance · Green Business · Politics · Pricing · Propel Biofuels · blog
Big Auto Pushing Hard for No Consumer Choice
May 31, 2007 · No Comments
With consumer sentiment and political consensus clearly aligning for change, Big Detroit is looking like Big Oil as they push back against innovation and consumer choice in a desperate struggle for a continuation of the status quo. The question must be asked- what status quo? Chrysler has been sold, Ford is near failure, VW is in a leadership position with diesel vehicles, Toyota with Prius and new hybrids… strange bedfellows when CAFE is on the table. Diesels are running the table in EU markets, hybrids and diesels in the emerging markets of India and China, while the largest global vehicle market, the USA, is being relegated to the dark ages.
Green Car Congress reports: Automakers Rally US Citizens to Oppose Higher Fuel Economy Standards
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) has launched a website (www.drivecongress.com) that encourages citizens to compose messages of protest against “unrealistic fuel economy increases” to be hand-delivered to elected officials. AAM represents BMW, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.
The website allows users to insert statements provided by the AAM, such as “I value fuel economy, but I also want many other attributes in my automobile like safety, passenger and cargo room, performance, towing, hauling capacity and more” or “Rather than setting a harmful mandates [sic] like the one being proposed, the government should encourage the use of alternative fuels like ethanol, and provide incentives for consumers, like me, to purchase alternative fuel autos.”
The Detroit News reports that the campaign will also include at least a million dollars of radio ads in ten states that have a high percentage of truck and SUV owners.
The AAM’s efforts are bolstered by parallel campaigns from DaimlerChrysler and General Motors, each of which has brought a dedicated website online to help with the campaign.
According to GM’s website (drivingamericasfuture.com), CAFE standards “deter innovation”; “have no near term effect on oil consumption”; “foster competitive disparities that discriminate against US automakers”; and are “a 1970’s solution to a 21st Century problem.”
The website cites the steady rise in US oil consumption as an indicator that CAFE standards have failed, but does not calculate the level of consumption that might exist if such standards had not been enacted.
DaimlerChrysler’s password-protected website (www.grabdemocracybythehorns.com) is described as a “grassroots advocacy website, a legislative activation tool that provides employees, retirees, dealers and suppliers with a means to conveniently contact elected officials about the issues that concern you, your family and our company.”
One day’s CO2 produced by typical gasser car. A big charcoal briquette. (click to enlarge)
Based on 12k miles/year and standard EPA CO2 emissions by fuel:_
7,510 pounds/CO2/Year: Gas VW Jetta at 31 mpg. 19.4 pounds CO2/gallon x 12,000 annual miles/31
6,498 pounds/CO2/Year: Diesel VW Jetta at 41 mpg. 22.2 pounds/gallon x 12,000 annual miles/41
4,565/pounds/CO2/Year: - Toyota Prius at 51 mpg. 19.4 pounds CO2/gallon x 12,000 annual miles/51
1,430 pounds/CO2/Year: Diesel Jetta on at 41 mpg. b100 Biodiesel
(78% reduction vs diesel, 69% reduction vs Prius, 81% reduction vs gas)
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Emissions · Green Business · Green House Gases (GHG) · Politics · Pricing · Vehicles
The tough business of getting down to business
April 20, 2007 · No Comments
As concern about climate change and backlash against biofuels increase exponentially together, choices need to be made. Debates making news this week:
Vinod Khosla on “Environmentalists versus pragmentalists” The problem with exponential growth of electric vehicles:
Our least-cost electric power options–coal-fired power plants–are by far our most destructive and dangerous ones. Coal burning directly kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in particulate, sulfate and mercury releases, thousands of tons of radioactive emissions yearly, and emits over twice as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour (kWh) as any other form of power generation. The coming costs from worsening droughts from Africa to Indiana, intensified storms, and rising sea levels will bring misery to billions. (ed: Not to mention the destruction of vital habitats as hydropower expands)
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Green Business · Politics
Humans ‘very likely’ cause of global warming,’ report warns
February 2, 2007 · 1 Comment
Exxon CEO Lee Raymond retired with a $500M package. Photo credit: CommonDreams.org
The world’s leading climate scientists, in their most powerful language ever used on the issue, said global warming is “very likely” man-made, according to a new report obtained today by The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, business has never been better for ExxonMobile
After ringing up the biggest annual profit in U.S. corporate history in 2005, Exxon Mobil on Thursday announced that it topped that number in 2006. Riding the wave of high crude-oil and gasoline prices, and despite depressed fourth-quarter earnings, the company reported a $39.5 billion profit, up more than 9 percent from the previous year. Its revenue of $377.6 billion exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 25 countries.
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Politics · Propel Biofuels
Imperium Announces WA Canola Deal
February 1, 2007 · No Comments
Imperium CEO Martin Tobias and Founder/President John Plaza. Photo: Imperium
A major milestone for the WA state biodiesel industry: Imperium announces 1m gallon canola contract with Yakima Valley farmers. Propel will make this locally grown biodiesel available to customers at our existing retail sites when the fuel becomes available. Look for rapidly expanding retail outlets in spring/summer this year.
“We’ve always said that we’d be the state’s biggest customer for Washington state produced canola oil, and today we are,” Imperium founder John Plaza said. “This is just the beginning of what we hope will further establish a new market for Washington state farmers.”
The owner of Natural Selection Farms said the deal with Imperium was a winner.
“Diversifying our crop base to include canola makes both great agricultural and business sense,” Ted Durfey said. “I hope others will realize the benefits of adding canola to their crop mix.”
Natural Selection Farms is focused on environmentally responsible agriculture, and since 2003 has been working with the federal and state governments to construct an oilseed pressing facility on its property that is the first in the state.
Categories: Biodiesel · Biodiesel Production · Feedstocks · Green Business · Politics · blog
Life at the Pump…
January 28, 2007 · 1 Comment
The following is excerpted from “Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump o the Pipeline,” by Lisa Margonelli. Via SF Chronicle
I could have named this book, “The Incredible Power of My Right Foot.” We take gasoline for granted now, but we can’t afford to keep ignoring it.
– Lisa Margonelli It’s not even clear what we’re buying — gasoline’s fantastic uniformity means one is as good as another. Water doesn’t mix with gas, so beyond occasional traces of vapor, we don’t even have to worry about buying substandard gasoline. And all traces of where the fuel came from are completely erased by the time it gets to a gas pump. Texaco gasoline is no longer from Texas, and gas from Unocal is not from “Cal.” Both companies have been purchased by Chevron, anyway.As if acknowledging the futility of trying to stand out from the pack when 168,987 gas stations are selling essentially an identical chemical mix, stations have adopted a clannish ugliness. Whether they’re in Fairbanks, Alaska, or Pine Island, Fla., they all subscribe to the familiar topography of canopied islands, cheerful plate glass, struggling hedges and “Smile. You’re being watched by a surveillance camera” signs. Predictable they are, to the very last 9/10ths of a cent, which is permanently printed on every last gas price sign in the land.
Categories: Big Oil · Politics · Propel Biofuels · Retail locations · Vehicles · blog
US Mayors Call for Funds
January 27, 2007 · No Comments
Mayors attending the 75th Winter Meeting of The US Conference of Mayors have called for $4 billion in an Energy and Environmental Block Grant to help cities combat global warming. The mayors also launched a major campaign to create a “climate of change” in Washington.
To date, more than 372 mayors from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, have signed onto the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, led by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, where mayors have pledged to take actions to cut their emissions in line with the Kyoto Protocols. Additionally, the Conference of Mayors has held two national energy summits focused on alternative fuel sources and green buildings.
Categories: Biodiesel · Climate Change · Green House Gases (GHG) · Politics · Propel Biofuels · blog
Biofuel Bloodbath 2007 Pt2: Scale and Logistics
January 19, 2007 · No Comments
We wrote about the inevitable biodiesel surplus in our 2007 prediction post. Ethanol faces the same market dynamic. The ethanol business has its origins in top down, mandate and blending based, constructed market pull. Midwest Gasahol in the 80s. This has changed a bit recently, with marketing dollars and high gas prices building a viable consumer demand near corn production regions where economic upside is local, and FlexFuel vehicles are available. For most fuel retailers, the downside MPG of e85 limits retail pricing power, limiting consumer access to niche providers.
Biodiesel, on the other hand, delivers near equivalent MPG and is the ultimate “FlexFuel” i.e. backwards compatibility with any diesel engine powered vehicle. Biodiesel users pay for the upside benefits: CO2 reduction, renewable and domestic fuel advantages without a significant performance or MPG penalty. Biodiesel’s lifecycle energy balance is also significantly more positive than ethanol. Yet, these two fuels remain linked not only in D.C. policy but in Big Oil uptake blending contracts and downstream supply choices, and of course crude oil contracts and price at the pump.
When ethanol/biodiesel is cheap, the refiners blend low and make money on volume. When ethanol isn’t cheap, the refiners only blend to state or Fed mandates. E100/B100 blend stock has no pricing power when feedstock prices rise and petro prices fall. Ignorance of the last mile delivery, positioning, and greed, are leading to the inevitable crash and investor bloodbath of 2007. The small, feedstock isolated biodiesel production start ups will be the first to go, as their “creative” project financing scenarios allow investors to pull the plug vs throwing good money after bad into a small market that now includes Cargill and ADM. Feedstock and scale win.
EnergyWashington reports: Congress May Be Needed To Keep Ethanol Bubble From Bursting
Plummeting oil and gasoline prices, spiking corn prices, historically high natural gas prices and ethanol production capacity reaching 15 billion gallons in a few short years are all the ingredients needed for a market massacre in the ethanol industry. Unless Congress comes riding to the rescue.
…So, if the price of gasoline were to drop substantially below the price of ethanol, why would any refiner add a high priced fuel additive, beyond the 5.4 billion gallon 2008 requirement of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) when cheaper alternatives exist? Suddenly a 15 billion gallon ethanol industry could find demand is only 5.4 billion gallons. The market solution is to cut ethanol prices, and a market collapses. Small, high cost producers would be the first victims, many of them pioneers in the farmer co-operative approach to building a viable U.S. ethanol industry. Small producers face not only the cost pressure of higher feedstock and operating costs but they also lack the capacity to store their product to wait out price declines. Increasingly the railroads, which ship the bulk of ethanol in the U.S., are demanding ethanol plants ship via so-called unit trains, i.e. single commodity ethanol trains consisting of 100 cars or more. Ethanol plants must have a quarter mile or more of railroad spurs available to process unit trains, which many of the smaller plants do not have, putting them at a further disadvantage.
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Biodiesel Production · Energy Balance · Politics · Pricing · Vehicles · blog
California is Getting Serious
January 11, 2007 · No Comments
From the San Francisco Chronicle
STATE OF THE STATE
Bold move on global warming
A WORLD FIRST: Governor to order new standard to reduce carbon content of motor fuels… Schwarzenegger contends that the new policy will help foster more investment in alternative fuels and that increased use of them, in turn, will prevent gasoline prices from rising.
“Competition from alternative fuels will have the effect of driving down gas prices. We certainly expect less volatility in the market because we won’t be reliant on a single source of fuel,” said Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, chair of the California Energy Commission, which is studying cost of alternative fuels.
California has a ways to go before ethanol-powered vehicles pose a competitive threat to gasoline.
There are four pumps that dispense E85 — a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline — in California, a state with 9,800 gas stations and 30 million vehicles.
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Climate Change · Emissions · Green Business · Green House Gases (GHG) · Politics · Propel Biofuels · blog
Weathering the Storm: Links for January 6, 2007
January 6, 2007 · No Comments
Biodiesel Driver Jon Crawford skiing. Photo: Mike K/Propel Biofuels
Pruning the biodiesel hype tree: We all feel for Mr Willie Nelson, he is indeed a true biodiesel supporter. Earth Biofuels comes under intense scrutiny from Forbes and Motley Fool. Propel welcomes this shake out. Opportunity attracts both the corrupt and the true: Restoring Eden: Inconvenient Christians - Evangelical Youth Climate Initiative
Our new Congess gets right to work on day one.
VW Polo: 60 MPG and lower CO2 emissions than Prius.
Auto Execs see the future
Texas and ARB: please put the biodiesel NOx issue to bed by understanding the most current science vs old, poorly done, EPA studies. Biodiesel does not increase NOx vs petro diesel, and the impact of NOx as emission of concern is up for considerable debate. Meanwhile, the petro-diesel emissions of particulate matter, sulfur, aromatic toxins, and CO2 remain.
Scientists’ Report Documents ExxonMobil’s Tobacco-like Disinformation Campaign on Global Warming Science
Oldie but a goodie: Oil Safari
Seattle GreenDrinks Next Tues, see ya there!
Categories: Big Oil · Biodiesel · Emissions · Green Business · Green House Gases (GHG) · Nox · Particulates · Politics · Propel Biofuels · blog
PBS: Edens Lost and Found
January 6, 2007 · No Comments
The PBS series Edens Lost and Found aired the hometown Seattle episode tonight. See the teaser here. While overly romanticizing the ruined opportunity for transit that was the $100 million waste called the Seattle Monorail Project, the episode is otherwise well done, emphasizing Seattle’s green aspirations. The biodiesel segment is excellent. The Seattle biodiesel community has done more to mitigate CO2 emissions and empower real change than the Monorail Project could engineer. And that lack of imagination, powered by greed, is what separates true citizen powered change from the wolf in sheep’s clothing that was the Monorail political animal. Hard work and transparency, openness and cooperation as demonstrated by Lyle, articulated by Tom K, and Tom Marier at Propel’s Laurelhurst location, and the balanced ambition of Seattle Biodiesel’s growth, are proof that ground up energy can affect positive change. Real change is hard work. Go Seattle!
Categories: Biodiesel · Green Business · Media · Politics · Propel Biofuels · blog
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