Sustainable Sandhills - Moore County
Sandhills CC, Dempsey Student Center, Clement Dining Room
Tuesday, November 10th, 6:30-8:00pm
Lyle Estill is a founder of Piedmont Biofuels, which anchors an eco-industrial park in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Since launching into his quest for sustainable biodiesel, he has found himself deploying solar technologies, green building strategies, and is currently immersed in everything from sustainable farming to vermiculture digestion to alternative boiler fuels. He is the author of Biodiesel Power (New Society 2005) and Small is Possible (New Society 2008), and the winner of various awards.
We will also include updates on community events and projects.
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Showing posts with label biofuel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biofuel. Show all posts
3/17/2009
1/17/2009
10/16/2008
10/15/2008
7/29/2008
Good News From Rising Oil Prices
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/blog/good-news-about-rising-oil-prices?source=email&utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Read+more&utm_content=newsforjill%40gmail.com&utm_campaign=7Gen+-+July+23%2C+2008
5/22/2008
4/30/2008
1/14/2008
Problems with Biofuels, EU
EU rethinks biofuels guidelines
The EU's environment chief admits it did not foresee the problems raised by its policy of boosting biofuels use.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/europe/7186380.stm
The EU's environment chief admits it did not foresee the problems raised by its policy of boosting biofuels use.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/europe/7186380.stm
1/12/2008
12/11/2007
Bikes, Yes; Biofuels, No
* Low faith in biofuels for climate
Decision-makers in the climate change field have little faith in biofuels as a low-carbon solution, a study reveals.
Full story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/7136486.stm
Decision-makers in the climate change field have little faith in biofuels as a low-carbon solution, a study reveals.
Full story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/7136486.stm
10/21/2007
Biofuels Swindle
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/20/4700/
[very important article; see also comments toward the bottom]
[very important article; see also comments toward the bottom]
6/30/2007
Biofuels Running Ahead of Science
Charity attacks rush for biofuels
By Roger Harrabin, BBC Environment Analyst
The rush for biofuels could have a major environmental impact
A furious attack on the drive to grow more biofuels has been launched by a charity supporting poor farmers in developing countries.
The charity - called Grain - says their research shows the rush for biofuels is causing much more environmental and social damage than previously realised.
Biofuels from crops are being heavily promoted by the US and Europe as a welcome solution to climate change.
In theory their emissions are much lower than from fossil fuels.
But the report from the charity Grain amplifies recent warnings from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that some biofuels produce hardly any carbon savings at all.
The UN says basic food prices for poor countries are being pushed up by competition for land from biofuels.
The Grain report says its research shows how governments and biofuels firms in developing countries are collaborating to push hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and peasant communities off their land.
Grain says: "The numbers involved are mind-boggling. The Indian government is talking of planting 14 million hectares of land with jatropha.
"The Inter-American Development Bank says that Brazil has 120 million hectares that could be cultivated with agrofuel crops; and an agrofuel lobby is speaking of 379 million hectares being available in 15 African countries. We are talking about expropriation on an unprecedented scale."
It points out that one of the main causes of global warming is agro-industrial farming itself, thanks mainly the use of chemical fertilisers which introduce nitrous oxide into the air.
The group says the media has been spun into using the attractive term biofuels - and wants them referred to as "agro-fuels" instead.
The plant fuel industry accepts that there is a limit to the energy to be obtained from crops - but believes plant fuels can be produced sustainably on a large scale. The EU wants to see at least 10% of road fuel derived from plants by 2020.
Oil firms believe this target is achievable using farm surpluses combined with fuel digested by bacteria from waste - so called second generation biofuels.
But their economic calculations do not include competition for feedstock from power firms wanting biofuel for combined heat and power - which produces much more energy more economically than liquid fuel.
The UK government's climate envoy John Ashton recently told BBC News: "The policy on biofuels is currently running ahead of the science."
By Roger Harrabin, BBC Environment Analyst
The rush for biofuels could have a major environmental impact
A furious attack on the drive to grow more biofuels has been launched by a charity supporting poor farmers in developing countries.
The charity - called Grain - says their research shows the rush for biofuels is causing much more environmental and social damage than previously realised.
Biofuels from crops are being heavily promoted by the US and Europe as a welcome solution to climate change.
In theory their emissions are much lower than from fossil fuels.
But the report from the charity Grain amplifies recent warnings from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that some biofuels produce hardly any carbon savings at all.
The UN says basic food prices for poor countries are being pushed up by competition for land from biofuels.
The Grain report says its research shows how governments and biofuels firms in developing countries are collaborating to push hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and peasant communities off their land.
Grain says: "The numbers involved are mind-boggling. The Indian government is talking of planting 14 million hectares of land with jatropha.
"The Inter-American Development Bank says that Brazil has 120 million hectares that could be cultivated with agrofuel crops; and an agrofuel lobby is speaking of 379 million hectares being available in 15 African countries. We are talking about expropriation on an unprecedented scale."
It points out that one of the main causes of global warming is agro-industrial farming itself, thanks mainly the use of chemical fertilisers which introduce nitrous oxide into the air.
The group says the media has been spun into using the attractive term biofuels - and wants them referred to as "agro-fuels" instead.
The plant fuel industry accepts that there is a limit to the energy to be obtained from crops - but believes plant fuels can be produced sustainably on a large scale. The EU wants to see at least 10% of road fuel derived from plants by 2020.
Oil firms believe this target is achievable using farm surpluses combined with fuel digested by bacteria from waste - so called second generation biofuels.
But their economic calculations do not include competition for feedstock from power firms wanting biofuel for combined heat and power - which produces much more energy more economically than liquid fuel.
The UK government's climate envoy John Ashton recently told BBC News: "The policy on biofuels is currently running ahead of the science."
5/31/2007
We Also Are
Great apes 'facing climate peril'
The great apes are facing an "inevitable crisis" arising from climate change, a leading conservationist warns.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/6704549.stm
The great apes are facing an "inevitable crisis" arising from climate change, a leading conservationist warns.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/6704549.stm
5/04/2007
Agrichar a New Industry? Biofuel
Kelpie Wilson Birth of a New Wedge
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050307R.shtml
As delegates met in Bangkok this week to debate climate change solutions contained
in the IPCC's latest report, one technology not mentioned in the draft report was being closely examined at a conference in Australia.
The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is actually carbon negative. The industry could provide a "wedge" of carbon reduction amounting to a minimum of ten percent of world emissions and possibly much more.
"The exceptional properties of charcoal in soil were first noticed in
the Amazon where there are large areas of what is called "terra preta"
or Amazonian dark earths. These dark earths can be several feet deep and
contain up to nine percent carbon, as compared with nearby soils that
have only about half of one percent. In one of the most fascinating
aspects of this story, the terra preta soils turn out to have been
deliberately created by a lost Amazonian civilization. Some of the areas
have been dated going back to more than 7,000 years, and they are still
highly fertile.
Field trials and experiments in pots show impressive yield gains in
charcoal-amended soils, but so far researchers don't completely
understand why. One question is whether the effect is primarily chemical
and physical or primarily biological. Charcoal is a highly porous
material that is very good at holding nutrients like nitrogen and
phosphorus and making them available to plant roots. It also aerates
soil and helps it retain water.
Charcoal's pores also make excellent habitat for a variety of soil
microorganisms and fungi. Think of a coral reef that provides structure
and habitat for a bewildering variety of marine species. Charcoal is
like a reef on a micro-scale.
One of the research papers presented at the conference documented an
increased diversity of beneficial microbes in terra preta soils as
compared with unamended soils, but there are still no answers about
whether the fertility increase is due to physical or biological factors.
The best answer may be that it is both.
One very evident tension at the conference was between the
scientists who are trying to better understand how agrichar works, and
the farmers and investors who want to apply the technology as soon as
possible. But one obstacle to deploying agrichar is the ability to
quantify its effects in order to create both a reliable product for
farmers and a solid guarantee of agrichar's carbon-fixing capacity for
the carbon-trading market. "
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050307R.shtml
As delegates met in Bangkok this week to debate climate change solutions contained
in the IPCC's latest report, one technology not mentioned in the draft report was being closely examined at a conference in Australia.
The first meeting of the International Agrichar Initiative convened about 100 scientists, policymakers, farmers and investors with the goal of birthing an entire new industry to produce a biofuel that goes beyond carbon neutral and is actually carbon negative. The industry could provide a "wedge" of carbon reduction amounting to a minimum of ten percent of world emissions and possibly much more.
"The exceptional properties of charcoal in soil were first noticed in
the Amazon where there are large areas of what is called "terra preta"
or Amazonian dark earths. These dark earths can be several feet deep and
contain up to nine percent carbon, as compared with nearby soils that
have only about half of one percent. In one of the most fascinating
aspects of this story, the terra preta soils turn out to have been
deliberately created by a lost Amazonian civilization. Some of the areas
have been dated going back to more than 7,000 years, and they are still
highly fertile.
Field trials and experiments in pots show impressive yield gains in
charcoal-amended soils, but so far researchers don't completely
understand why. One question is whether the effect is primarily chemical
and physical or primarily biological. Charcoal is a highly porous
material that is very good at holding nutrients like nitrogen and
phosphorus and making them available to plant roots. It also aerates
soil and helps it retain water.
Charcoal's pores also make excellent habitat for a variety of soil
microorganisms and fungi. Think of a coral reef that provides structure
and habitat for a bewildering variety of marine species. Charcoal is
like a reef on a micro-scale.
One of the research papers presented at the conference documented an
increased diversity of beneficial microbes in terra preta soils as
compared with unamended soils, but there are still no answers about
whether the fertility increase is due to physical or biological factors.
The best answer may be that it is both.
One very evident tension at the conference was between the
scientists who are trying to better understand how agrichar works, and
the farmers and investors who want to apply the technology as soon as
possible. But one obstacle to deploying agrichar is the ability to
quantify its effects in order to create both a reliable product for
farmers and a solid guarantee of agrichar's carbon-fixing capacity for
the carbon-trading market. "
2/02/2007
Wanna Localize?
http://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms/calendar.html
has many events, trainings. Subscribe!
has many events, trainings. Subscribe!
2/01/2007
Piedmont Biofuels
http://biofuels.coop/
offers biofuels classes this spring.
Chatham Co. school buses use biofuels as does the NC Zoo.
offers biofuels classes this spring.
Chatham Co. school buses use biofuels as does the NC Zoo.
It's the Fuel
Mexicans stage tortilla protest
Tens of thousands of Mexicans join a march in Mexico City to protest against the rising price of tortillas. [see U.S. corn conversion to ethanol]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/americas/6319093.stm
Tens of thousands of Mexicans join a march in Mexico City to protest against the rising price of tortillas. [see U.S. corn conversion to ethanol]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/americas/6319093.stm
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