With that money they purchased three large refurbished wind turbines which now power their elementary school and the superintendent’s office. They have since received another grant and energy smart incentives. The Lakers School District now owns a biodiesel processor in addition to their wind turbines. This spring their high school students will have a “Pressing Party”. They will gather sunflower seeds from the plants growing beneath their wind turbines, combine them with soybeans then press these seeds and beans to obtain oil to make alternative fuel.

Why is this political? This is our future. The students in this community are learning first hand about creating alternate energy sources. Reportedly the students in the Lakers School district are interested in pursuing green in their community and careers. Teaching our children to be good stewards of our land and resources is the future of our country’s economy and security. Beyond politics and Washington, American citizens pursuing energy independence is what will catapult this movement and make a difference.

Photo Credit: Beufort Scale 5 on flickr

It’s kind of ironic that officials in California are placing their faith in mustard seed as a home-grown feedstock for biodiesel fuel, to move their busses from “here to there.”

Monterey-Salinas Transit has proposed producing its own sustainable biodiesel fuel for its fleet operations, planting the seed as a cover crop during the Salinas Valley agriculture industry’s off-season. The beauty, they say, is that the it will not replace food crops normally grown in the area.

Once the seeds are harvested, they’ll be pressed into raw oil, which will then be refined into biofuel. The transit company says it will use the industry standard of 80 percent fossil fuel and 20 percent biodiesel to power its busses.

Testing will begin next week with the planting of two varieties of mustard seed on 30 acres of land owned by San Bernabe Vineyards in South Monterey County. After harvesting, scientists will determine which variety will be the best for biofuel production.

Watsonville-based Energy Alternative Solutions, Inc. has partnered with the transit company to convert the crop into fuel, keeping the entire process in the local area.

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Several companies are now researching and beginning to produce oil derived from algae, that would replace food crops as a feedstock for biodiesel production. They claim higher oil yields for less water and acreage needed for food crops.

The National Algae Association informed Green Options it has opened its new headquarters in The Woodlands, TX. An article in Biodiesel Magazine quoted the association founder, Barry Cohen of Biofuel Capital Partners, as saying “We’ve got biodiesel producers that are contacting us every single day because they know they’ve got a problem”, referring to high soybean and vegetable oil biofuel feedstock costs.

In my interview with Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow? Vertically?, he says one acre of corn will yield about 18 gallons of oil. The same acre of ground would produce about 600 to 700 gallons of palm oil a year, and one acre of algae, with his process right now will produce 33,000 gallons of oil a year, and they are pushing for 100,000 gallons a year. Kertz told me if he were given one-tenth of the state of New Mexico, his process would solve every energy need in the U.S. for one year.

If you’d like to see the process in action and hear from Mr. Kertz, you will find their video at the Valcent Products page.

All that green pond scum I used to avoid could well produce enough fuel to satisfy all the energy needs in the United States. That’s a pretty far out statement, but Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products made it very clear that a process of growing algae vertically is capable of producing huge amounts of alternative fuels. It’s being proven today in Texas.

This is one fascinating story, with a link below showing the process and an explanation by Mr. Kertz.

Valcent has partnered with Global Green Solutions to develop a production test project in El Paso, TX. After 90 days of continual production, algae was being harvested at an average of one gram per liter from the Vertigro Bio-Reactor System. Based on those results, the joint venture partners believe their system would deliver about 33,000 gallons of algae oil per acre per year. By comparison, soybean oil produces about 49 gallons of oil per acre each year, and palm oil would yield about 630 acres of oil a year.

The closed loop process that uses very little water and is suited for turning non-arable lands, such as West Texas and a new project underway in New Mexico.

Dr. Andrew Weil, who has spent a lifetime instructing people on how to heal our bodies as naturally as possible, has taken on a new project. He's making his own biodiesel fuel in his Vail, AZ back yard.

In an Arizona Daily Star interview, written by staff reporter Carla Mc Clain, Dr. Weil has turned his garage into what he calls his "Bio-Depot", turning out 75-cent per gallon diesel fuel which runs several of his ranch vehicles. The feed stock is nothing more than vegetable oil collected from various Tucson eateries.

According to Weil, "I've always written and taught that it's very difficult to be healthy in an unhealthy world. ... We have to be very immediately concerned about finding solutions for the toxic effects the combustion engine has on human health." He said what we all know, that biodiesel fuel burns cleaner, emits far fewer toxic compounds into the air, and decreases ozone and smog.