Grist | Topics | 265 Results

RESULTS		Results 126 – 150 of 265
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
The genius behind better biofuel a man with a microbe on mission	Maywa Montenegro	19 Aug 2007	Gristmill
At 29, David Berry MD, a PhD, and now, title as Young Innovator of the Year in MIT's Tech Review magazine. So what makes Berry so hot? He's the brains behind LS9, the California-based company working on "renewable petroleum."Berry's goal was nothing less than "to develop a novel and far-reaching solution to the energy problem." In collaboration with genomics researcher George Church of Harvard Medical School and plant biologist Chris Some ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, innovation (all these topics)

BioWillie pens a biodiesel book	Sarah van Schagen	19 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Willie Nelson is talking about biodiesel again. This time in book form, and the result is On the Clean Road Again: Biodiesel and the Future of the Family Farm. The 90-some-page pocket-size book (it's like a li'l Willie you can carry with you everywhere!) is divided into two parts: the past (or the history of petroleum) and the future (in Willie's world, that's biodiesel). Thankfully there's also an afterword to talk about the other future ... you know, wind and ...
Topics: biofuels, books, celebrity, energy, green living, oil (all these topics)

Brazil be dammed Each country will have to find its own way to carbon neutrality	biodiversivist	17 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Thankfully the lay press has finally stopped calling for the United States to follow Brazil's lead for energy independence. The blogosphere took over where the lay press left off on that misdiagnosis, although I still hear the echo once in a while. Turns out, Brazil may be heading for an energy crunch of its own. According to this article in the Economist, Brazil may be experiencing blackouts within five years if the economy grows as predicted. Because they are f ...
Topics: biofuels, Brazil, energy, ethanol, Sweden (all these topics)

15 Green Cars		13 Aug 2007	Grist Feature
The greenest way to get around? On your own two feet, of course, or on a bicycle, unicycle, skateboard, or public transit. But if you still find yourself in need of a car, these are some of the best green options on the market. If we zoomed right past your favorite eco-friendly auto, tell us in the comments section at the bottom of the page. Courtesy of Toyota via Wieck Toyota Prius The best-selling Prius is synonymous with "hybrid" in many minds, and with ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, electric vehicles, energy, hybrids, innovation, lists, Prius (all these topics)

Vehicle of change The Big Green Bus rides again	Sarah van Schagen	10 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Witness the Big Green Bus. Hard to miss, even amid the glaring sun and smog at Bonnaroo. I happened upon the crew of Dartmouth students at the festival last year and got just a few minutes to chat with them. This year, I sought them out on the festival grounds and then met up with them again when they rolled into Seattle last weekend.During their 12,000-mile trek this summer, the Big Green Busriders are stopping at various events and landmarks ranging from a Doobie ...
Topics: biofuels, education, energy, green living, innovation, placemaking, tech (all these topics)

Biofuels: politically effed, technologically still promising Don't let the one color your feelings on the other	David Roberts	09 Aug 2007	Gristmill
I don't think it's politically or substantively wise to set ourselves up as dogmatically opposed to any given source of energy (except coal!) (just kidding!) (only not!). The key is to set up low-carbon standards and benchmarks and say, "if you can meet these without ginormous subsidies, have at it." This is true of biofuels as well. We all agree that politically speaking, biofuels are a freaking mess -- a big subsidy-ridden boondoggle that's doing great ha ...
Topics: biofuels, energy (all these topics)

Biofuels fueling conflict The need for good research	Geoff Dabelko	07 Aug 2007	Gristmill
The rush to put biofuels in our gas tanks has given people analyzing natural resources and conflict some work to do. How are European and American policy mandates to dramatically increase the use of biofuels affecting the places that grow biofuel inputs? It seems fair to say that little consideration has been given to the potential conflict and equity impacts of this surge in demand for palm oil, sugarcane, and corn. After President Bush's 2007 State of the Union ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, Indonesia, international politics, politics (all these topics)

Q: What's corn ethanol's footprint? A: The cropland area of several states	Ron Steenblik	02 Aug 2007	Gristmill
According to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), U.S. farmers planted 92.9 million acres of corn in 2007, exceeding last year's corn area by 19 percent and surpassing the USDA's earlier projection (in March) by 3 percent. To put that number into perspective, it is equal to the total arable (cropland) area of four of the nation's leading farm states: Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and Oklahoma. The Food ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Cellulosic beef It's a thing	David Roberts	02 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Tom Konrad ponders the ethanol situation and wonders: what if, instead of feeding most of our corn to cows, and then growing a bunch of grass to make cellulosic ethanol, we use all the cow corn for ethanol and feed the grass to the cows? Gimmicky hook, but quite a fact-filled, educational article.
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol, food (all these topics)

Jeff Goodell doesn't like ethanol His new piece says so in downright shrill terms	David Roberts	01 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Jeff Goodell (see Grist interview) is apparently incapable of writing anything I don't love. The latest is a piece in Rolling Stone called "Ethanol Scam." It's downright shrill! Here's what Goodell has to say about the ethanol hype: This is not just hype -- it's dangerous, delusional bullshit. Ethanol doesn't burn cleaner than gasoline, nor is it cheaper. Our current ethanol production represents only 3.5 percent of our gasoline consumption -- yet it con ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

For peat's sake, stop the palm oil madness It's not a 'sustainable' biofuel	Joseph Romm	31 Jul 2007	Gristmill
So Europeans are buying Indonesian palm oil as a 'sustainable' biofuel, but it isn't sustainable, as we've noted before. The tragedy continues: Palm oil companies are burning peat forests to clear land for plantations in Indonesia's Riau province, despite government pledges to end forest fires ... Blazes have started flaring again since the end of June with the start of the dry season. How a big deal is this? As The New York Times put it earlier ...
Topics: biofuels, climate, deforestation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, logging (all these topics)

Phin dephends (ha ha!) corn Not very well	David Roberts	30 Jul 2007	Gristmill
As reaction to Sarah's post showed (rather more rudely than strictly necessary, I might add), Grist readers are not big fans of "Project Phin," the online video series launched by the Center for American Progress to promote flex fuels -- i.e., ethanol. Ben Affleck dressed as a corn cob proved particularly irksome. CAP clearly got some outraged emails about the use of corn in the campaign (they sure got one from me). If you're interested, Phin himself has p ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

LS9 promises 'renewable petroleum' New company says it can make better, cheaper biofuels	David Roberts	30 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Picture a liquid fuel that is derived from the same feedstocks as cellulosic ethanol (switchgrass, sugar cane, corn stover) but contains 50% more energetic content and is made via a process that uses 65% less energy. Unlike cellulosic ethanol, this fuel can be distributed via existing oil pipelines rather than gas-hogging trucks and trains, dispensed through existing gas stations rather than specialized pumps, and used in existing engines rather than modified " ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, GMOs, innovation (all these topics)

Jack Bauer is going to stop global warming The TV show 24 will reduce its carbon footprint	Chris Schults	27 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Fans of 24 know that if there's one person that can stop climate change, it ain't Al Gore. It's Jack Bauer. If you are not familiar with Jack, here are some of his qualifications from the site Random Jack Bauer Facts: There are two hands that can beat a royal flush. Jack Bauer's right hand and Jack Bauer's left hand. Most people would need months to recover from 20 months of Chinese interrogation. Jack Bauer needs a shower, a shave and a change of clothes. ...
Topics: biofuels, carbon offsets, climate, climate change mitigation, ecological footprint, energy, green living, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy, TV (all these topics)

All You Need Is Lovins A conversation with energy guru Amory Lovins	David Roberts	26 Jul 2007	Main Dish
If politicians think in sound bites and intellectuals think in sentences, Amory Lovins thinks in white papers. His speech is studded with pregnant pauses -- you can almost hear the whirs and clicks as an enormous mass of statistics, analyses, and aphorisms is trimmed and edited into a manageable length. I've talked to experts who struggle to substantiate their answers. Lovins struggles to leave thing ...
Topics: Amory Lovins, biofuels, cars, coal, Congress, energy, energy efficiency, ethanol, fuel efficiency, Iraq, renewable energy (all these topics)

My product rules!	David Roberts	23 Jul 2007	Gristmill
So, I'm reading this incredibly weak defense of corn ethanol, and I'm thinking, "who the hell would put their name on this swill?" Then I get to the bottom: Robert Gallant is president and chief executive officer of GreenField Ethanol, Canada's largest ethanol producer. Ah.
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics)

Stars align to fight for flex fuels Watch six episodes of 'Project Phin'	Sarah van Schagen	20 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Would seeing Ben Affleck dressed as an ear of corn make you more or less interested in learning about ethanol and supporting legislation requiring service stations to sell it?It's an interesting question -- especially without context -- but one the Center for American Progress is eager to investigate. This week, they launched an online video series, "Project Phin," to address energy issues -- specifically flex fuels. The six-episode series is being releas ...
Topics: biofuels, celebrity, energy, ethanol, green living, video (all these topics)

Precaution? Are you mad? Ignore those flashing lights! Full speed ahead!!	JMG	19 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Yawn. Another story about the way production of biofuels (inferior substitutes for a commodity that is wasted in gargantuan quantities daily) consumes many times their weight in water, a truly vital liquid. The money quote, the perfect encapsulation of all that is stupid, is here: State Sen. David Johnson, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he will not support regulations on how ethanol facilities use water until he sees proof that Iowa' ...
Topics: biofuels, energy (all these topics)

Deader Than Ever Biofuels could contribute to historically big Gulf of Mexico dead zone		18 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
Deader Than Ever Biofuels could contribute to historically big Gulf of Mexico dead zone Still think corn-based biofuels will save the world? Here's another piece of the no-they-won't puzzle: Researchers say more intensive farming of more land in the Midwestern U.S. -- in part a result of the push for more corn production -- could contribute to the largest-ever "dead zone" in the Gulf of Me ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, Mississippi River, news (all these topics)

Replacing Oil With, Uh, More Oil National Petroleum Council pictures life after conventional crude		17 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
Replacing Oil With, Uh, More Oil National Petroleum Council pictures life after conventional crude There's a new voice in the crowd shrieking about waning oil supplies: the National Petroleum Council. OK, they're not actually shrieking. But in a draft report released this week, the group -- headed by former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond -- confirms that conventional crude oil supplies ...
Topics: Big Oil, biofuels, coal, energy, energy efficiency, natural gas, news, oil (all these topics)

When it rains, it pours -- out the energy Using molten salt to store solar energy	JMG	16 Jul 2007	Gristmill
We've gone round and round on various ways to store energy from intermittent suppliers like solar and wind before ... The always excellent Robert Rapier has this interesting squib on using molten salt to store thermal energy from solar in his R-Squared Energy Blog.* (While you're there you should check out his terrific posts on ethanol and biodiesel. He is in the interesting position of being a real advocate who can't ignore how oversold they are.)Engineer 'humor' alert ...*
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol, renewable energy, solar thermal power (all these topics)

Sushi powered Japan experiments with seaweed as biofuel	Jerome Woody	13 Jul 2007	Gristmill
As birthplace of the Kyoto Protocol, Japan is one of the pioneering countries in climate change policy and research. In 1990, Japan pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 6 percent by 2012. One of their proposed stratagems for meeting this goal is to replace the 132 million gallons of gasoline that Japan car drivers use with a biofuel option. Domestic biofuel production has always been difficult in land-lacking Japan, which in the past had to consider importing bi ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, ethanol, innovation, Japan (all these topics)

Britain's new McFleet McDonald's trucks to use french fry grease as fuel	Jessica Tzerman	11 Jul 2007	Gristmill
On July 2, McDonald's announced plans to convert its entire British fleet of 155 delivery trucks, which consume about 6 million liters (a little less than 1.6 million gallons) of diesel per year, to run on cooking oil from Britain's 1,200 McDonald's restaurants. The company pledged to make the switch within the next twelve months. In an apparently unintentionally ironic statement, VP John Howe said the fuel wouldn't smell like french fries -- though, he remarked, the ...
Topics: biofuels, business, energy, greening biz operations, United Kingdom (all these topics)

Cheap biofuels, or dear pasta? Globalization of the fuel vs. fuel debate	Ron Steenblik	10 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Last Thursday, Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, announced substantial subsidies to boost Canada's production of biofuels. Under its 'ecoENERGY for Biofuels' program, the government will provide up to C$ 1.5 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) in the form of incentives over nine years to producers of renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel. 'With leading-edge technology and abundant supplies of grains, oilseeds, and other feedstocks, Canada is uniquely pos ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, Canada, energy, food, Italy (all these topics)

We Always Thought It Was Industrial Strength McDonald's to power U.K. delivery fleet with its own grease		02 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
We Always Thought It Was Industrial Strength McDonald's to power U.K. delivery fleet with its own grease Proving once again that everything's cooler in Europe, McDonald's has announced that it will run all its U.K. delivery vehicles on biodiesel -- from its own greasy grills! The chain will convert the 155-lorry fleet to a mix of 85 percent fry grease and 15 percent rapeseed oil by next year, a ...
Topics: biofuels, business, energy, food, greenish companies, news (all these topics)

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