Green Options

In the constant push for ever newer and greener technology and energy, we sometimes forget that it is often both simpler and cheaper to revisit old techniques in new ways. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers in California has done.

US Scientists have revealed how natural gas locked up in frozen water crystals could provide massive amounts of energy, and claim that it could even be totally emissions-free.

The astonishing claim was made by Tim Collett of the United States Geological Survey at last weeks national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Collett told the gathering that, to the naked eye, clathrate hydrate (CH) looks like everyday ice but, as well as being partly made of water, the molecules are also organised into “cages”, which trap individual molecules of methane.

Remarkably, a new method of extracting the methane and ’swapping’ it with carbon dioxide could turn the substance into a revolutionary carbon-neutral fossil fuel.

San Diego Food Not Lawns, a group promoting sustainable growth, food justice and self-sufficiency in Southern California recently hosted a potluck lunch on a recent sunny San Diego weekend. This may not seem terribly noteworthy except for the fact that all the potluck dishes were cooked using nothing but the power of solar energy.

Ingredients were added, recipes were followed and by lunchtime a variety of dishes were available to taste and share. Lasagna, chicken casserole, and chocolate chip cookies were all made in solar cooking devices of all types just for this potluck event. Solar cooking devices can run the gamut from a pot from your kitchen with added aluminum foil wrapped pieces of cardboard, to professional units with built-in thermometers to monitor internal cooking temperature.

The common theme of all solar cookers is that they are passive cooking devices that require no fossil fuels or wood to turn raw food into a cooked meal. During the solar cooking exhibition, blueprints on do-it-yourself solar cookers and solar cooking recipes were exchanged and passionately discussed. The solar cooker pictured above concentrates the rays of the sun and focuses it on the pot, which can raise the internal temperature to over 300 degrees.

Move over California. Hawaii is taking the lead on this one. The island state announced Tuesday that it will be the first state to have a comprehensive electric-car station program.

“As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging in the United States,” says Lester R. Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, in a recent release, “New Energy Economy Emerging in the United States” . “The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced by one powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. [...]

Great Britain hopes that algae-based biofuels can reduce automotive and aviation emissions by 2030, and cut overall emissions by 80% by 2050.

While food-based biofuels are taking the heat for rising food prices, other solutions - like algae - are gaining a more serious following. For example, the UK’s Carbon Trust has announced plans for a project to make algae bio-fuels a commercial reality by the year 2020

But the situation is much more than some “food vs fuel” finger pointing. The fact that transport accounts for one-quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions is major driving factor - pun intended: it’s also the fastest growing cause of carbon emissions in the UK. If the government’s target to reduce overall emissions by 80% by 2050 is to be met, then initiatives like this are crucial.

Sometimes it takes an energy crisis to make us realize the value of old technology. As oil prices soar, tall wind-powered ships are looking like an increasingly viable alternative.

The first commercial cargo of French wine to be transported by sailboat in the modern era is due to arrive in Dublin this week after a six-day trip. The 108 year-old British boat, chartered by French shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile (CMTV), is carrying 30,000 bottles of wine.

Though the ship travels at a top speed of eight knots— half the speed of a modern cargo vessel—it is completely pollution-free. The 50,000 other merchant ships traveling the world emit 800 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

My name is Rod Adams. I am addicted to my fossil fuel powered vehicles. (The accompanying photo was taken in July 1986.)

I thought it might be worth taking a few minutes to remember that people who developed internal combustion engines were not people focused on selling fossil fuels, they were people interested in solving a very real challenge - energy storage and delivery on a moving vehicle. When all factors are taken into account, fossil fuels provide a compact, lightweight form of energy that can be readily converted to power in device that is moving - sometimes very rapidly and without any connection to the earth.

There are certainly times in all of our lives when we feel like the big oil companies have us over a barrel, but their dominance came as a result of the high performance that their product gave to automobiles, trains, trucks, ships and aircraft. By many measures, their product remains the best technical choice available.