Hello Rachel and Phillip, Rachel's message is an example of emerging interests for biofuel's future. Unfortunately several people from the biofuels group seemed to discourage Phillip in his dream for making a larger than one-person difference in his area of the world in the near future (or overcome existing hurdles). Phillip seems well-equipped to move forward in whatever he pursues. I admire his business-like approach. His effort and enthusiasm to forward his personal biofuels project to a commercial level is the kind of community effort that can make the difference in turning around the very component gradients that were mentioned as detrimental.
Thank you, Rachel, for your notice. Even if we may not attend your conference due to prior commitments and travel difficulties, the program you site targets both awareness and community-based stewardship that ARE evolving as an immediate global solution to multiple problems. I salute you Phillip for thinking beyond the box, be that box defined as limitations perceived or conditional by existing mindset. Change the belief and the situation will also change. I was surprised when members of this group discouraged you in your far-reaching plans and tended to want to limit your scope to personal use or alternate business ventures. And I also agree that you need to start on a rudimentary level to "learn" the process. The way to make a governmental difference that can impact the corporate paper dragon is to have more people like you doing the same kind of planned, small business ventures that you envision. And Rachel's group is offering the stimulus and necessary knowledge. The fact that community colleges sponsor grassroots programs offers an excellent way to bypass control by corporate and government regulators. Although we all know that it is not mandatory to have more than Internet connections, your program channels through a recognized educational system thereby offering an excellent opportunity to keep biofuels projects educationally sound and publicly acknowledged, as well as available on a continuing, structured basis. Just having the hands-on experience, networking capabilities with local enthusiasts, and having physical handouts as reference guides is vital to rural awareness. Our group is also planning a similar program within a few months with variations on the biofuels theme and more focused on fuel ethanol. One program will train people to run their still and another will include the building of a personal still. Some of the seed-thought that have been nurtured on this forum now need to be transplanted into doable projects that transcend individual back-yard production. And this can be done legally, with government approval in the United States. I feel that our group at BioFuels Energy Corp. is also a spokes-group for similar individual and community efforts, (which is also why we take the time and money [personal expense] to present public interest lectures at general biofuels industry meetings). Our first news letter, which highlights many of the projects we have addressed in the past several months, is ready for distribution. Because we are a commercial group that sells processing facilities and construction kits for small producers, it may not be appropriate for me to send the actual newsletter to this forum. Yet, it is important that we give each other excellent "will-to-good" thought forms for encouraging each small effort and especially when it can become a community-based effort. Unlike some of the recent replies to the business outline that Phillip presented, I feel that after he learns the basic steps in processing, he be heartily encouraged to expand his efforts in biofuels production for community use and service. Best wishes, Peggy Subject: [Biofuel] Register Now for the Grassroots Biodiesel Conference! Register now for the Grassroots Biodiesel Conference at Central Carolina Community College Pittsboro, North Carolina ! Coming soon on January 28-29, 2005 The Biofuels Educational Program at Central Carolina Community College in conjunction with Piedmont Biofuels Cooperative brings you the first North Carolina grassroots biodiesel conference! Join us for a two-day event focusing on Biodiesel education, Biodiesel consumer's issues, and support for local biofuels endeavors. This event will help network consumers, small producers, educators, & activists from across America. Afterwards, travel to the National Biodiesel Board Conference in Ft. Lauderdale,Florida via train! For the current agenda for Friday and Saturday see the biofuels.coop website. Thanks! Rachel www.biofuels.coop _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/