Toyota apparently intends to follow the U.S. car manufacturers flex-fuel lead and start producing cars that can run on ethanol. According to business reports out this week which site “an unnamed company executive” and a Toyota spokesperson, Toyota “acknowledged that Japan’s top auto maker was developing flexible-fuel vehicles, mainly for the ethanol-smitten Brazilian market for starters, but declined to disclose …
New Server
We are back in the saddle again today after temporarily losing our log-in capabilities during a server changeover this week. Now we can log in, but it lost a few posts in the process. I may or may not be able to re-create them – if I can figure out what they were – but I am just happy that …
Bio-Oil could be new Black Gold
Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, Then one day he was shootin at some food, And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea. According to this story on Wired News, bio-oil could be the new crude – “a thick …
Domestic Fuel High
Here’s the latest post from contributing blogger JW: You’ve seen here that switchgrass holds enormous potential as a domestic fuel. It’s not the only kind of grass that does. Hemp is another native plant that can produce both ethanol and biodiesel. Industrial hemp contains less than 3% of the physcoactive properties of it’s popular cousin, marijuana. There are political and …
Grass Makes Gas
The World Energy Monthly Review, which “offers a no-holds-barred perspective, timely information and in-depth analysis on energy issues,” according to the publication’s Business Wire press release, takes a look at using switchgrass to make ethanol in its March issue. Author Brian K. Tully compares switchgrass as an ethanol source to both corn and sugar cane and says “it looks like …
Final Call For Video iPod Contest Entries
This is your final reminder to get your entry in for the New Holland “Down on the Farm” Classic iPod Keepsake Contest. It’s easy and the odds are better than the lottery. We’ve had a lot of entries so far but you’ve still got until the end of the day March 15. Don’t wait.
Squeezing More Ethanol From Corn
Researchers at Iowa State University are working to squeeze every available drop of ethanol from a corn kernel. According to this UPI story, “they are working to create chemical catalysts that would increase the yield of fermentable sugars from corn.” The research is supported by grants of $305,000 from the National Science Foundation, $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture …
The Wild Green Yonder?
Bio jet fuel could be the next frontier for domestic fuel. I had to do some hunting to find the original article on the research being done at the University of North Dakota to make jet fuel from crop oils, but I finally found it in the Grand Forks Herald. According to the story, the military is very interested “because it helps …
Petroleum From Poop – Definitely Crude
Illinois is using pigs, the Japanese are using cows – both are trying to make gas out of manure.
More on Private Investment in Renewables
The Carlyle Group, one of the biggest and baddest private equity firms in the world, “is set to boost its investment in the renewable energy sector,” according to Reuters.