The Discovery Science channel ran a series a few months ago called Ecopolis, which discussed a number of promising new technologies to help citizens of a hypothetical future city deal with critical needs such as energy, food, water, transportation, and waste disposal. Each episode featured four technologies from which Nobel prize-winning energy scientist, Dan Kammen, selected a winner. On the episode entitled A World of Trash, the winner was biochar, a sort of charcoal that can be produced by the pyrolysis of organic materials. Pyrolysis is the process of heating a substance to a high temperature in the absence...
When it comes to transportation, no battery technology comes close to the energy density of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Whether they be derived from ancient or recent biomass, the energy density of hydrocarbon fuels is many times that of even the most advanced battery technology. And energy density is one of the most important metrics when it comes to transportation energy, because you have to carry the energy with you. For the sake of this article, I am only focusing on mass energy density, not volumetric energy density. Volumetric energy density doesn't usually come into energy discussions until the topic of...
The other day while pondering the effectiveness and durability of different "clean car" options available on the market, specifically flexfuel cars vs. veggie oil vs. EV, I began considering which fuel type would be the most convenient if the grid went down and suddenly gasoline became unavailable. I've heard that up here in Northern California when the power has gone out in the past, nobody can pump gas because the pumps run on electricity and furthermore, nobody can accept credit cards. This would mean an EV couldn't be charged unless you had solar panels at your house. Veggie oil might...
One of our readers recently submitted the following question: After reading Robert Zubrin's book Energy Victory I have two questions. Can ethanol production facilities make or be converted to make methanol and are sugar beets being used to any significant degree in Colorado to produce ethanol as a substitute for corn?These are great questions. The sugarbeet industry in Colorado produces refined sugar, a commodity that has seen large price fluctuations over the years, making it a difficult business in which to achieve consistent profits. The Great Western Sugar company once had more than a dozen sugar beet processing plants in...
Consider this, ethanol burns stronger and cleaner than gasoline and can be grown within the United States and other nations that have a climate which supports corn or switchgrass. The energy density of Ethanol is substantially less than conventional gasoline (31.1MJ/kg vs 47.1 MJ/kg) but it burns stronger because it's less volatile (i.e. higher octane) and you can cram more of it into an engine cylinder without it auto-igniting. There is an ongoing debate about the true energy and CO2 savings that Ethanol fuels provide, and we have written about it here, here, and here, but let's skip that for...
The biodiesel program at the University of Colorado in Boulder dates back to 2002 when five students from an engineering class designed and created a biodiesel processor. Around that same time several students involved with the Environmental Center built their own biodiesel cars using old VW Rabbits as a foundation. CU now has a wealth of campus resources dedicated to the study and expansion of biodiesel. In fact, the University has its own fleet of busses that use grease from cafeterias around campus to transport students to and from classes! The biodiesel Buff Buss program began in 2003 and has since grown to include 13 buses that all...
In my last article, we discussed how mushrooms can be used as a catalytic agent in the biodegradation of fossil fuels and plastics. As more researchers discover the unique properties of mushrooms, the wide-spread applications are quickly being learned. Several scientists have been experimenting with ways to use mushroom mycelium as an efficient and cost effective way of producing ethanol. On of the largest issues in the ethanol production industry is the difficulty in breaking down complex lignins and carbohydrates in crop wastes. In nature, mushrooms are the expert decomposer and are capable of creating enzymes that are far more...
Imagine taking a walk through the forest. It's a dimly lit, overcast day, and the ground is moist from days of raining. As you walk underneath the canopy, you spot something interesting on the ground. It's not a plant, and it's not an animal, but the brightly colored cap of a freshly sprouted mushroom. Most people's first instinct would be, "better stay back, it could be toxic." But if you happened to have a mycologist with you, you might realize that mushrooms like this are being explored on the cutting edge of bioremediation - being used to break down previously harmful materials like oil...
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