Green Options

Chalk olive stones up to the list of waste products that can be used as fuel. Researchers from the Universities of Jaén and Granada in Spain have discovered that olive stones—byproducts of processing olive oil and table olives—can be turned into bioethanol.

The world of biofuels might just be changed forever by a bug that is found in nearly every compost heap. Unlike traditionally used yeasts, the bug is very tolerant of tough plant matter. That means it could help convert a variety of raw materials—including willow, forest waste, and wheat stalks—into fuel.

The bug, dubbed TM242, is a Geobacillus bacterium that has been genetically altered so that it stops converting food into waste products besides ethanol. It also has a boosted metabolism.

According to an article in the Jakarta Post, an official from the Indonesian government has spilled the beans on Samsung’s plans to invest up to $1.63 billion dollars in what’s sure to be a controversial acquisition of land for growing oil palms and construction of a biodiesel plant in Indonesia.

Former Vice-President Al Gore says we cannot wait until 2050 to curtail our carbon emissions.  In Washington this week Gore made his case for eliminating petroleum from the United States economy by the year 2018.  Is his goal too ambitious?

Editor’s Note: This is Anthony’s first post as a contributor to Gas 2.0. Anthony works on sugar-based biofuels at the Raines Lab of Petroleum Alternatives, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I have a lot of admiration for Al Gore.  I was in the 7th grade when he lost his bid for the presidency, and even then I could feel that something awful was upon us.  Fast forward eight years and we find ourselves in a world where Al Gore is running a campaign to help mankind in a much more focused manner.  Instead of defecting to the private sector, Gore remains a public servant dedicated to the environment.  Recently, he called for the United States to lead the way to stop global warming, and now he is calling for the United States to be off of carbon based fuels by the year 2018.

Gore’s battle cry could not have come at a better time.

The current rate at which biofuels are falling out of favor is largely founded on biased ideologies, which have been shaped by widespread political and corporate agenda-pushing from all sides of the fence.

But first, a digression.

Part 1: When an egg was just an egg

I remember a time when an egg was just an egg. Nobody argued about that. It was a blissful time. Yet, for all its strengths, it was a fragile time held together by unsupported conclusions and limited knowledge.

I am a liberal, and I have a confession to make: I don't like it when the government throws my money away, either. It's hard to admit, but it's just another one of those inconvenient truths. It's also exactly what I think is happening with the at least $5 billion in ethanol subsidies the federal government will hand out this year.

Now don't get me wrong: it's not farm subsidies and certainly not alternative [...]