December 18, 2007
Cars and Transport, Environment, Issues, Travel
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Investigating Biodiesel: The Good and the Bad Sides
post by Jim Bashkin at Chemistry for a Sustainable World
There are good and bad sides to biofuels, as Jane Goodall points out. I will explore this in detail in a series of articles that express my opinion and cite scientific reports or discussions. First, a bullet-point summary of key points is given below.
Much of the good/bad duality of biofuels has to do with the following questions:
* Where do the biofuels come from?
* What are we destroying in order to generate biofuels?
* What are we consuming in order to generate biofuels?
* What are we failing to produce in order to generate biofuels?
To find out more on this subject and to finish the the rest of the report on biodiesel, read James Bashkin’s “Biodiesel” published at Chemistry for a Sustainable World.
This blog posting is Copyright 2007 James K. Bashkin
December 10, 2007
Cars and Transport, Environment, Issues, Politics
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Further Investigating Ethanol as an Alternative Fuel Source
post by Jim Bashkin at Chemistry for a Sustainable World
I’m a very serious environmentalist, but some of the “solutions” to problems have become so politicized that people are losing track of the facts.
One flaw in ethanol is that it is already partially oxidized (which is a chemical term for partially burned, and in this case already containing an oxygen atom). That is one of the reasons why burning ethanol the rest of the way doesn’t release as much energy as burning gasoline does, requiring about twice as many gallons of ethanol per mile to be used to power a car versus the mileage per gallon from gasoline / petrol.
The huge amount of gas that we use in the US simply overwhelms what can be produced from farming. Further, we can do a lot of damage to the environment producing all that ethanol without helping the “oil problem.”
One of the biggest problems with ethanol production Read the rest…
December 7, 2007
Cars and Transport, Environment, In the News, Stuff
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Renewable LA: The First Annual Solar Open House & Green Holiday Gift Fest
December 8th, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A true gala event in the heart of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, Renewable L.A. features several eco-friendly and environmentally conscious activities, with stuff to interest the whole family. You will be able to view one of the largest solar power installations (600 panels generating 100 kilowatts of renewable electricity) at the Valley location’s solar-paneled rooftop.
More to Do at Renewable L.A.: Green Seminars
Guests will also have a chance to sit down and listen to a variety of speakers whose areas of expertise range from “Tips for Greening Your Home” to “Solar Home Financing.” Talks last all day, with more topics including Read the rest…
