Biofuels

-A Little Independent Energy Experiment on the Prairie
-Analysis raises atmospheric, economic doubts about forest bioenergy - report
-NASA one step closer to turning algae into fuel

This online tool allows you to estimate the number of people a certain area in Australia may be able to support at a national, state and bio-regional scale. Our aim is to raise awareness of the importance of carrying capacity assessment as a forward planning tool - to help establish a sustainable balance between people and their localised environment. Given the dependence of societal systems on biophysical health, it is vital that land-use planning initiatives have the ability to more clearly define potential future demands on the environment. Carrying capacity assessment offers a way to assess our resource needs and also determine how best to meet these needs.

In most East African countries access to electricity is very low. Besides electricity, there is a basic need for energy. In Eastern African countries most of the energy consumed is produced from traditional solid biomasses, such as the burning of wood.

The search for combustibles begins early in the morning, includes several hours of walking, and, in cases where no trees are to be found, digging for roots with bare hands; in some regions this activity is accompanied by the constant danger of violent and sexual assaults. In areas where there is no wood left for burning, cow dung or other waste is used for fuel.

We have a brand-new entrant to the oil-eating-bug-runs-amok tradition: the self-published novel Petroplague. It's a Crichton-esque thriller written by microbiology professor-turned author Amy Rogers, who says she aims to "blur the line between fact and fiction so well that you need a Ph.D. to figure out where one ends and the other begins." The plot involves a batch of experimental, oil-hungry bacteria inadvertently loosed upon Los Angeles, which proceed to wreak a near biblical swath of destruction. Part ecology lesson and part cautionary tale, Petroplague is an entertaining entrée into the subject of oil depletion and its implications for society, human health and the environment.

-Sun, sewage and algae: a recipe for success?
-One of Largest Wind Farms Built in Ohio
-'Germans Are Willing to Pay' for Renewable Energies- Interview
-Wadebridge, the UK's first solar-powered town - video
-Packing some power
-Controversial renewable energy report branded 'shoddy nonsense'

In recent years African countries have enjoyed interest from abroad, thanks in part to a great amount of available land apparently ideal for cultivating crops for providing food security and for the production of biofuels. However, insufficient legal protection for the local population often leads to the signing of contracts that deprive these people of their source of subsistence...And if the locals are in fact consulted at all on the matter, they can typically count on a campaign of misinformation from the government.

When I first approached the topic of societal energy in 2004, I became aware for the first time that our energy future was not in the bag, and proceeded to explore alternative after alternative to judge the viability and potential pitfalls of various options. I have retraced my steps in Do the Math posts, exposing the scales at which different energy sources might contribute, and the practical complexities involved. My spooky campfire version of the story, a la Tolkien: The Way is Shut.

All this new technology seems to say there may be some hope for life after oil. For now the two biggies seem to be cold fusion and cheap hydrogen, but neither of these are as yet sure for the immediate future. It seems likely we are going to have much more efficient motor vehicle within the next 10 years and probably longer range electric vehicles. There might even be enough biofuels to run our airplanes.

- Interview with ex-Shell CEO Hofmeister: changes tune after debate with peak oil researcher?(video and transcript)
- The Achilles' Heel of Algal Biofuels - Peak Phosphate
- What EROI tells us about ROI
- Prix de l'essence record : le pouvoir en place n'anticipe rien, c'est consternant

Outrageous, snarky, “madly engaging,” bileful—these are a few of the terms that have been used to describe author and social critic James Howard Kunstler. But he’s actually a great deal more than these things, as anyone who's really come to know him, even if only through his books and Internet postings, can tell you. His most personal writings reveal a human, vulnerable, wonderfully versatile, cheerful side that few people know exists.

Breathe, Neo. I’ve been running a marathon lately to cover all the major players that may provide viable alternatives to fossil fuels this century. Even though I have not exhausted all possibilities, or covered each topic exhaustively, I am exhausted. So in this post, I will provide a recap of all the schemes discussed thus far, in matrix form. Then Do the Math will shift its focus to more of the “what next” part of the message.

High oil prices ensured that profits at the major oil companies rose again in 2011 – Shell’s full year profits leapt 54% to $28.6 billion while Exxon’s increased 35% to $41.1 billion. With this kind of money at stake it is no surprise it is almost impossible to get a sensible debate about our energy future...

If you have always been thinking that biofuels are not a good idea, this book by Mario Giampietro and Kozo Mayumi will tell you exactly why in their book, The Biofuel Delusion.

- Biofuels become a victim of own success - but not for long
- Brazil, short of biofuel, can't open spigot to US
- Keystone XL pipeline: Oil chief issues threat to Obama over decision
- Oil sands pipeline battle turns ugly
- Arab News: Renewables making inroads in emerging global energy mix

The U.S. Congress refused to extend the 54-cents-per-gallon tariff levied against imported ethanol. By opening up the American market to imports as of January 1, 2012, the geopolitical impacts of this decision promise to be profound.