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A huge source of clean power that’s been neglected

I just got done reading some extremely eye-opening stuff on cogeneration and power recycling. Wait, wait, keep reading! I promise it's more interesting than it sounds.

Most of all, it's another example of a great, low-cost, low-impact way to address the energy/climate crisis that doesn't get nearly the hype it deserves (perhaps because it's not backed by an industry that can afford to buy high-profile supporters).

The paper I read is from an unpublished book chapter, so I won't quote directly. And I won't get into the technical weeds, since I'm likely to botch something. Instead let me just convey some of the high-level take-home points:

Coconuts: Good for more than just tropical drinks and bras

As fuel prices soar, the smaller and more remote the land mass, the bigger the crisis. But Pacific Islanders may have found their solution: coconuts. An article in Reuters today details efforts to make biofuel out of coconut oil.

It began when the Professor developed an idea for a bamboo boat motor, but the Skipper said they lost all their fuel when the Minnow ran aground. Gilligan suggested, "I have an idea. If we have phones made of coconuts, and a space shuttle made out of coconuts, and small tactical explosives made from coconuts, then why can't we have biofuel made from coconuts?" Then the Skipper hit Gilligan with his hat, which looks like a hostile act but is really a sign of affection.

The new discovery may also be an industry incentive, bringing much-needed revenue to rural-island populations, whose coconut supplies until now have been used to meet the massive demand for carved souvenir monkey heads with wire-rimmed glasses.

Gore and environmentalists

Ah, just as I expected. The Gore interview is kicking up quite a bit of feedback. And much of it is some variant of the following: "If Gore cares so much about global warming, why didn't he do anything about it when he was in the White House for eight years?"

So, let's talk about it. Lots and lots of hardcore enviros I know loathe Gore. They think he talked a good game on the campaign trail and then totally abandoned them when he got to power. There's lots and lots of pent-up anger toward him.

Another line of thought goes like this: Two years after they got to the White House, Clinton/Gore got stuck with a Republican congress that made it a mission to block everything they tried. In this they were aided and abetted by big industries, notably Detroit. On top of that was an endless succession of trumped-up pseudo-scandals. They had to retrench and triangulate to survive. And their consultants and strategists told them that environmental issues opened them up to charges of lefty wackiness, and wouldn't have any strong public support. So they did what they could given the circumstances.

To be honest, I don't have a great grasp of the history. My inclination is to think that progressives in general and enviros in particular often have politically unrealistic expectations -- an insufficient appreciation for the real constraints that politicians work under. This leads them to constantly valorize up-and-comers and then demonize the same folks once they get some power. A little realism would help. But like I said, I don't have the historical details at hand.

So let's throw the floor open.

What do y'all think?

Archer-Daniels Midland’s stock soars on ethanol, biodiesel hype

Earlier this year, after Archer Daniels Midland reported surging profit for the fourth quarter of 2005 -- largely driven by its ethanol unit -- I dubbed the company the Exxon of Corn.

As if to prove my thesis, the grain-processing giant tapped an oil exec as its new CEO last week. And, like any respectable would-be oil company, it also reported another quarter of robust profit growth. The ascension to CEO of Patricia Woertz, most recently executive vice president at Chevron, marks the end of a four-decade run at ADM's top by the Andreas family. That venerable clan, whose chicanery runs from a key role in the Watergate scandal to a price-fixing scheme in the 1990s, built ADM into one of the U.S.'s most politically connected corporations. Congressional beneficiaries of ADM's campaign generosity likely need not fear; G. Allen Andreas, who has served as CEO since 1997 (when his uncle and predecessor was convicted of fixing the price of lysine, a corn product used in animal feed), will stay on as chairman of the board of directors.

In a country run by oil execs, why shouldn't the largest food-processing firm also be run by oil execs?

The move eloquently signals ADM's intention to continue its rush into the auto-fuel market. The company has made billions over the years extracting the Midwest's soil fertility and transforming it into crappy food products like high-fructose corn syrup, buoyed by government commodity policy and the sugar quota. Now it intends to do the same in service of the internal-combustion engine.

The Love Vote

Grist wins Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Magazine! Thanks to all of you — our dear, beloved readers — for wading through the labyrinthine Webby Awards site to vote for us. It worked! We won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Magazine. Some outfit called “National Geographic” won the “official” Webby (whatevs!), but […]

Move over HGTV, here comes GBTV

PBS is going to start airing a show called Building green in September.

A green-building TV show sounds interesting, but also makes me nervous. Will it be more of the shallow consumerism that defines most home shows? Or will it actually seek to give average people the comfort and confidence to try green-building projects themselves.

Another action item for renewables

I just got an email from the Solar Energies Industry Association (SEIA) asking for people to let their representatives know they support extending the 2005 investment tax credits for residential solar power and fuel cells. The credits are set to expire in 2007, but there's a bill being proposed to extend it another 8 years.

The next big vote on renewable energy

The next big vote on renewable energy won't take place in Washington. It will take place in Phoenix.

Some time this summer, the five commissioners on the Arizona Corporation Commission will vote on a proposed rule to significantly expand renewable energy in Arizona -- 15% renewables by 2025, 30% of that from distributed-generation resources like solar. We are talking on the order of up to 1,800 MW of solar: a very big deal. The emissions reductions are roughly equivalent to removing 1 million cars from the road -- not to mention jumpstarting the clean technologies of the future.

There is a precarious 3-2 majority on the Commission right now, and the usual suspects are gearing up opposition.

There's a public comment period culminating in a public meeting on May 23. Demonstrating the public mandate for renewable energy is critical. We've set up a petition -- if you live in Arizona, here's your chance to stand up and be counted. Or no complaining later.

All mixed up

Everyone knows you have to be careful about taking more than one prescription medicine at a time, since drugs can interact in strange and dangerous ways. A Google search of "dangerous drug interactions," for example, yields nearly 10 million hits.

Apparently the same is true of chemical contaminants in the environment. From Scientific American comes this troubling but none-too-surprising story (only part of which is free, unfortunately) suggesting that mixtures of toxic chemicals are often more potent and damaging than the compounds in isolation.

The Culinary Institure of America sells out to Coca-Cola

Undeniably, haute U.S. culinary culture has been a boon to the sustainable-food movement over the past 20 years or so. From Alice Waters' Chez Panisse to Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns to the star-studded Chef's Collaborative, high-end foodie institutions have largely rallied round the cause of local, environmentally responsible agriculture.

While their wares are generally reserved for the expense-account-positive, these institutions invest in their local foodsheds and have been a valuable tool in the fight against flavorless, environmentally and socially destructive food.

All the more shocking, then, the brazen corporate flackery being performed by the Culinary Institute of America, the premier U.S. cooking school.