By John DeFore

The latest edition of an annual report by the International Energy Agency was released this week, and while the news may not be unexpected, it’s unsettling nonetheless.

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By Barbara Kessler

Biomass technology promises what few other alternative fuel schemes can: energy from waste. Given the controversial use of corn (and other food crops) for biofuel, which is turning out to be less of a greenhouse gas saver than once thought, waste is looking pretty attractive.

A new plant in Central Texas, dedicated last week, promises to take sewage waste, organic garbage, grass clippings and manure, and convert them into gasoline.

Initially the plant, designed as a large-scale demonstration project, will use forage sorghum as its base material. Forage sorghum, unlike other varieties grown to produce sorghum seed for food products, does not steal directly from the human food chain. It is used as feed for cattle, but even so, it’s more renewable than corn because about twice as much (5-7 tons) can be grown per acre.

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By John DeFore

While biofuel proponents struggle with concerns that some of their favored technologies — like those turning corn into car fuel — literally take food out of the mouths of the poor in pursuit of fossil-fuel independence, scientists are pursuing alternatives that not only won’t interfere with the global food supply, but actually clean up after it.

A new study published in the Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology claims that renewable bioethanol can be squeezed, not out of olives, but out of the seeds we spit out of them.

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By John DeFore

In the quest to ween cars and trucks off oil, alternative-fuel schemes may be heading for a roadblock they haven’t fully considered: water.

Public discussions of alternative fuels have rarely if ever touched on how much water might be needed to produce such fuel on a large scale. But researchers in Texas warn that it may be much more than you’d expect.

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An overwhelming 86 percent of Coloradoans want to limit subsidies for oil shale production and hault new coal-fired power plants, according to a newly released poll.

The survey of 600 Colorado adults conducted by Opinion Research Corporation also found support for
federal and state investment in wind and solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, and highly fuel-efficient vehicles. The study was conducted for TheCLEAN.org and the Civil Society Institute, and was released by Western Colorado Congress, a community action alliance focused protecting and enhancing the quality of life in western Colorado.

Key findings of the poll include:

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By Tom Kessler

Just as the iPod has become synonymous with digital music players, Toyota’s Prius is the only car people tend to think of when it comes to hybrid electric vehicles. The Prius alone accounts for 75 percent of the hybrid cars sold in the United States, according to Toyota.

With Honda taking aim at the same market with its redesigned, very Prius-looking Insight, it appears Toyota may try to extend its lead by turning Prius into a line of cars much like its Scion and Lexus brands. The New York Times reports that James E. Lentz III, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., is lobbying Toyota executives in Japan to make the move.

Lentz may well have the clout to pull this off: Americans buy 65 to 70 percent of all Toyota hybrids sold worldwide. The Times says Lentz doesn’t know when Toyota might approve the project but talks will continue next month in Japan.

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By Tom Kessler

The battlefield cry “charge” is taking on new meanings. Portable fuel cell systems from SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG won first and third prizes in the U.S. Defense Department’s inaugural Wearable Power Competition, the DOD announced.

Nearly 170 designs competed in the event, which was established by Department of Defense Research and Engineering to “encourage innovation in energy systems carried by personnel during field missions.” The systems, attached to a military vest, were required to provide 20 watts of average electric power, have peak-power capability up to 200 watts and weigh no more than 8.8 pounds.

The M-25 Portable Fuel Cell from DuPont and SFC, won the $1 million first prize. The AMI team from Ann Arbor, MI, won the $500,000 second place prize. SFC and partner Capitol Connections LLC of Middleburg, Va., took third place and $250,000 for their JENNY fuel cell.

These portable devices are used to power a range of field equipment that includes GPS navigation systems, communications equipment, computers and robots. The devices weigh up to 80 percent less than conventional power sources.

The winners were announced Oct. 4 at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

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By John DeFore

Not long ago, a City of Austin crew spent the day installing new “No Parking” signs along the streets of my neighborhood. Two big Ford F450 trucks sat outside my home-office window for hours while the men dug holes and planted posts — and their engines ran the entire time.

Not wanting to be the block’s eco-scold, I said nothing as the trucks rumbled. But the waste of fuel nagged at me even after the noise was gone, and I eventually called the city to find out why workers would be allowed to run their engines like that. Surely the city didn’t approve of polluting the air all morning just so the truck would be pre-air-conditioned when workers took a coffee break?

After calls to three or four city departments, I found a public works supervisor with some answers. All work trucks keep their engines running, she told me, because of the LED arrow boards mounted on them which warn drivers to keep their distance. “You can’t turn the engine off and keep the arrows going, because your battery will die down,” she said.

It was easy to see how a safety-based practice might serve as an excuse to keep the cab cooled off, even when running the arrow was unnecessary: In my case, the truck was parked on a dead-end block where no traffic could approach from behind it. The woman I spoke with agreed that conserving fuel wasn’t the easiest topic to raise with work crews. “They’ve been here a while,” she said, “and when I mention this they kind of get, ‘Well, fine, what do you want us to do for safety?’”

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British Petroleum (BP) has announced plans to bring cellulosic ethanol to market in the U.S., through a partnership with bio-fuel developer Verenium, a company that makes biofuels from rice straw, sugarcane stalks, switchgrass and wood chips. The partnership could help speed the availability of lower cost, more environmentally friendly biofuels, according to an announcement by both companies this week.

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By Tom Kessler

Almost 90 percent of the car shoppers who visit Kelley Blue Book’s Web site say they are concerned about the future of our environment, company research shows. Among survey respondents, 80 percent agreed that individuals should make lifestyle changes to help reduce CO2 emissions. And 75 percent of KBB shoppers reported that they have made changes to further the betterment of the environment. The most frequent lifestyle changes cited were:

• recycling (54 percent)
• cutting back on driving (46 percent)
• purchasing a fuel-efficient car (31 percent)

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By Barbara Kessler

The upside of high gas prices is becoming evident as Americans flock to dealers of small and hybrid cars, revealing that we can, if whacked in the wallet, lower our greenhouse gas emissions.

There’s another silver lining not so readily apparent, but quite compelling. According to researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) when people curb their driving, both by slowing down and driving less, traffic fatalities decline as well.

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By Barbara Kessler

Who would have thought we’d be hoping that gas prices had settled in at $4 a gallon? Instead, U.S. government tracking shows that they are creeping past that benchmark, ranging from an average high of $4.59 in California to a low of $3.95 in Texas this middle week of June. It’s making the math a little harder: For awhile there, people in most parts of the country could figure that their 15-gallon tank would cost about $60 to fill. But Californians are now looking at more than $68 and drivers in New York ($63.90) and Washington ($64.95) are facing only slightly less pain. And pity the West Coast truck or SUV driver with a 20-gallon tank, they’ll need nearly $100 to top off.

Are Americans in shock? Um, yeah. Several people we talked to at the pump last week say they’re feeling trapped, but are trying to seize what control they have, making modest changes and thinking about ways out of the oil crunch… Watch the report.

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