[Rhodes22-list] alternative energy

[brad haslett]

Robert,

We have enough fat people in this country without
getting them addicted to french fries to fuel their
cars.  Used fry oil to biodiesel is a pretty simple
process.  Better that it gets burned in a car than the
other options but it won't make a dent in the national
energy budget.  If we plant rapeseed, not soybeans,
hedgerow to hedgerow nationwide, we can replace about
10% of our diesel demand.  Not a total solution but
good start.  When oil gets to $100 a barrel, say a
year or so, the market will come up with a new
solutions.  Get used to living with less of the stuff.


Brad

--- Robert Skinner <robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:

> We have a guy up here in Portland, Maine who is 
> collecting used fry oil, filtering it and 
> precipitating adulterants, and burning it in his 
> truck.
> 
> Stoves are being fitted with augers to feed wood 
> chips and boilers are being converted to use 
> grass pellets.  My clone of hybrid poplar 
> (adapted to Maine weather) grows 5' a year and 
> produces biomass at a greater rate than most 
> other vegetation.  
> 
> I believe that some grasses produce greater 
> biomass per square yard than any tree, and straw 
> is a byproduct of grain production, so I guess 
> that grass pellets are the best long-term 
> solution to heating requirements, assuming that 
> we are not able to harness solar, tidal, and/or 
> wind energy.
> 
> With the large number of deep finger bays we
> have in Maine, and our 9 to 20 foot tides, I 
> suspect that we will be tapping tidal flows
> for electricity generation.  Unfortunately,
> that will put paid to some of our best 
> gunkholing.
> 
> /Robert Skinner
> 
> Saroj Gilbert wrote:
> > 
> > Brad... I just heard that it is legal to own an
> ethanol still... didn't
> > catch if it was national or state-wide... but
> seems it would have to be
> > national... for those die-hard and very committed
> alternative energy
> > folks... not sure I'm up for it yet, but my dear
> friend might be... I also
> > heard from my son that there is a coop in No.
> Calif.  that collects used
> > restaurant oil and processes it... they are
> sharing the results... diesel
> > fuel at .18 a gallon... yes, folks... that's
> eighteen cents...
> > 
> > I just sent the link to the water to hydrogen
> product for "home" use...  a
> > video clip...  water is still pretty cheap except
> in the desert states  :-)
> > 
> > Saroj
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> www.rhodes22.org/list
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com