Corn Ethanol and Clean Coal

by on February 5, 2010

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Seemingly new is the Presidents recent nod toward corn ethanol and clean coal. In the first place clean coal is a highly inflammatory subject and many would argue there is no such thing. Secondly, corn ethanol is not nearly as efficient as the President and his staff would have the public believe.

Today in Biofuels Opinion: Reaction to Obama Administration on new …

“The only way to invest into biofuel programs correctly is to make sure the public gets real environmental protection for our climate, our water, our wildlife and our health. …. Despite intense pressure from the corn ethanol industry to exclude emissions from indirect land use change the EPA found that such emissions are a major source of heat-trapping pollution from food-based biofuels such as corn ethanol. This finding affirms the view of 200 scientists and economists …

Biofuels, clean coal top White House energy initiative | NewsWatch …

Friends of the Earth was glad the EPA took into account land use policies when considering the ultimate environmental impact of biofuels, but found many of their conclusions too optimisitc: … The EPA’s prediction that in 2022 most corn ethanol will result in less carbon pollution than regular gasoline is surprising and strikes us as highly optimistic, especially since the EPA acknowledged in its rule finalized today that corn ethanol production is driving the …

Is Corn Ethanol Cleaner than Crude Oil? – Environmental Capital – WSJ

Really it’s hard to comprehend how a superpower whose cotton and other producers are laying waste to farms all around the third world, is suddenly getting so sensitive when it comes to ethanol land and water use tradeoffs. …

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Biodiversity Has Economic Benefits

by on January 30, 2010

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There is a bumper sticker many of you have probably seen – Extinction is forever. It addresses a very real problem that is directly related to ecosystems and their destruction.

Global warming skeptics and proponents of the use of fossil fuels – themselves fossils – often discuss the cost to switch to renewable energy sources. Yes it will cost to switch and their will be job losses, although there should also be job creation, but these proponents never seem to consider the economic factors having to do with the destruction of the planet.

If the world we live in is a gift from the almighty and the resources provided are limited, the destruction of any living specie is a tragedy of monumental proportion. Not only does each individual specie support the ecosystem it is a part of, losing the hereditary germ deprives future generations of the necessary antidote to who knows what disease. Morally speaking this can not be right, but morality aside, this is just plain foolhardy.

It costs to build solar paneling or wind turbines just as it costs to pump oil, dig coal and harvest a rain forest, but over harvesting a rain forest will cause it to burn down whereas a healthy rain forest will not burn down. As one of nature’s pharmacies is destroyed this becomes catastrophic from a purely economic point of view.

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Tropical Rainforests

January 27, 2010

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Tropical rain forests are complete ecosystems that, everyone knows by now, have an extraordinary ability to turn sunlight into first-tier energy producers otherwise known as plant life.
What many people do not know about are the services rain forests provide. Aside from obvious goods such as paper products, rain forests provide trillions of dollars [...]

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Wind Energy

January 27, 2010

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Energy produced from wind turbines is not something we’ve discussed in awhile but Amanda Little’s recent book Power Trip has rekindled that subject. Her interview with T. Boone Pickens – “Texas Tea, Black Gold” – was of particular note. “I’m a man who thinks with his wallet,” he told her. He also told [...]

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Clean Energy Technology

January 25, 2010

Clean energy technology refers to any energy source that does not further pollute the environment. We understandably think in terms of renewable energy sources – energy sources that are part of a natural cycle, where energy is created but nothing is lost in the process. We also think in terms of whole businesses and entire [...]

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A Compost Pile is a Beautiful Thing

January 23, 2010

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If you live in an apartment or condo you might find it more difficult to separate organic waste from recyclables. My wife happens to be slightly bonkers and refuses to separate recyclables from garbage so it all ends up in the same trash bin. Having one closeted, central bin for the entire house [...]

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