Florida Cities Tap Landfills For Energy

In Florida, 12 waste-to-energy facilities from Miami to Panama City process nearly 20,000 tons of municipal solid waste each day while continuously producing over 500 megawatts of clean, renewable power. This amount of waste is enough to fill a football stadium, imagine that! The Tampa Bay area is home to four waste-to-energy facilities, located in the City of Tampa and in the counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco. Without these facilities, local governments would be faced with the daunting task of siting large landfills near rapidly growing residential communities. The issue of this development is another problem to be addressed in a different forum but there is no doubt that this landfill to energy idea is a good one.

I first heard about this idea several years ago when a small county northwest of where I reside started pumping landfill gas through pipes and converting it to energy. In fact, I later heard a follow up that claimed the entire city was running on this power alone. Amazing. Not only is this greenie meanie but it’s cheap, too. These waste-to-energy projects eliminate 90% of the waste that might have ended up in a landfill. But it isn’t nearly enough, as you can imagine, because landfills throughout the state are reaching capacity faster than anticipated. It is becoming increasingly difficult to expand landfills or open new ones as residential development encroaches on once-remote landfill sites. People are already living in homes where they can smell garbage 24/7 in various lower income areas around the state. Florida’s current population of over 17 million is expected to reach almost 23 million by the year 2020, bringing even more challenges to managing municipal solid waste.

 

Totally Crude and Worth a Look

As of today, now playing in a theatre near you, is a film with a fascinating new look at the oil industry and it’s dark side. CRUDE, the film, tells a shocking story that Chevron, the 5th largest company on this planet, does not want the world to know. Like, The Cove, another documentary about the uglier side of industry, this one is a bombshell that should awaken everyone who sees it to the environmental tragedies that are ongoing here on Earth and the battle to save our planet.

Three years in the making by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost, and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster), CRUDE chronicles the epic legal battle to hold Chevron accountable for its systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon. If you are not aware of the disaster, it was an environmental tragedy experts call the “Amazon Chernobyl,” and believe is the worst case of oil-related contamination on Earth. I have had my own firsthand experience with the self absorbed and mostly indifferent oil industry in my own life; we had a property that was contaminated by big oil and basically lost our fight. I know how hard it is to battle these powerful people.

But here’s the story on this current battle. While drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon from 1964 to 1990, Texaco, which is now called Chevron, deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater, spilled roughly 17 million gallons of crude oil, and left hazardous waste in hundreds of open pits dug out of the forest floor. The company selfishly resorted to substandard practices that were obsolete in order to increase its profit margin by a mere $3 per barrel of crude. Of course, the local people and ecosystems paid the price instead, and at a much higher price than $3.00. In fact, many have paid with their lives and their livelihoods. But, good for them, they have been fighting back and this is where the film comes in.

 

How To Save Energy and Money Everyday

Everyday choices are the foundation of our energy usage and financial expenses. You already know that if you make wise choices in the grocery or department store you can save money and get what you want. The same is true of energy choices. You don’t have to go without air in the heat of the day or stop using your dryer. Although cutting back when it’s least painful is not a bad idea. If you are motivated to get this done, then I have some suggestions.

The government website, Energy Awareness, offers a number of materials and resources. When you go there, ask for the CD Rom “Power Kit of Energy Awareness Resources,” which is instructional and helpful in the real world. They also offer a book, “Go Green”, which gives some great ideas for saving energy.

In a nutshell, here’s what they suggest (with a few of my own thrown in):

 

Are You Breathing Biofuel?

I know this sounds absolutely crazy and I admit I do a lot of posts on various types of new fuels, but this one is a fact and I find it fascinating. Actually, I find all these fuel ideas fascinating. Imagine that we’ve been surrounded by energy in every form since time began and we got focused on the one type of energy that wreaks havoc on the atmosphere. I mean, seriously. Doesn’t that sound like the rhythm of human life in general? I mean, it sounds a lot like the big fat lampoon my own life often turns out to be.

But here’s the real laugh after all the other laughing is done. The Liverpool John Lennon Airport, in the city of Liverpool, in stodgy old England, will soon become the world’s first airport to try a revolutionary piece of technology: recycling the breath of passengers into biofuel. And I don’t mean they have to be drunk first. Oh, I know, not funny. But heck, this seems a little flaky to me.. and yet, it’s not. It’s a viable option that looks fantastic when considered carefully.

This new contraption, called the Eco-box, developed by Origo Industries, will capture the CO2 exhaled by airport travelers and convert it to fuel to be used in the airport’s diesel vehicles and heating system. In fact, the Eco-box was originally designed to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles. It works by capturing carbon emissions through a photo-bioreactor as a feedstock for algae, producing biomass that is then refined and converted to green fuel. Aha, Algae again. One of my favorites. How cool.

 

Algal-Based Renewable Diesel

Here it comes! The first Jeep, to my knowledge anyways, to be run on algae. Actually, it runs on what is called “algal-based renewable diesel” under the trade name, SoladieselRDTM. They recently showed the new car at CALSTART Target 2030: Solutions to Secure California’s Transportation Energy and Climate Future, which was held in Sacramento, California in January.

This very cool new fuel is a drop in replacement for ordinary petrodiesel (also known as #2 Diesel). It has already passed the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D975 Specifications. I know, everything technical is a mouthful and some of us more technically challenged individuals find it hard to even say these words, much less make sense of them. But, according to Biofuel Daily: “both SoladieselRDTM and SoladieselBDTM, a FAME biodiesel that meets the (ASTM) D6751 specifications, have been successfully road tested unblended (100 percent) for thousands of miles in standard unmodified diesel engines”.

The Jeep was available for rides throughout the event and although I don’t know anybody personally that went to the event, all reports have been positive. Jeep lovers, like me, are excited about the prospects.

Quoting Jonathan Wolfson, co-founder and CEO of Solazyme, Biofuel Daily reported that “with new elected officials across the country, now is an ideal time for events like CALSTART Target 2030, which look at energy solutions that will serve us in the long term” The article went to add that Mr. Wolfson is
“proud to be in California, a state known for leading energy policy” and that he is also “pleased to showcase our solutions which include clean and scalable renewable fuels derived from algae that meet today’s demanding performance and regulatory specifications, while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint versus petroleum based-fuels.”

I know all of this sounds like a sales pitch but I am hoping that algae finds a real future on the biofuels scene. It is both abundant and sustainable and I can show you where you can get a load of it right now! (LOL). And, according to Solazyme, their unique process grows algae in the dark using standard industrial bioproduction equipment. This makes it affordable and easily to start, without needing special equipment or for current equipment to be retooled, a problem with many other biofuels. The algae are fed a variety of non-food and waste biomass materials including cellulosic biomass and low-grade glycerol, which makes their growth and sustainability affordable. It also allows the company to produce oil with a very low carbon footprint and to do it efficiently in a controlled environment.

Solazyme’s fuels have already been road tested in unmodified vehicles for thousands of miles. The results, from what I have seen so far, are positive. If my readers have other information, I would like to know it so feel free to leave a comment. FYI: This company has also recently announced that it has produced the world’s first algal based jet fuel which met all eleven of the tested key criteria for (ASTM) D1655 (Jet A-1). This is another huge milestone in the making of viable bio fuels that can energize our future into the next century! Additionally, Solazyme’s process is the very first bridge from non-food carbohydrates and certain industrial waste streams to edible oils and oleochemicals. Now, think about that!

Technorati Tags: algae, alternative energy, biofuels, carbon, eco, energy, fuel, gas, green, renewable, sustainable

 

Algae: The New Biofuel

I know it seems like I’m dedicating January to posts about the uses for algae but so much is happening in this sector, it’s hard to ignore. Besides the fascinating news that scientists now believe that algae production in the oceans will help alleviate the carbon explosion, I know hear about big advances in algae production as a biofuel. It seems that OriginOil has announced the successful automation of its Helix BioReactor system. The Helix is a groundbreaking technology that optimizes algae growth, making large-scale commercial algae production scalable.

The design of the Helix BioReactor utilizes low-energy lights arranged in a helix pattern combined with a rotating vertical shaft design, which allows algae culture to replicate exponentially within a smaller installation footprint. This system allows the replication of algae on a large scale basis, making it a viable source of fuel for all purposes, including automobiles. Now, the automation of this system is a key step towards continuous algae production, taking the work out of human hands and onto equipment that can run 24/7. Talk about reduction in manpower and labor costs! Like all automation, this process allows greater control of the growth environment and efficient, low-cost industrial algae production. It means that algae can be produced in jaw dropping tonnage and done so cheaply.

 

Compressed Air Powered Cars

India’s largest automaker has announced that it will begin producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons, instead of gasoline. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars hit Indian streets in August of 2008. Here is a picture of their model:

The $12,700 CityCAT, pictured above, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units. And you can imagine how cheap compressed air is actually going to be. According to the manufacturer, MDI, it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours. This last perk is the best. You can just fill up your car while it’s in the garage. Cool.

The problem with this item is that we won’t see it here. It has an all glue construction that won’t pass our stringent regulations for automobiles. Also, if you take a look at it you can see that it’s not the kind of thing that Americans are going to get worked up about. Even so, you can’t write it off as insignificant considering that MDI has signed deals to bring this vehicle to 12 countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa. It is ideally suited to these smaller countries where cars don’t take as much of a beating.

 

Great New Idea: Scum For Oil!

Some folks are now investigating the possibility of using Pond scum, commonly known as Algae, as a natural energy source. Now, I had Aquariums and I spent endless hours killing this stuff with bleach and then rinsing for endless hours to rid the fish tank of bleach residue. A big process to rid the tank of the invasive scum and now I find out I might have had a valuable resource?

This whole thing spawns, no doubt, from the big energy crunch that has everybody scrambling for alternatives. Most of the interest, as you probably know, has centered on biofuels like corn, soybeans, switch grass and other vegetable sources. Because oil prices are now so high, vegetable sources, which used to be considered pricey in comparison, now look financially feasible. Algae, which basically cost nothing and has similar properties to other vegetable sources, is an interesting prospect.

 

Solar Energy Can Help You Save on Your Power Bill

Recently on Channel 8 Eyewitness News, Las Vegas:

Updated: June 17, 2008 08:43 PM

Sen. Harry Reid wants the rest of the country to adopt Nevada’s requirement that 20- percent of its power come from renewable energy by the year 2015.

The Nevada Democrat says that even if such a national requirement was pushed back to 2020, it would create at least 185,000 new jobs and save consumers more than $10 billion in lower electricity and natural gas bills.

One of those renewable energy resources is the sun, and we have plenty of it. There are homes in Las Vegas that use it to power their homes using solar energy panels.

Nevada Power says it saves them a ton of money, but why isn’t everyone doing it? …



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