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"Nature: What are we learning from nature to help us build resilient and sustainable communities?"
Biofuels and biofuel research beyond ethanol is crucial to developing alternative sustainable energy resources.
For years there’s been buzz — both positive and negative — about generating ethanol fuel from corn. The Bay Area is rapidly becoming a world center for the next generation of green fuel alternatives. Meet the scientists investigating the newest methods for converting what we grow into what makes us go. Learn the science and technology behind developing biofuels as alternative energy resources.
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On April 7th, 2011 at 1:32 pm Roxanne Said:
why is this guy talking about teaching his students about plants? it has nothing to do with biofuels! get yoiur facts striat! thank you have a great day:)
On April 7th, 2011 at 4:38 pm Joanne Ivancic Said:
Roxanne, maybe I can answer your question.
Although waste-to-fuels (sorted municipal solid waste, and animal waste from food processing) will have a part in production of biofuels, certainly plants will provide a large part, whether they be single cell algae, macro-algae like seaweed, agricultural residues, food and plant processing residues… And, to most efficiently, effectively and sustainably convert that plant biomass or the products those plants secrete, we must, must, must understand the structure and function of the parts of those plants and of the bacteria, fungus and other microbes and enzymes that break them down in nature.
That’s why teaching about plants is so important and has so much to do with biofuels.
After we break the cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin into sugar/hydrocarbons, we can get to manipulating those hydrocarbons like we do hydrocarbons from petroleum and other fossil fuel sources to make high density, easily transportable bundles of energy for mobility, heat and power–called biofuels.
On April 12th, 2011 at 5:15 pm Darrel W. Bruck Jr. Said:
Hello, Caught your show and I think it was great. I do take issue with comments on the show about garbage-to-energy not being ready yet. This is a myth. I have been watching this industry for several years. The only reason why garbage-to-energy plants are not everywhere yet is politics and the endless parade of people who say it can’t be done including landfill operators. I suggest you get the book “Prescription For The Planet” by Tom Blees. Check out Chapter 7. Just to be clear I am talking about technology which does not burn garbage. No combustion! They heat garbage in a close cell to temperatures levels of the sun to create a syn-gas.
Check out Ineos, a global British company. Ineos, US headquarters is in Lisle, Illinois. They have a garbage-to-ethanol plant under construction in Vero Beach, Fla. in partnership with New Planet Energy, LLC http://www.inpbioenergy.com/ http://www.newplanetenergy.com
To learn more about their proven garbage-to-ethanol technology operating in Fayetteville Arkansas for several years, go to http://www.ineosbio.com/80-Video.htm.
They have licensed their technology to Powers Energy of America which is in the process of building a plant in North West Indiana, not far from Chicago. The biggest thing holding up this plant is financing do to what has happened with the Wall Street melt down.
Thanks for doing what your are doing and I hope you will continue to update yourself and the public, as time goes by, about garbage-to-energy technology.
By the way, I have no financial interest in these companies or in the technology. Neither does Protecting Our Water Environment & River (POWER) http://www.k3power.org. We are a citizen group.
On April 13th, 2011 at 11:47 pm Leon Maxa Said:
Ethanol is subsidized by U.S. citizens, so if you really want to know the true cost at the fuel pump, you will need to calculate how much of the subsidy you are paying. Are we really saving any money burning this in our cars? Yes, it is true we are saving the environment but there are better alternatives. Keep pushing the electric car so our corn commodity prices don’t go up in costs anymore than they are.Keep up the Bio-Fule research also and also LNG.