Carbon tax isn't the answer Kansas City Star The Star's editorial advocating a carbon tax over the cap-and-trade system being considered by Congress (8/30, Opinion) misses the point. …
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Carbon tax isn’t the answer – Kansas City Star
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Property Tax Increase Proposal KWQC 6 In his opinion, the solution is to install a $1.2 million geothermal heating and cooling system. “One of the goals for everyone is to be more energy … Follow this link:
Biomass plant in PSJ? Many locals in favor The News Herald JOE — Opinion at Wednesday night's public meeting on a proposed biomass plant was divided largely along geographic lines. While many Gulf County residents … New proposed biomass plant meeting in Port St. Joe draws a huge crowd WJHG-TV Protest targets Port St. Joe biomass plant Tallahassee Democrat Economy and Environment; Residents Debate Biomass Plant WMBB-TV all 11 news articles
Biomass plant in PSJ? Many locals in favor The News Herald JOE — Opinion at Wednesday night's public meeting on a proposed biomass plant was divided largely along geographic lines. While many Gulf County residents … New proposed biomass plant meeting in Port St. Joe draws a huge crowd WJHG-TV Protest targets Port St. Joe biomass plant Tallahassee Democrat Economy and Environment; Residents Debate Biomass Plant WMBB-TV all 11 news articles Matt McKinney in the Star Tribune : “ So reliable is corn’s growth of about 2 extra bushels per acre per year that government analysts folded it into their forecasts for this year’s 12.1 billion bushel crop . It’s just expected. And yet it’s still not enough…But the history and hype surrounding corn yields has one staggering asterisk: The very best farms, blessed with the best weather and land, have posted the same yields for at least 20 years — suggesting they have reached the limit of what the corn plant can produce.” Emmanuel K. Dogbevi in Ghana Business News : “ Is the investor community learning all they could about the jatropha or biofuel business? …There is literally a scramble for land in Ghana by multinationals and local companies…All together, these companies are cultivating the jatropha plant on millions of hectares of land with the hope of producing biofuels for export…The consensus of the team of experts after evaluating India’s jatropa projects from 22 agribusiness colleges across the country was that, indeed, jatropha would grow on wasteland, but would give no appreciable yield…The companies investing in jatropha and other non-food crops for the production of biofuels including the ones from India, have lots of lessons to learn from India’s example, so as not to repeat the mistake.” See original here: The Woodstock Festival of 1969 – three days of positive engagement that left a mark on the times. Readers of the Digest will remember that last Friday, we ran an exclusive interview with Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa in which the Senator invited the Director of the EPA’s office of Transportation and Air Quality, Margo Oge, to visit his farm in Iowa. The invitation came after it was revealed in House testimony that Ms. Oge had not visited a US farm in the 41 years since she had arrived in the US, something that became relevant when her office was assigned the responsibility by former EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson of measuring direct and indirect emissions from biofuels as required by the 2007 Energy Security and Independence Act. We are delighted to inform readers that, according to the Senator’s staff and as reported on Opisnet and elsewhere, that after the story ran in Biofuels Digest, the EPA contacted Senator Grassley’s office “to indicate that they would like to try and work something out. So my staff is in the process of trying to find time in my schedule and the EPA staff schedule when we can all be in Iowa.” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Regina McCarthy, nominated as assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation have also been invited. The story that ran on Friday addressed the larger question of a growing communications gap between farm and city, and suggested, in line with EPA-funded research demonstrating that “place-based education” has an impact on attitudes towards the environment, that a greater engagement between regulators and farms was a first and important step towards a national consensus on biofuels policies. The Digest looks forward to proposing ways over the next few days in which a broad section of those who care about farms, green jobs, energy independence and climate change can also participate in what is shaping up to be a highlight of the summer, the EPA’s visit to the Grassley farm. Early indications are that another farm more convenient to airports may be chosen for the visit. No one can say how one day on a farm will impact EPA’s view on indirect land use change, and the proposed elimination of soy biodiesel as an permissable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (because of the controversial contention that soy biodiesel leads to Amazonian deforestation). But 10,000 people showing up to say “thank you” to the EPA for making the effort, would certainly be news, would show positive engagement, would be inclusive, would send a positive message in a world of negative campaigning, and might alter the balance. Just showing up and saying “I am” has been known to make a difference. Or as so many Americans would put it, “Yo soy”. As biodiesel supporter Neil Young sang in the classic CSNY hit, “Woodstock,” about the celebrated festival of forty summers ago: “I’m going on down to Yasgurs farm I’m going to join in a rock n roll band I’m going to camp out on the land I’m going to try and get my soul free We are stardust, we are golden We are billion year old carbon, And we’ve got to get ourselves Back to the garden.” From Biofuels Digest: Thank you, EPA.
View original post here: Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa on indirect land use change : “ First of all, there’s no science behind it and EPA ought to only be making their decisions based on science . And then you get into the ridiculous situation that somewhere around the world somebody’s waiting to plow up an acre of virgin soil just because they’re waiting to see if Chuck Grassley sells a little more corn for ethanol. I think that’s a ridiculous combination that doesn’t face the real-world test.” Sam Gilliland, chairman and CEO of Sabre Holdings, parent company of Travelocity : “ Without access to sustainable energy – predictable, abundant, affordable and environmentally sound energy – the entire travel and tourism industry will continue to be battered by volatile fuel prices. A biofuel industry could be a major generator of employment and wealth for the U.S. and the developing world, but to achieve this, we need a comprehensive U.S. energy policy that calls for viable fuel competition and sustainable energy.” In Germany, Verbio said that its biodiesel production has fallen from 93,907 in the first quarter of 2009 to 78,866 tonnes in Q1 2009 , compared to a production capacity of 112,000 tonnes per quarter. The company said that high feedstock prices and falling prices for fossil diesel have combined with rising German taxes on biodiesel to nearly kill off demand for biodiesel in Germany. Rapeseed oil prices have increased by 100 euros per tonne this year. Germany recently announced that biodiesel blends would be limited by mandate to 5.25 percent of total diesel sales, instead of the 6.25 percent announced in the past as a 2009 target. Read the rest here: From Forbes : “ There are 1,865 biofuels companies out there, and sometimes it seems that there are at least 1,865 different ways of turning every manner of biological material into fuel for a car, truck, train or plane…Helena Chum, a research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, estimates that next-generation biofuels now cost anywhere between $5 and $1,000 a gallon, with a median of about $25. That won’t work, even in a Prius.” The (London) Telegraph : “ Biofuels are probably the most controversial of all renewable energy sources, admits Andy Hunter, chief executive of Argent Energy …But he shares doubts about the genuine sustainability and long-term carbon footprint of some biofuel projects and has positioned Argent carefully…However, Mr Hunter says further investment has been stymied by uncertainty about Government stimuli for the industry…“We would want to see that we were getting the appropriate signals before making any further investments in additional plants,” he says. “Over the past five years, there have been so many different signals that it has been very difficult.” View original post here: In California, Prize Capital announced that it will offer a $10 million Algae Prize to spur development of new ideas in the production of algal fuels. The San Diego-based firm said that the prize is expected to be awarded later this year and said that San Diego companies have a good shot at keeping the prize at home. The prize money is expected to support algae R&D. Read more here: Rick Gilmore of GIC Group, at the Advanced Biofuels Development Summit : “ With the prospect of cap and trade, biofuels offer a cost-competitive business model to petroleum based fuels. The conventional wisdom on ethanol prices is that margins are lock-step in line with oil prices. This view fails to take into account those inputs and demand factors which are much more deterministic. For carbon credits to be internalized in biofuel prices, they need to be valuated in the market. Our ag carbon credit index, GICACI, is a market sensitive price discovery mechanism for the composite of ag industries. We need to avoid the hype and offer a truth test on these credits. GICACI will do just that and minimize risk for the ag sector.” Tim Sklar, Sklar & Associates , in “ Making Making Advanced Biofuels from Cellulosic Biomass Is Not an Illusion, It is About to Happen : “On April 4, 2009, C. Ford Runge, a professor of applied economics and law at the University of Minnesota published an opinion piece on TwinCities.com website titled “The biofuel illusion”. This article was cited in Biofuels Digest and available to thousands of its readers through a hyperlink. Dr. Runge’s opinions should be of concern to all who are involved in developing biofuels, as many of his assessments appear to be inadequately researched and many of his conclusions, ill founded. A case is then made for accelerated development of biorefineries that can convert wood waste into advanced biofuels, as wood waste is a significant and readily available untapped resource and the technology for converting it to biofuels is well advanced.” Here is the original: Biofuels Digest special correspondent Joelle Brink : “Sadly the [jatropha] blunders have taken place largely because promoters and growers didn’t bother to RTFM, in this case Heller’s pioneering work on sustainable jatropha culture and use “ The Jatropha System “ and his recent exhaustive guide “The Jatropha Book”, which tackles the pitfalls and how to avoid them for specific global growing regions…Originally Jatropha production sprang from a European and UN initiative to create a socially responsible fair trade relationship between the developed consuming nations and the impoverished agricultural workers of producing nations, especially women. Or, more cynically, to avoid another antagonistic OPEC type energy relationship. Indian Railways, D1 and other large scale enterprises in India must conform to this model, which is enforced by the Indian government. Without an informed and responsible government or trade association to ensure sustainable production all sorts of bad business and growing practices are likely.” From the Chilling Effect : “ The George C. Marshall Institute looks at the price tag of proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) , which are part of the Obama energy agenda and the Waxman-Markey bill introduced this week…The assessment of a hypothetical LCFS requiring a 10% reduction in GHG emissions via use of ethanol effective in 2020 found costs of $65.5 billion annually — equivalent to $570 per household per year…The estimated net savings in emissions is 142 million metric tons per year — equal to 7% of transportation emissions and 2.2% of total projected U.S. emissions in 2015 with a per ton cost of $457, which is significantly larger than the costs of other possible reductions.” Home minister P Chidambaram, who briefed reporters on the Cabinet decisions, said in his opinion there was no bar on the government from announcing a price cut even after polls are announced. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are selling petrol at almost break-even point while they make Rs 3.26 a litre profit on diesel sales. That Dog Wonât Hunt. Anymore. Snoopy, victim of friendly fire Fresh off of criticizing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, Urkel Christ struck back at last night’s press conference as if to say, “Hey, I’ve got a fatso radio blowhard of my own” by giving a prime lame duck blind in the press shooting gallery to… Read the full post from Six Meat Buffet Tags: Politics , Old media , Cavalcade of Whimsy , Bedwetting Leftists , News & Opinion via Blogdigger blog search for renewable . See the rest here: People also care about the environment and like the idea of renewable energy. From a site called newenergytips.com comes a report covering the advantages of something that is becoming more common today – residential wind turbines . … Build your own Home Solar Panel. Discover BIG $$$ Savings on your Power Bills, build your own Solar & Wind Power Plant. Comprehensive, Simple to follow Instructions help you build your own Power Plant from readily available materials and at … The rest is here: |
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