Hi Mike,
I was quoting from "From the fryer to the fuel tank" but I do know their
was a research group here in Cambridge doing work on algae some years ago. I
will try and find out more from my university contacts.
bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Brownstone" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 8:03 AM
Subject: RE: [biofuel] GE oilseeds - was RE: Palm and coconut oil
> Here, here Bob,
>
> I've been thinking about this for a while now ( I like the idea of algae
> farms ). Can you, perhaps refer me to more information. You know, which
> are the best to use, conditions of growing etc..........
>
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bob golding [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2001 1:27 AM
> To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [biofuel] GE oilseeds - was RE: Palm and coconut oil
>
>
> If you look at the yields from oil bearing algae compared to soybean or
> rape, that is the best area to throw the technology at rather than
> "improving" current crop yields,and pushing bio-diesel further into the
> clutches of M--s--t- and Ca-g--l and the like Oil,grain,soybeans, it's all
> the same to them. The beauty of bio-diesel as I see it is that it doesn't
> need large corporations to make it work. It can be produced locally and
sold
> locally. "Economies of scale" is usually a euphemism for larger profits
for
> the few. It doesn't have to be that way with boid. With petro diesel you
> can't just go out and drill for it. You have to invest billions in
> exploration, so the oil companies keep telling us when asked to justify
> their 3 million pounds a hour or whatever. This may be true ,but their
> motivation is profit for their shareholders, not "can I take less from the
> enviroment " This does not strike me as a sustainable system. If you
don't
> think this is true just ask anyone in Southern Nigeria or Columbia.
> cheers
> bob golding
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2001 5:47 PM
> Subject: [biofuel] GE oilseeds - was RE: Palm and coconut oil
>
>
> > Joseph Martelle wrote:
> >
> > >http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html
> > >
> > >Vegetable oil yields tables: Journey to Forever
> > >
> > >
> > > >>>What about that Jerusalem artichoke I've read about? Fairly high
> yielding?
> >
> > Not even on the table - loads of carbohydrates (not starch), but not
> > a lot of oil. Good for ethanol though.
> >
> > >What we need is for those genetic engineers to to start looking at
> soybean,
> > >rapeseed, peanut, or other oil producing plant and modifying the genome
> to
> > >produce more oil than fruit.Can you imagine doubling or tripling the
oil
> yeild
> > >from rapeseed or soybeans? Has anyone even considered research in this
> area?
> >
> > Dunno, maybe. But most of it so far seems tied either to securing a
> > market sector or to securing sales of associated products (eg
> > herbicides). One looks hard for success stories. RR (Roundup-Ready)
> > herbicide-resistant soybeans are losing their resistance (leading to
> > increased use of herbicides, up to 30% more than with non-GE soy,
> > instead of the decreased use we were promised) as well as their
> > yields - yields are sagging badly. One doesn't have to look too hard
> > for outright failures (Starlink), and for side-effects we were
> > promised and assured were impossible but they're now happening
> > anyway. And of course the whole technology as it applies to food has
> > lost its consumer acceptance - I don't think it's the technology
> > itself people don't trust, it's the companies doing it. These folks
> > don't have a good record with this kind of stuff, nor with anything
> > else much.
> >
> > So I'm sure what you suggest is possible (what isn't these days?) but
> > would it work out right? And with what unforeseen costs? Anyway, if
> > you look through the amazing history of crop development over the
> > last four millenia or so, you end up very impressed with the
> > capabilities of traditional plant breeding through selection. It
> > works, it's safe, and the benefits are widespread and permanent.
> > "Modern plant-breeding has produced nothing to equal the banana,"
> > said a modern plant-breeder. The banana is a man-made hybrid,
> > produced a couple of thousand years ago, by all accounts. It can't
> > reproduce itself, all bananas are propagated by hand and always have
> > been. Wherever Europeans went "discovering" new (to them) parts of
> > the world, the banana was there before them. It's of immense benefit
> > to billions of people. Really first-class science.
> >
> > I'm not knocking GE, it's an immensely promising field, it's a huge
> > pity (?) that its development is in the hands of these wisdomless
> > dumbos who've given us so much else to be less than thankful for.
> >
> > A frequent question on the list (but recently, regarding newspapers)
> > is ethanol production from cellulose, a technology that it seems just
> > isn't there yet, despite all sorts of promising start-ups and so on.
> > More info here: Ethanol resources on the Web - see Ethanol from
> > cellulose: http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_link.html
> >
> > It seems the perfect case for a GE organism. Well, it was tried. Do a
> > message archive search for message #2887 at the list website to see
> > the results - Alcohol-producing GM bacteria "could destroy all life
> > on earth", 22 Feb 2001.
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/messages
> >
> > "Wisdomless dumbos" isn't an exaggeration. The precautionary
> > principle is sacrosanct, but it's been widely ignored, and instead of
> > the fruits of GE's great promise we seem to be getting instead a
> > whole new and worse kind of pollution. If only it were being used for
> > real benefit in such fields as biofuels. Or to make something as
> > useful as a banana.
> >
> > By the way, RAFI and the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation have published a
> > booklet called "The ETC Century", on the technological challenges of
> > the 21st Century. It's very good, covers GE, nanotech and more - pdf
> > here:
> > http://rafi.org/web/allpub-display.shtml?pfl=others-list-en.param
> > RAFI - Rural Advancement Foundation International
> >
> > Best
> >
> > Keith Addison
> > Journey to Forever
> > Handmade Projects
> > Tokyo
> > http://journeytoforever.org/
> >
> >
> >
> > > Just my wild musings.
> > > Joe.
> >
> >
> > Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
> > To unsubscribe, send an email to:
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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