Green Daily

Great, just when we're really getting gung ho about an issue, researchers have to go and squash our excitement.

This time, it's corn ethanol, and apparently it's not as great as everyone thought it was.

In the study, published in Science magazine, researchers affiliated with Iowa State University claim that as we rush to plant corn to use as alternative fuel, we are uprooting other trees and crops that are absorbing carbon in the atmosphere. So, more corn means fewer trees and grasslands, releasing the carbon they were storing into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming in the process.

Specifically, the scientists say, instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent as previously anticipated, corn will increase the emissions by 93 percent, over 30 years. (Similarly, switchgrass, another viable fuel source, will increase emissions by 50 percent over 30 years, they say).

Their solution? We should rely more on alternative fuels made from say, garbage, which doesn't require chopping down acres of trees and grasslands.

But, like anything else, garbage as energy has its downsides, too. It's site-specific (every landfill is different in size and in what it contains); it generates pollution in its production methods; and some naysayers say it could take away the incentive to recycle.

Once again, we are at a crossroads. We need to work quickly in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oils and try to avoid further damage to our planet. But if we work too quickly, as the researchers warn against, we could be doing just as much harm in the long run.

Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, known for his size 23 feet, is working on a carbon footprint to match. The Detroit Free Press says that the athlete, actor and author has filed a financial statement for his divorce case in which he claims to spend $23,000 a month at gas stations. Now even accounting for the occasional Big Gulp, that's still about 7,000 gallons of gas, which even in a vehicle with utterly dismal mileage should still allow him to drive 112,000 miles a month, or 3700 miles per day. Assuming, therefore, that Shaq doesn't sleep and has no other activities on his agenda, that means his life consists of driving around continuously at an average speed of 154 miles per hour. Hey, what's that blur with the huge feet? Don't worry kids, that's just Shaq, doing his global warming thing...

[via treehugger]

A grad student at the University of Arkansas has succeeded in converting low-grade chicken fat ("donated by Tyson Foods") into biodiesel, using methanol. This advance means that the process of making biofuel could become cheaper - currently, the base materials used to create it are too expensive to make it a viable option for everyday use.

If this process can be successfully converted to a large-scale operation, and chicken fat from factory farms finds a place at the pump, animal-loving enviros are going to face a real dilemma: use biofuel, which may or may not come from chickens which lived short, tortured, unnatural lives? Or use petrofuel, which creates global warming? A Catch-22, indeed!

The diaper debate still looms large for new parents, causing much green guilt for those that use disposables.

But how about if you could transform your baby's dirty disposables into a synthetic diesel fuel? AMEC, of Quebec, Canada, has been working to build a facility near Montreal that will use a process known a pyrolysis to convert diapers to diesel. The process will involve heating up the diapers up to 600C without air, breaking the carbon chains down into the fuels.


One of the challenges with this process that the input is can be so variable, particularly with regular trash. Not so with diapers which are "a very consistent input" according to an engineer on the project.

The initial plan is convert abut 30,000 tons of diapers, or about one-quarter of the diapers that end up in landfills in Quebec yearly.

[Via Ecochild's Play]

While on the one hand, the environmental movement is based on a fair amount of doom and gloom, the flip side is that very intelligent people are working around the clock to come up with clever ways to clean up the mess we've made. EcoGeek created a list of 7 of the most exciting technological advancements that may help the planet in 2008, all of which sound good to me.

1. Cellulosic Ethanol: while corn ethanol is bad news, biofuel made from waste should make major advances in the year ahead.
2. LEDs: an even more efficient way to light your home.
3. Electric Cars: despite their shortcomings, these uber-efficient vehicles continue to enter the mainstream.
4. The end of CDs: because seriously -- they're expensive, wasteful, and totally pointless.
5. Book readers: why own books when you experience the beauty of the Kindle?
6. Solar gets cheaper: finally, normal people will be able to power their homes (at least in part) with the sun's energy.
7. Small cars will come on strong: with rising gas prices, this may be the year that Americans accept that we can't drive enormous gas guzzlers anymore.

Check out the EcoGeek post for a more in-depth discussion.

Air travel is a big source of pollution, which is a shame because until the CIA reverse-engineer those Roswell saucers it's really the best way we've got of getting places fast. However, even if we can't eliminate some of the unfriendlier eco-effects of fossil-fueled jets, there are new ways to minimize the impact.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) recently tried the first European commercial transatlantic green landing approach, designed to reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions. How did they do it? Well, according to Flight Global they "employed the aircraft's flight management system (FMS) to fly the aircraft at idle thrust from top of descent through to the final stage of the approach" and then "applied four-dimensional trajectory technology, exchanging data with air traffic control which managed traffic flow using precision positioning and time guidance."

Sounds obvious, right? Anyway, the net effect is that it saves about y 150kg (330lb) of fuel and 470kg of carbon dioxide per landing. Some day we'll all land this way.

via Good Clean Tech

While we've been running around trying to figure out how to save the planet, it turns out some scientists have figured out how the planet can save us. And when I say the planet, I mean the ground beneath our feet.

Living Power Systems has developed a commercial microbial fuel cell similar to the plant-powered fuel cell we told you about a fee weeks back. But the Living Power Systems fuel cell runs on dirt. Or rather, it generates electricity from bacteria in dirt.

If you think back to your third grad science class, you'll probably remember that you can generate electricity from a potato or other living material. But you generally get such a small amount of energy that it's not really worth the trouble to harvest it. Living Power Systems' technique is exciting because it actually makes dirt power usable. I'm not saying you'll be able to power your laptop computer with dirt anytime soon, but home lighting and cellphone chargers aren't out of the question.
Microbial Fuel Cell technology will probably be deployed first in developing nations where access to electricity is a bit more inconsistent and unpredictable than in say, New York City. But as the technology gets more and more refined, we could see dirt powered cellphone towers or even homes.

[via Earth2Tech]

Those whacky MIT kids harvest energy from the darndest things. First they go and figure out how to generate electricity by walking around, and now another group of MIT students have developed a method for turning plant waste into power.

The team of students developed a microbial fuel cell they call the BioVolt as part of the MADMEC contest. The BioVolt isn't really intended for use in developed countries, but could be helpful in developing nations where citizens rely on cellphones for communication but often don't have access to the electricity they need to charge the batteries.

The BioVolt team is applying for patents so they won't say exactly what materials are used in the fuel cell, but they say it should be possible to produce the cells for about $2 each.

[via New Scientist]

Maybe you're not ready to take the plunge and buy a hybrid car. That's cool, I'm not judging you. But if you are in the market for a new vehicle, do the world (and your wallet) a favor by steering clear of the cars on this list of Top 10 Gas Guzzlers -- comprised by Ben Lane, director of the green car buying website, WhatGreenCar?.

1. Lamborghini Murcielago 147 Coupe (worst offender)
2. Cadillac SRX 4.6 V8 (automatic)
3. Hummer H3 3.7 L5 (automatic)
4. BMW M5 Touring
5. Audi A8 W12 quattro Tiptronic Sport
6. Vauxhall Vectra 2.8i V6 Turbo (automatic)
7. Saab 9-3 Saloon 2.8 TS (automatic)
8. VW Golf 3.2 V6 4Motion
9.Mazda 3 2.3 Turbo MPS
10. Mini Cooper S Convertible (automatic)

It worth noting that it's important to pay attention to the model, as, even within a given range of vehicles, different models will vary significantly on how much they impact the environment. For instance, while the Mini-Cooper S Convertible makes the list, the diesel Mini Cooper D is one of the greenest cars of its class. So don't go thinking that every VW is off-limits just because the Golf 3.2 V6 4Motion made the list, or that you can never drive a Mazda again.

For more information on why these cars were chosen, check out the full article in the UK's Guardian newspaper.

Normally biofuel is made from corn and soybeans, but some farmers in Santa Cruz, CA are saying they have a better option -- mustard seed.

While, on the one hand, it takes an enormous amount of mustard seed to create even a small amount of biofuel (10 tons per every 800 gallons), mustard seed is also easier to refine than soybean or corn -- making it a more environmentally-friendly option.

Additionally, because soybeans and corn have to be shipped into Santa Cruz from the Midwest (which is both expensive and uses energy), companies in that area will be able to save money by creating their biofuel from the locally-grown mustard seed.

This still doesn't mean that biofuel is the most promising alternative energy source for our vehicles, but a more efficient refining process might make this a more viable long-term option.

It takes fuel to make things run. For people, that fuel is food. For cars, it's gasoline. But the problem with fuels like oil, coal, and even ethanol is that emissions contribute to global warming, and in most cases there's a limited supply of fuel available.

But what if you could run a car using one of the most plentiful substances on earth: salt water. John Kanzius of Erie, Pennsylvania was conducting experiments with radio frequencies and water in a quest to find a cure for cancer. What he accidentally discovered was a way to burn water. Well, not exactly.

What happens when you pass certain radio frequencies through salt water is that hydrogen is released and once you light the gas on fire, it burns continuously as long as you continue bombarding it with radio frequencies. Several groups of scientists have reproduced Kanzius's results in laboratory settings. But as neat as this is, it's not clear whether he's discovered a cure for the common fuel. Nobody's determined just how efficient an energy source salt water is yet. In other words, do you use more energy creating the flame than you generate from it?

Check out a video demonstration after the jump.

[via Engadget]