I think the key to lessening fuel use is to greatly reduce the number of devices that burn fuel. (duh!) :)
This could be accomplished by burning fuel primarily at power plants and replacing current fuel-burning devices (cars, lawnmowers, etc) with equivalent devices powered by electricity. By centralizing power production, alternative energies (methane, biomass, solar) become far easier to implement. It's far easier (and cheaper) to build a few solar power plants in Nevada or Arizona than to fit every house with a solar panel. -----Original Message----- From: Scott Stewart [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:52 AM To: CF-Community Subject: RE: Bio-Fuels There was an episode of Dirty Jobs that aired not to long ago, about cattle milking, insemination, etc. The cattle farm where it was shot was powered almost entirely from by-products of cow poo. We produce a lot of human excrement, if we could collect the methane produced at the sewage treatment plant we could contribute greatly to lessening fuel use. -- Scott Stewart ColdFusion Developer 4405 Oakshyre Way Raleigh, NC 27616 (h) 919.874.6229 (c) 703.220.2835 -----Original Message----- From: Larry Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:44 AM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: Bio-Fuels >i'm just waiting for the day when someone proposes using human waste as >"bio-diesel" > >On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 3:28 PM, Paul I wrote: > >> surprised no one is trying to make a fuel out of algae >> You're not going to be waiting long the difference between cow and human manure is just quantity. http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/press/04_22_07.html Car Fueled With Biogas From Cow Manure: WWU Students Convert Methane Into Natural Gas In: The Bellingham Herald (Washington) by Caleb Heeringa April 22, 2007 Sunday Apr. 22--Manure may be the answer to rising gasoline prices. Twelve Western Washington University students have developed the Viking 32, a vehicle powered entirely by biogas derived from livestock waste. The students, part of WWU's Vehicle Research Institute, will take their creation to Washington, D.C., for the EPA's third annual P3 competition Tuesday and Wednesday. The event is a contest among college students to develop technology powered by renewable resources. The students, who have worked for two years on the vehicle, will also show off their method of converting biomethane -- the gas byproduct of decomposed livestock manure -- into natural gas. "One farm could power half of all of the (Whatcom Transportation Authority) buses," said Eric Leonhardt, the group's director. The group has been working on removing the hydrogen sulfide and excess carbon dioxide from raw biogas they receive from the Vander Haak Dairy in Lynden. What's left is pipelinequality natural gas that would cost one-fifth as much as gasoline, Leonhardt said. The Viking 32 was designed around an engine from a Honda Civic GX, a commercially available vehicle that runs on compressed natural gas and is the cleanest of any internal combustion engine, Leonhardt said. The students will be judged based on their understanding of the technology and the potential impact of the project, Leonhardt said. If they win, the group would receive up to $75,000 in grants to help them market their designs. Leonhardt said their next step in the project is to power a bus with biomethane and prove that the technology could work for car buyers. "At $3 for gas, we think it's commercially viable," Leonhardt said. "If it gets to $4 it should be easy." Reach Caleb Heeringa at 715-2220 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright C 2007, The Bellingham Herald, Wash. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:261802 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
