The Diesel Tree: Grow Your Own Oil

[ From Treehugger ]
You’d have thought that with 20,000 stories in our archives we might’ve at least mentioned this in passing. But it seems not. Australian farmers in the wet tropical region of North Queensland have bought over 20,000 of these so-called diesel trees. The intention is that in 15 or so years they’ll have their very own oil mine growing on their farmland.

Because, the Brazilian Copaifera langsdorfii, to use its botanical name, can be tapped not unlike a rubber tree, but instead of yielding rubbery latex it gives up a natural diesel. According to the nurseryman selling the trees, one hectare will yield about 12,000 litres annually. *

Once filtered—no complex refining required, apparently—it can be placed straight into a diesel tractor or truck. We read that a single Copaifera langsdorfii will continue to produce fuel oil for an impressive 70 years, with the only negative being that its particular form of diesel needs to be used within three months of extraction.

Oddly this is not news. The Center for New Crops & Plant Products, at Purdue University reports that it was first reported to the western world as far back as 1625. They observe reports from 1979 saying “Natives … drill a 5 centimeter hole into the 1-meter thick trunk and put a bung into it. Every 6 months or so, they remove the bung and collect 15 to 20 liters of the hydrocarbon.” The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation noted in a paper at the Eleventh world forestry congress back in 1997 on the topic of tree oil for cars that “… the potential of other alternatives such as the Amazon Copaifera langsdorfii need to be investigated.”

Copaifera langsdorfii can grow trunks 30 metres tall and store the oil in their unusual capilliary structure. The above image is a transverse section of the tree’s cells.

However Purdue University record that “An acre of 100 mature trees might thus be able to produce 25 barrels of fuel per year.”

Via ABC and Sydney Morning Herald

Image found at: ‘Richter, H.G., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2000 onwards. Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Version: 16th April 2006. http://delta-intkey.com’

* I used to convert metric measurements in American imperial but when I discovered that the only countries that have failed to embrace metric are the USA, Liberia and Burma I stopped.

Eco-Prison

kym hopes that this will become a rule rather than an exception . . .
wouldn’t it be nice if our prisons in South Africa could miraculously be self sufficient AND actulaly rehabilitate offenders.

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Here’s an island prison that’s about as distant in principle from Alcatraz as is it in location. Bastoey Island, about 45 miles south of Oslo, hosts some of Norway’s worst offenders in what is effectively an eco-village working holiday camp.

Instead of the traditional barred cells, prisoners, including murderers, rapists, drug dealers and thieves, live in separate, unlocked houses on the island. Although only one and a half miles from the mainland, prisoners are reluctant to escape, lest they get returned to the typical maximum security unit and lose the privilege of serving their time where they’re learning valuable skills, as well as gaining respect for themselves, each other, and the environment.

The island prison uses solar panels, is almost self-sufficient with food from its own organic garden, and operates a strict recycling system. This is an interesting experiment in eco-therapy — where reconnecting offenders with nature may well also help develop a noble sense of purpose, that in turn helps them reconnect with society.

[ Source: celsias ]

Travelling into the Future

The Energy Commissioner of the European Union Andris Piebalgs says Global oil prices may reach $200 per barrel in three years.
“When I arrived at the European Commission in 2004, a barrel of oil cost $52. It has doubled in three years. We can’t rule out that in 2011 it will be at $200,” Piebalgs told business daily El Economista. (Source: Press TV)

With oil prices soaring to heights previously regarded as a joke, a few “new” technologies are moving into the spotlight, offering alternatives to the traditional (old-fashioned?), fuel-guzzling (planet-wrecking) internal combustion engine.

The Air Car

Imagine a car that needs only air and emits only pure air out if its tailpipe! No longer are air cars in the world of our imaginations - the MDI Air Car is in production. Built with the high performance Compressed Air Technology (C.A.T.) developed by Formula One race car engineer Guy Negre, the Air Car is the major first step towards his ultimate vision: enabling clean driving at any speed and for any distance, at a cost that makes it a reality for everyone.

By Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, the Air Car is classified as a “zero pollution car”, as there are no emissions from the tailpipe. Designed to make a major difference in urban areas the Air Car runs exclusively on compressed air at lower speeds, emitting only air = zero pollution.

At speeds above 60km/h the revolutionary dual-energy compressed air engine is expected to achieve a fuel economy of a remarkable 106 miles per gallon (about). Using small amounts of fuel (gasoline, propane, ethanol or biofuels) to heat air inside a heating chamber as it enters the engine; the process produces emissions of only 0.158lbs of CO2 per mile. That is up to 4 times less than the average vehicle and 2 times less than the cleanest vehicle available today.

The Air Car can be refilled with Air at home by plugging it into a normal power outlet or in a few minutes at a compressed air station. The compressed Air tank will also automatically refill when driving at higher speeds in the future.

The miniCAT’s model specifications speak for themselves:

The Tesla Roadster

Think that electric cars are sluggish, slow & dull?
Think again!

Tesla Motors has produced a sexy 2-seater, open-top roadster with a top speed of 125 mph (200km/h). But it is the 0 to 60 mph (96.5km/h) in 4.0 seconds acceleration that is making car enthusiasts excited. The Tesla Roadster is quick, it’s quiet, it is certainly sexy and it requires NO PETROL! Plug it into its at-home charging unit, and you’ll be fully charged in about 3.5 hours. This is considered a “worst case” for someone starting with a completely dead battery. Even after a 100-mile trip, you can be completely charged in less than two hours. You will get 220 miles (354 km) per charge, and should you need to charge on the road, packed away in the trunk is an optional mobile-charging kit that lets you charge from most standard electrical outlets while away from home.

Answers to your questions are readily available on Tesla Motors’ website - from interior and exterior colours to technical specifications.

Chairman & financier recently posted on his blog:

. . . our long term plan is to build a wide range of models, including affordably priced family cars. This is because the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution.

Almost any new technology initially has high unit cost before it can be optimized and this is no less true for electric cars. The strategy of Tesla is to enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium, and then drive down market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with each successive model.

Without giving away too much, I can say that the second model will be a sporty four door family car at roughly half the $89k price (the 2009 base models are on the market for $98,000 [http://www.teslamotors.com/buy/buyPage1.php]) point of the Tesla Roadster and the third model will be even more affordable. In keeping with a fast growing technology company, all free cash flow is plowed back into R&D to drive down the costs and bring the follow on products to market as fast as possible. ”

Although the Tesla Roadster is still a niche car - with availability only in the United States, limited range and the substantial price tag - it has shown that sports car enthusiasts can see a light beyond the internal combustion engine.

BMW Hydrogen 7

Brad Pitt arrived at the premiere to Oceans 13 in a BMW Hydrogen 7 (AutoBlog Green). Whether you believe that Hydrogen is a serious contender for alternative clean & efficient fuels or not, the fact that BMW sees fit to produce the Hydrogen 7 (100 of them have been put to the test as loan cars to leading figures) is a leap forward in the automotive industry’s attitude towards oil.

Visit the BMW site to view the details of their Hydrogen 7.

Concept Cars

The automotive industry has certainly been busy with alternative energy concept cars. The list of companies and their concept cars is growing and we hope to see more in production soon!

The BMW H2R is a dual-fuel hydrogen-gasoline race car that has set 9 international land-speed records when run entirely on hydrogen - www.cool-cars.biz/bmw-h2r.html

The General Motors Chevy Volt Hydrogen plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is not only cool in design but is one of the most fuel efficient concept cars to be shown in recent years - www.cool-cars.biz/Chevy-Volt.html

The Ford Super Chief is a tri-fuel vehicle that can run on unleaded gasoline, E85 (ethanol) or compressed hydrogen - www.cool-cars.biz/ford-super-chief.html

GM created the hydrogen version of the Gulf War gas-guzzling 8 mpg Hummer to showcase the future for hydrogen technology - www.cool-cars.biz/gm-h2h-hummer.html

Future Thinking

The appalling state of our planet with its critical pollution levels and soaring costs of oil has lit one small light at the end of a very dark tunnel; the automotive industry has finally been persuaded to step up their research into alternative fuels. Yes, this persuasion might have been from indications of peak oil and financial impacts of climate change, but I think it is time to see the positive viewpoint and look expectantly towards a future of clean transportation.

global green - brad pitt goes green

Last year, Brad Pitt stood up and committed himself to assist in New Orleans. He chose to assist sustainably, with people and planet firmly in the spotlight. Check these links to the Global Green - Holy Cross Project:

Project Website: http://holycrossproject.globalgreen.org/

Virtual Design Tour: http://holycrossproject.globalgreen.org/flash/virtualhouse.html

global environmental court?

“
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 24 (IPS) - As the United Nations takes an increasingly dominant role in guiding the climate change debate, there is renewed interest in a longstanding proposal for the creation of an international court to try environmental crimes.

But some diplomats and environmentalists are sceptical whether such a court will have the political support of the overwhelming majority of the U.N.’s 192 member states for it to be a reality.”It took ages for the creation of an international war crimes tribunal,” says one Third World diplomat, “and a world court for environmental crimes can take generations.”

Satish Kumar, an avowed environmentalist and editor of the London-based environmental magazine Resurgence, is a strong advocate of such a court.

“We have no right to make waste,” he argues. “And if I dump my waste on your house, it’s a crime. You can take me to court.”

“But if we put our waste on nature, nature can’t take us to court? Nature should have a right to take us to court. And the United Nations should establish a nature court,” Kumar told IPS.

He pointed out that environmental crimes — from the dumping of toxic wastes to the military destruction of natural resources — should be deemed “crimes against nature”.

Dr. Franoise Burhenne-Guilmin, senior counsel at the Environmental Law Centre of the Switzerland-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), thinks the proposal may hit legal and logistical snags.

“IUCN has never taken a formal position on this matter, but members of the Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) have discussed the issue in the past,” he told IPS.

He pointed out that the idea of a specific international court for environmental crimes was not supported by the CEL on the basis that they thought it would not be feasible.

“To establish such a court, people would need to agree on what constitutes an environmental crime,” Burhenne-Guilmin said.

Even if such a court were established, the rules which would have to be put in place in order for it to function would be very difficult to agree on, he added. 
“

. . . read the rest of the IPS article by Thalif Deen

A Global Environmental Court? I see great opportunities for protecting the environment, a task which has yet to truly move beyond individual activists, but I can also see why the detractors might be concerned. here will be many an argument regarding what is and what is not and environmental crime. But I cannot see the harm in trying! Perhaps, if we can find consensus on what constitutes an environmental crime we could move forward - at the very least looking after our planet a little better if not saving it from ourselves.

Which then reminds me of that rare Homo neophilus character mentioned in my last post of the 26th September and begs the question; ”Can a large, global corporation be anything but a Homo neophobus?” Can the UN, for the most part concerned mostly about what the environment can provide for humanity (or rather - a select few, well-heeled members of society), truly provide a meaningful platform to address environmental crimes?

where does fear take us . . .

I read a quote posted on The Antidote this morning about the irrationality of ALL humans (agreed). The quote went on to declare that we are merely separated by our fear or lack thereof to change. This fear factor set me wondering where I stood in this question of the impact of change and how I personally react to change. I find myself proclaiming that I am a great fan of change, that I jump at new experiences and seem to have made a very unsuccessful career of job hopping. And yet . . . I also find that I have succumbed to the numbing fear of truly stepping out of this self imposed, tarnished box.

Is this duplicity within us all? Do we all believe we want to strive to make the world a better place, but are not quite prepared to put our foot out of this more-is-better, every-man-for-himself society we currently find ourselves wrapped up in?

What fear do we need to face and overcome before we can take up the challenge of practicing the ‘greenness” that we preach? Do we all as human beings, in our irrationality, have the ability to become a mover? A shaker?

I hope so, because never mind taking the road less travelled, in our 11th hour on our little planet, we currently need a whole new road.

ode to green

is green still alive and kicking?
or has it gone awol?
awaiting a better time, a better place, a better world?

should we even ask where all the flowers have gone?
or does that only lead to the ultimate human centric question;
“where have all the people gone?”

perhaps we can avoid that awkward question
perhaps . . .
if we bring green back from the brink