Jennifer Weeks’s Posts

• Professor Cellulose

  Biofuel pioneer Lee Lynd points the way toward a "carbohydrate economy" 2

  Posted 2 years, 11 months ago

  Well before cellulosic ethanol became the hot new fuel, Lee Lynd was immersed in it. Since 1987, the engineering professor has been leading a major academic study group on cellulosic ethanol from his perch at Dartmouth. Before that, he even wrote his undergraduate honors thesis on it.

  

  Lee Lynd.

  Photo: Joseph Mehling/Dartmouth

  More recently, Lynd has been putting his technical expertise to the test in the marketplace. In 2005, he cofounded Mascoma, a cellulosic biomass-to-ethanol company that has just completed its second round of venture funding with support from… Read More

• Are We There Yet?

  Not quite, but cellulosic ethanol may be coming sooner than you think 12

  Posted 2 years, 11 months ago

  Even as organizations ranging from Consumers Union to the Cato Institute cast doubt on the environmental value of corn-based ethanol, facilities designed to make it are popping up by the dozen throughout the Midwest. Meanwhile, cellulosic ethanol -- which can be derived from just about any plant matter -- draws near-unanimous environmental raves. Trouble is, the technology required for producing it economically still hasn't quite emerged. Thus, like the kid in the back seat on a long family car trip, investors and other interested observers have for years been demanding to know, "When are we gonna… Read More

• Mixed Company

  Two books explore the perks and perils of corporate social responsibility 3

  Posted 3 years, 11 months ago

  Coturri Winery in Sonoma County, Calif., could be a poster child for socially responsible business: The family-owned company farms organically, produces critically praised wines on a small scale, supports a local moratorium on genetically modified plants, and donates to nonprofit causes. But according to the Natural Capital Institute's responsible-investing database, Coturri wouldn't pass muster with at least 45 socially responsible funds, because these plans screen out companies that produce alcohol.

  

  Big chairs to fill.

  Many of the same funds hold shares in energy companies like BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips,… Read More

• Just a Viscous Rumor

  Kenneth Deffeyes' Beyond Oil forecasts a fast-approaching petroleum peak 2

  Posted 4 years, 5 months ago

  Mark your calendar: annual world production of crude oil will reach its peak this coming Thanksgiving, Nov. 24. At least, that's the tongue-half-in-cheek prediction of Kenneth Deffeyes, who starts his latest book by suggesting that readers stop and give thanks for a century of plentiful supplies.

• Political Science

  An interview with Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists 1

  Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

  The Bush administration is gearing up to push for second-term priorities -- including an energy bill, power-plant emissions legislation, and amendments to the Endangered Species Act -- under a cloud of accusations that it has manipulated federal scientific research on these and other issues to support its agenda. These arguments have been voiced most prominently by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonpartisan advocacy organization that issued a statement in 2004 charging the White House with "[m]isrepresenting and suppressing scientific knowledge for political purposes."

  

  Kevin Knobloch.

  Photo: Richard Howard.

  … Read More

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