biofuels
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Ethanol is making crap food more expensive than ever
If you're a fan of Uno's pizza, O'Charley's, White Castle, or, god forbid, P.F. Chang's, you have only our government's stubborn love of ethanol subsidies to blame for the increasing cost of your favorite meals, report the gumshoes at Nation's Restaurant News. If you’re not a fan, though, don’t go celebrating with a delicious home-cooked […]
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Amtrak using beef-based biofuel
Like Joe Biden, Amtrak now runs on beef tallow. America's rail company just replaced 35,000 gallons of diesel fuel in one of its 3,200-horsepower locomotives with biofuel derived from the stuff, and reports that the experiment resulted in no ill effects for the train, and lower than usual emissions. That doesn't mean using beef-based biofuels […]
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Talking motorbike runs on poop. That is all.
Here's a bike that runs on biogas from human poo, writes messages in the air, plays music, and features a talking toilet. Is it even worth making jokes about this? Is it even POSSIBLE?
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Company makes fuel from wood using nothing but water
A company called Renmatix says it can make ethanol from wood and woody biomass using nothing but water. If they're right -- and they just cut the ribbon on an R&D facility in Pennsylvania in order to find out -- it could mean the unlocking of a vast reserve of biomass previously untouched by the cleantech industry.
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Critical List: Energy Dept. picks more winners; natural gas boom comes to Ohio
The Department of Energy, always picking winners, you know? The first Quadrennial Technology Review, to be released today, favors technologies that could come into commercial use in 10 years — i.e. consumer goods you can spend money for. This could mean DOE favors EVs over new clean energy technologies.
This company, Renmatix, will probably make it under the wire, though. It says it has the right technology to make commercially viable biofuels from biomass and just opened a plant to forward development of the technique.
The natural gas boom comes to Ohio.
Although Beijing usually gets a bad rap on pollution, Central and South Asia are not great places to live if you like inhaling clean air, either. -
Panda poop could revolutionize biofuels
One down side of biofuels like ethanol is that they rely on easily processed crops that are also staple foods. The more farm space is given over to raising corn, soybeans, and sugar for fuels, the less is available for raising those crops to feed humans. Luckily, scientists have just discovered microbes that could help turn waste plant matter like corn stalks and wood chips into fuel. All they needed was a little bit of panda poo.
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Ethanol is now a matter of national security
Two steps forward, one step back: Congress cuts two ethanol subsidies worth billions, but the White House redirects $510 million to power the military's ships and aircraft with corn-sourced biofuels.
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Critical List: The Navy and USDA invest in biofuels; Norway's big oil find
The Navy, USDA, and Energy Department are investing in biofuels that come from plants we don't eat.
As Shell fought an oil leak in the North Sea, Norway's biggest oil company announced it had found a huge oil field there. Oh awesome, nothing can go wrong with this!
Shell's also helping Iraq to double its capacity to produce natural gas.
U.S. solar manufacturers say it's hard to compete against China's low-priced workers. -
McDonalds and United Arab Emirates greener than America?
Everyone loves a “man bites dog” story. Not everyone likes those tales, however, if they embarrass someone in the process. Take the news out of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, where fast food giant McDonalds has just announced that they will fuel their delivery trucks with bio-diesel made from their own used vegetable oil. Neutral […]