a communications hub & social network for green solutions
I posted this article yesterday on Clean Technica and am reposting here because it is an important subject and George Olah’s work is something of immense importance. Methanol was once a potential replacement for fossil fuels. Now it seems to have been relegated to the back shelves at the fuel library…
Two quotes stand out in the drafting of this report on making biodegradable plastic:
Micromidas cells make plastic Source: Micromidas
The first comes complements of Mario Vellandi, who presides over Melodies in Marketing. He sent a great story this way, with this slug: “A non-petroleum plastic made from organic waste that completely degrades in six months to a year? What’s not to love? Seriously, you rock Ryan.”
Okay, this sounds like a marvelous idea, especially considering how much petroleum-based plastic we use once, only to turn around and toss it out into landfills.
That led to watching Ryan Smith present as a social innovation fellow at PopTech 2010, pitching the company he helped co-found, Micromidas, where he serves as chief technical officer. The 6:04 video is very much worth watching.
At Micromidas, a team of entrepreneurial engineers and chemists has found microbes, when placed in a reactor that can produce high-quality plastic from organic waste, sans any petroleum additives to the formula. Best news of all, the product degrades in less than a year.
Auto farm graveyard in Nebraska Photo: GR Meyers
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have unveiled the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. The new proposed standards are for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors, heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles.
“The EPA and DOT sent draft rules to the White House in August.
“The program, proposed by EPA and DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is projected to reduce GHG emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years.
“For combination tractors, the agencies propose engine and vehicle standards that begin in the 2014 model year and achieve up to a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel consumption by 2018 model year.
“For heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, the proposal calls for separate gasoline and diesel truck standards, which phase in starting with 2014 model year and cut emissions and fuel consumption 10 percent for gasoline vehicles and 15 percent for diesel vehicles by 2018 model year (12 and 17 percent respectively if accounting for air conditioning leakage).
“For vocational vehicles, the agencies propose engine and vehicle standards starting in 2014 model year, which would reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption 10 percent by 2018 model year.
“Overall, the heavy-duty national program would provide $41 billion in net benefits over the lifetime of model year 2014 to 2018 vehicles, together with the potential for fuel efficiency gains, ranging from seven to 20 percent.”
Buckminster Fuller, designer of the geodesic dome Source: BFI
For those still considering creating one of this world’s next great solutions, there are but 15 days left to prepare and submit applications for the 2011 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. Those standing on the sidelines should run onto the plying field; our world needs the help.
This important global event is considered by some to be one of socially responsible design’s highest awards. This premier international prize program awards $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a solution that, broadly stated, “has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.”
According to the BFI Challenge, entering creates “an opportunity to become part of a network that is advancing and accelerating the practice of whole systems thinking and design to develop the kind of high impact global solutions we so desperately need.”
The Buckminster Fuller Institute, named after Buckminster Fuller, creator of the geodesic dome, was created to share and advance imaginative work that might lead the way to solving problems for global housing and infrastructure requirements.
Mathis Wackernagel, PhD - President, Global Footprint Network Source: FootprintNetwork.org
Mathis Wackernagel of Global Footprint Network, is working with global leaders to help us understand and ultimately align our activities with the basic carrying capacity of the earth.
This 14-minute speech is very much worth seeing and sharing.
Video presented by: Sustainable Life Media:
“We may finally be on the verge of a tipping point wherein mainstream attention to identifying and mitigating a company’s carbon impact will become a core strategic priority for all businesses. But what comes next? The reality is, global warming is just one of the detrimental impacts of unchecked business activity. During this time of seismic shift in awareness of the interconnectedness of things, the opportunity is to take a longer, more systemic view of the many ways our activities impact the world around us.
“By doing so, we will begin to anticipate and respond more quickly to both the needs and the enormous world of possibility in front of us to innovate for a whole, healed world. Be inspired by this thought leader who is working with leaders around the globe to help us all understand and ultimately align our activities with the basic carrying capacity of the earth. Learn more about Sustainable Business & Design at: sustainablelifemedia.com“
It is high time to begin learning more about the benefits biochar might provide to all of us living on this planet, especially when considering the agricultural practice from South America is over twenty centuries old.
According to the Internationasl Biochar Initiative, sustainable biochar is a “powerfully simple tool fight global warming.”
“Sustainable biochar is one of the few technologies that is relatively inexpensive, widely applicable, and quickly scalable. IBI focuses on the need for quality and sustainability standards and assurances in the emerging biochar industry,” the website reports.
South America: students with biochar stoves Source: Biochar Initiative
For those wondering what kind of new invention bichar might be, it is not new at all. The practice has been around for almost 2,000 years, where it was practiced in South America. The product, called terra preta, or “dark earth” that converts agricultural waste into a soil enhancer, or fertilizing agent. But beyond acting as a soil enhancer, proponents claim biochar has the capacity to hold carbon. It is being produced in the United States, South America, and Australia, to name a few producing locations.
Biochar is a charcoal produced under high temperatures, using crop waste, animal manure, and other organic waste.
According to Kelsi Bracmort, an analyst in agricultural conservation and natural resources policy, “The combined production and use of biochar is considered a carbon-negative process, meaning that it removes carbon from the atmosphere.”
Take a thorough look, we shall be reporting far more on this product.
Counting and measuring carbon, although a daunting and remarkably puzzling undertaking, is a fundamental skill an increasing number of people will need to garner in the effort to understand and mitigate the effect of greenhouse gases and global warming. Especially so, since the world population continues growing by quantum measures and all of those folks are going to need survival basics such as heat and refrigeration, plus multitudes of electrical extras, such as mobile phone and computer power, broadband Internet capacity, etc.
We applaud the development of alternative energies but add this caveat for all supporters: it will be an extraordinary feat if the percentage of alternative energy powering the world’s grid comes anywere close to reaching five percent of supply in the next 20 years.
That brings us to the subject of power plants. Here are some power plant facts, according to the PowerPlantCCS website:
“There are over 50,000 power plants in the world. These power plants constitute the single largest emitting industry for CO2 emissions.” Read more of this >>
I have not met Barry Cohen, executive director of the National Algae Association, based in Woodlands, Texas, nor discussed with him any of the challenges facing his nascent industry. But the challenge he made to his membership caught my attention:
“I am issuing a challenge for the year 2010: Build out a 100 acre turnkey algae production facility (growing, harvesting and extraction) without any local, state or federal grant funds.”
Mr. Cohen’s greeting to all for the beginning of 2010 is well worth reading, especially by all who want to see alternative fuels gain more solid footing on the American (and world) energy charts.
The accounting of his challenge ias worth the read:
“When this (American oil production) all started in 1859, nobody had all of the answers. 150 years later, the oil industry is still looking for answers. A 100 acre turn-key commercial-scale algae production facility will allow algae producers to look at real commercial algae production and operations as well as economies of scale issues. It will give algae researchers a much better understanding of commercial-scale algae production issues to work on as opposed to small raceway ponds and desk-top lab photobioreactors. It is, at this point, useless to continue to fund algae research without seriously funding commercial-scale algae production farms. As some have already learned, intellectual properties have no practical use if there is not an industry to use them. In order to create any value in existing algae technologies, we must have commercial-scale algae production facilities that can use them!
“Commercial-scale algae production is key to our industry and is one solution that helps to reduce dependence on foreign oil, to create new jobs and reduce CO2 emissions. The NAA challenges the algae industry to build a 100 acre commercial-scale algae production plant without any local, state or federal grants – this will be the true test of algae production farming and algaepreneurism at its finest!
“I would like to see the first 50 acres of production with proven benchmarked results – totally designed, developed and put into production without a single dollar of government money. The next 50 acres can be improved by making minor changes based on what was learned from the first 50 acres. I know it can be done, and you know it can be done – it´s time to do it!”
The entire document can be read at the association’s website .
Mark Edwards, PhD
For those wanting more information on algae and its low-carbon potential as an alternative fuel source, take a visit to Oilgae , a blog focused on this subject.
Some might even want information on how to grow their own. Below are clips from today’s post:
“Cultivation of Algae in Photobioreactor”
“Algae can also be grown in a photobioreactor (PBR). A PBR is a bioreactor which incorporates some type of light source. Virtually any translucent container could be called a PBR, however the term is more commonly used to define a closed system, as opposed to an open tank or pond.
A world turning with low carbon energy is no small feat, even if everybody wants such a clean place. Poised before the open of the the summit at Copenhagen, there is no better time than now to equip oneself with the correct information in setting goals to switch to low-carbon energies. Implementing change for world climate issues, no matter how good it might be for all, is an action requiring an extraordinary amount of time, infrastructure, and will.
In the December 3 issue of Nature, Gert Jan Kramer and Martin Haigh point to this reality in their article, “No quick switch to low-carbon energy.”
In the first of two pieces on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the two writers analyze historic growth in energy systems in explaining why deploying alternative technologies will be a long haul that could span multiple decades.
Below is a summary of their content, plus highlights of facts all should consider.
* There are physical limits to the rate at which new technologies can be deployed * Governments need to design policies targeted at specific technologies to accelerate deployment
* More action is required on demand side to increase efficiency and curtail consumption.”
“To combat climate change, the world’s entire energy system needs a major overhaul before the middle of the century. But can we build new energy supplies that quickly? …… Because the scale of the energy system is so huge, it takes time to build the human and industrial capacity to achieve substantial deployment.” Read more of this >>
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