Beruflich habe ich das Glück nach Bosnien zu kommen. Dort leben zudem meine liebsten Freunde.

Vor 14 Jahren war das Ende des schrecklichen Krieges in Jugoslawien. Die ganze Welt und vor allem wir in Europa schauten tatenlos und ohne Kommentar zu, wie greulich das Gemetzel unter ehemals friedfertig zusammen lebenden Bevölkerungsgruppen sich ausbreitete. Es gab kein weltweites Interesse, sich einzumischen. Warum wohl auch? Das ehemalige Jugoslawien ist wunderschön, hat aber keine Rohstoffe wie fossile Brennstoffe, Uran oder sonstige wertvolle Ausbeutungsmateralien. Halt nur ein lumpiger Spielball der G 20.

Trotzdem leben im Balkan  Menschen, die das Recht haben, von  der reichen Industriegesellschaft beachtet und gefördert zu werden. Speziell in Bosnien und Herzegowina ist die Wirtschaft zusammengebrochen, der Staat in Gemeinden, Kantonen und der Förderration aufgebaut,  ist nahezu handlungsunfähig, weil pleite. Ein Land welches noch in konvertibler Mark fakturiert, hat keine Lebensadern wie Autobahnen, Landstrassen, Schienen- oder Wasserwege. Wir jammern in unserem deutschen Wohlstand über jegliche Kürzungen. Im nahen Bosnien I Herzegowina ( BiH) findet man sich zwangsläufig mit der Misere ab.

Und doch hadern die Menschen kaum merklich mit ihrem Schicksal. Vielmehr machen sie das Beste aus ihrer Situation. Im vorigen Beitrag über den vergessenen Entedank  habe ich berichtet, dass man in B i H das Obst aufliest, daraus Maische ansetzt und im Oktober und November dann Schnaps destilliert. Ich hatte heuer  wieder das Glück eingeladen zu werden, auf den Hof von Marco in Kiseljak.

Die Kelle mit dem fertig gebrannten Schnaps wird von Mund zu Mund weitergereicht. Fachmännische Kommentare fallen, bis der Schöpfer wiederholt leer probiert wurde.

Einfachstes Brenngeschirr vor dem Stall und der Scheune aufgebaut. Farbige Zwetschgen – Slivovic -Maische steht zum Brennen bereit. In der Luft würziger und nach Schaf riechender Grillduft.

Dazwischen nur Männer,

schwätzend, auf das Feuer unterm Brennkessel achtend. Gleichmäßige Glut ist notwendig um die Alkohole : Ethanol zu gewinnen und Methanol und Fusel zu seperieren bzw. erst gar nicht entstehen zu lassen.

Abwechselnd wird von dem unter dem Vordach stehenden und einfachen, aber  lecker  gedeckten Tisch gegessen. Eingelegte Paprika und Tomaten, traditioneller Krautsalat, frisch gebackenes Brot wird vom großen Laib abgebrochen.

Der ganze aufgespießte Hammel braucht ca. 4 Stunden. Ein einfacher Motor treibt über einen Kettenantrieb  das Drehgestänge an. Mit eigenem Fettgewebe des Hammels wird das Fett über offenem Feuer erhitzt und dann eingerieben.

Dieses langsame Zelbrieren einer Zubereitung köstlicher Speisen ist typisch für ein armes Land.  Kein Schnickschnack wie  es auf  unseren Speisekarten steht mit:  angerichtet …auf  und …an.. , sondern einfach und  ehrlich gut, ja köstlich, weil du den Eigengeschmack erlebst. Und die Atmosphäre einer weit zurückliegenden Welt,  und  mit 2 Flugstunden doch so nah.

Speed-O-Motive’s Customer 706cid Truck Puller Methanol BB Chevy, 1250HP @ 6500RPM & 1090FT/LBS @ 4750RPM on VP M1 Methanol. DART Tall Deck Iron Race Block w/ Raised Cam Tunnel, BRODIX Heads, HOGAN’S Sheet-Metal Tunnel Ram, Ednerle Mechanical Fuel Injection w/ twin 6″ Flying Toilets, Custom Forged 16.5:1 Pistons, Aluminum Rods, Billet Crankshaft, 55mm Needle Roller Cam Bearings, Custom Billet Solid Roller Cam, MOROSO Dry Sump Oiling System, JESEL Belt Drive & Shaft Rockers.

** Natural Health News is a website that i have on my Website Faves listed on the right hand side of this blog. It is an excellent site. As well I have another post which is an interview with Dr Russell Blaylock re: Aspartame, MSG and Exitotoxins : http://yahstruthseeker.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/the-truth-about-aspartame-msg-and-exitotoxins-2/

Interestingly and of course unfortunately i know many people who suffer now from serious health problems including cancer. Everyone of them were diehard drinkers of either Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. Coincidence? i dont personally think so….*** STAY AWAY FROM ASPARTAME!!

ASPARTAME: Is the sweet taste worth the harm??

by Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D.

(NaturalNews) Aspartame, more commonly known as NutraSweet or Equal, is one of the most toxic substances being consumed today. The artificial sweetener, currently used in over 4,000 products worldwide, entertains a sordid past and has been one of the most tested and debated food additives in the history of the FDA. While the manufacturer maintains that aspartame is not a danger to your health, the scientific studies don’t necessarily agree. The FDA has approved the product for mass consumption, in spite of overwhelming evidence that aspartame can have neurotoxic, metabolic, allergenic, fetal and carcinogenic effects. When you question how such a substance has not been banned, one simply needs to look at the billions of dollars generated by the sale of aspartame each year. In light of the staggering number of dollar signs involved, it’s easy to see that the artificial sweetener industry has reached Big Tobacco status. With so much money at stake, the truth suffers almost as much as the health of the consumers, while the shareholders’ wealth continues to grow exponentially.

The Ingredients

In 1965, James Schlatter, a chemist for G.D. Searle, was developing an anti-ulcer drug when he accidentally stumbled upon aspartame. Made up of aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%), aspartame is 200 times sweeter than natural sugar.

* Aspartic Acid

Aspartate is a neurotransmitter in the brain, facilitating information from one neuron to another. Too much aspartate allows an influx of calcium into the brain cells, triggering an excessive amount of free radicals which kill the cells. Aspartate is referred to as an “excitotoxin” because of the nerve cell damage that it causes. Many chronic illnesses have been attributed to long term excitotoxin exposure, including multiple sclerosis, ALS, memory loss, hormonal problems, hearing loss, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, hypoglycemia, dementia, brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders.

To read rest of article : http://www.naturalnews.com/024225_aspartame_the_FDA_methanol.html

Other articles related to this subject:

www.naturalnews.com/aspartame.html

www.naturalnews.com/008952_aspartame_seizures_health.html

www.naturalnews.com/022538_aspartame_health_NutraSweet.html

www.naturalnews.com/026656_aspartame_leukemia_formaldehyde.html

The Knovel Library contains hundreds of full-text online resources in a wide variety of science and engineering disciplines, as well as innovative research and analysis tools for using them. Here is one of the latest items to appear in the Knovel Library:

Alternative Fuels – The Future of Hydrogen (2nd Edition)
Publisher: Fairmont Press, Inc
Subject Area: Sustainable Energy and Development

Description: The Second Edition of this pioneering work addresses emerging factors affecting energy production and use, including the availability and desirability of various fuels.  The text provides extensive discussion on hydrogen sources, both solar and nuclear, and fuel cell technology, as well as on other alternative fuels such as biomass, and wind power.   The book delves into cost analysis, regulatory issues, barriers to implementation, conversion and storage systems, thermodynamic efficiency, fuel chain efficiency, air emission issues, and safety.  The book also covers natural gas, hydrogen gas, methanol, ethanol, and steam reforming.

September 7, 2009 – Henry Ford believed in using Hemp products to make cars. He was green 50 years before GREEN was cool.

Henry Ford predicted back in 1925 that the future fuels used to power automobiles, trucks, planes, and power boat engines would come from sustainable and more eco-friendly resources than fossil fuels. He even aggressively supported the use of hemp products to create bio-degradable auto parts.

With so many changes happening in the auto industry, companies like Fisker and Tesla working on electric models, motorsports competitors participating in Formula 3 Racing looking closely at bio-fuels, big name exotics company leaders like Ferrari — who participate in Formula 1 and are planning to release hybrid exotics on the market soon as alternative power source vehicles, sportscar companies like BMW releasing Hydrogen cars, and luxury car companies like Lexus promoting hybrid model daily drivers are finally beginning to provide consumers that are making life more green while keeping owners on the go.

Fuel of the Future
When Henry Ford told a New York Times reporter that ethyl alcohol was “the fuel of the future” in 1925, he was expressing an opinion that was widely shared in the automotive industry. “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumach out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust — almost anything,” he said. “There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol in one year’s yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.”

Ford recognized the utility of the hemp plant. He constructed a car of resin stiffened hemp fiber, and even ran the car on ethanol made from hemp. Ford knew that hemp could produce vast economic resources if widely cultivated.

Ford’s optimistic appraisal of cellulose and crop based ethyl alcohol fuel can be read in several ways.

First, it can be seen as an oblique jab at a competitor. General Motors had come to considerable grief that summer of 1925 over another octane boosting fuel called tetra-ethyl lead, and government officials had been quietly in touch with Ford engineers about alternatives to leaded gasoline additives.

Secondly, by 1925 the American farms that Ford loved were facing an economic crisis that would later intensify with the depression. Although the causes of the crisis were complex, one possible solution was seen in creating new markets for farm products. With Ford’s financial and political backing, the idea of opening up industrial markets for farmers would be translated into a broad movement for scientific research in agriculture that would be labelled “Farm Chemurgy.”

Why Henry’s plans were delayed for more than a half century
Ethanol has been known as a fuel for many decades. Indeed, when Henry Ford designed the Model T, it was his expectation that ethanol, made from renewable biological materials, would be a major automobile fuel. However, gasoline emerged as the dominant transportation fuel in the early twentieth century because of the ease of operation of gasoline engines with the materials then available for engine construction, a growing supply of cheaper petroleum from oil field discoveries, and intense lobbying by petroleum companies for the federal government to maintain steep alcohol taxes.

Many bills proposing a National energy program that made use of Americas vast agricultural resources (for fuel production) were killed by smear campaigns launched by vested petroleum interests. One noteworthy claim put forth by petrol companies was that the U.S. government’s plans “robbed taxpayers to make farmers rich”.

Gasoline had many disadvantages as an automotive resource. The “new” fuel had a lower octane rating than ethanol, was much more toxic (particularly when blended with tetra-ethyl lead and other compounds to enhance octane), generally more dangerous, and contained threatening air pollutants.

Petroleum was more likely to explode and burn accidentally, gum would form on storage surfaces and carbon deposits would form in combustion chambers of engines. Pipelines were needed for distribution from “area found” to “area needed”. Petroleum was much more physically and chemically diverse than ethanol, necessitating complex refining procedures to ensure the manufacture of a consistent “gasoline” product.

However, despite these environmental flaws, fuels made from petroleum have dominated automobile transportation for the past three-quarters of a century. There are two key reasons: First, cost per kilometer of travel has been virtually the sole selection criteria. Second, the large investments made by the oil and auto industries in physical capital, human skills and technology make the entry of a new cost-competitive industry difficult.

Until very recently, environmental concerns have been largely ignored. All of that is finally changing as consumers demand fuels such as ethanol, which are much better for the environment and human health. By Kae Davis. Source.

More Information on Hemp:

Why Can’t We Grow Hemp in America?
Hemp Facts
The Case for Hemp in America
The Versatility of the Incredible Hemp Plant and How It Can Help Create a More Sustainable Future

Readers,

Though Engadget is sceptical, it looks like Toshiba is now sitting on the front-line of portable fuel cell technology. By using methanol as the base for an electron-spitting concoction, Toshiba has promised fuel cell technology by the end of this quarter. While this is astonishing, to say the least, it’s not without its caveats.

Methanol, while it will more than likely come in cartridge form, is a liquid. 10 millileters of this stuff can cause you to go blind, and a tiny 100 millileters can tear you from this life and catapult you directly to the next. Then again, how far is that from the sulfuric acid that many batteries contain?

However, I expect the biggest concern, keeping with the recent energy and health theme, will be centered around the production of methanol. Some forms of methanol production require coal or oil. Fortunately, methanol can also be produced from methane and rust!

In fact, the early stages of this process produce, what’s known in the industry as, syn-gas which can be used as a fuel source or refined to pure methanol. As we now know, refined methanol can be used as a solid power source.

Even better, when methanol is used to produce electricity, it’s offshoot is water vapor. While this may be a small stumbling block when considering the visual of a leaky or moldy MP3 player, it’s one that I’m sure will be overcome by careful engineering.

Also, there are already eighteen methanol producing plants in the US not to mention the biomass plants that are beginning to pop up with solidified plans for extracting methane from new landfills.

Environmentally-friendly electric cars and devices, here we come. Thanks Toshiba for taking the big leap; I wish you well in dealing with the first heat wave. For the rest of us, we’ve got plenty to look forward to.

While I can’t recommend Toshiba as a buy, I do recommend looking at other companies pioneering similarly cool scientific advantages; get ‘em while they’re young!

~A

Currently listening to: John Mayer

I am loving John Mayer! Well i have been for a awhile but I’m just listening to him now and so i thought i should blog about him! My favorite song would probably be comfortable, its just a beautiful song, then My stupid mouth or belief or daughters.

I think he is absolutely amazing live and would love to go to a gig one day, his fans scream ALOT! though!

follow him on twitter
@Johncmayer

Currently watching: True Blood

Awesome show! it’s on channel 4 in september so everyone in the uk should watch it! It has already been said that there will be a third season. The show is set in south america. The show centers around Sookie Stackhouse (a telepath), her friends and family and her Vampire boyfriend Bill Compton. At the moment the show is running it’s second season on HBO in america. There is usually some kind of mystery to the season and as the season goes on then it is slowly revealed. In the second season there are a lot more side stories. Go watch is now!!!

Currently reading: The time travelers wife

Beautiful love story by Audrey Niffengger.
It is about a guy who can time travel. He meets a young girl when she is 6 and he is 36 and they continue to meet as clare gets older and henry travels through time. They marry when clare is 22 and henry is 36. They both try to live normal lives but are drawn to together through time in a fate which neither of them can prevent. Very moving. If you have chance you should read it!, It has also been made into a film, which is release in the uk on August 14th
Watch the trailer HERE

Currently drinking – Peppermint tea

Since it’s summer and i have been getting the worst hay fever ever recorded…by me! I have been drinking it because it seems to help.
interesting facts about it! it contains methanol, which helps ease diarrhea, headaches and relieve stomach cramps it also contains vitamins V, calcium and potassium. The vitamin b helps performance and concentration in the brain and nerves! All the biology paid of a little then!

A couple of friends and I were joking about joining some car shows just to experience the event as a participant, well, our words quickly became a reality when we were asked if we were interested to join up for a one-day show. We were so excited we just couldn’t help ourselves; of course, we were not aiming to win but just wanted to take some photos of our rides alongside other much more expensive, heavily modified and super-exotic cars.

So it was daybreak and looking outside my windows, I saw that it rained the whole night and it was still drizzling. That was not a deterrent, so braving the wet roads we (my wife and dog) drove to Big Bert’s in Ortigas Home Depot where I was to meet the rest of the crew to have the cars cleaned. We stayed a couple of minutes to have the cars washed, some coffee and chit-chat, and of course, the usual “buyuan”.

From Big Bert’s we drove to Greenhills, mind you it was still raining but who cares, for sure, every other car there will be wet so we set out-convoy style, park lights and hazard lights on, to the G-Strip along Greenhils in Otrigas.

Convoy: Coming from Big Berts on our way to Greenhills

The Trio: Photo of the parking lot from an adjacent building

Jeje’s Lancer GT

My Lancer MX

Macky’s lancer GT-A

From Redline’s Camera

From Jeje’s Camera

Vortex Generator: Macky’s crown, not only does it create a wide vortex to create more downforce, it actually looks fantastic

My engine bay: just recently installed an alcohol injection system on top of the turbo kit

methanol

made in Brasil

A couple of people have now written to ask for comments on the story from Green Car Congress about the Polish CO2 to methanol scheme. Here is the story:

Report: Polish Power Plant and University to Cooperate on CO2 to Methanol Trial

Here is the bit I immediately focused on:

Nazimek says his “artificial photosynthesis” process is based on the photocatalytic conversion of water and carbon dioxide under deep ultraviolet light. Synthesis of 1 kmole (32 kg) of CH3OH from CO2 and H2O requires 586MJ of energy, according to Nazimek’s calculations. (Methanol has a HHV of 22.7 MJ/kg, or 726 MJ/kmole).

So the implication there is that you are getting more energy in the form of methanol than you put into the system (input of 586 MJ for an output of 726 MJ), for a positive net energy. However, like the Steorn system, this interpretation would unfortunately violate the laws of thermodynamics. Perhaps something has been lost in the translation. Otherwise, either all of the energy into the system is not being measured, measurements are being done inconsistently, or there is some other error.

Here is one problem. Methanol’s high heating value (HHV) is quoted above. However, when considering energy that you can practically get out of a system one should not use HHV. Why? Because that presumes that you have condensed the water from the combustion products and taken everything back down to room temperature (25 C). That doesn’t happen in practice. Just feel the exhaust coming out of your auto.

So the comparison of energy input into the system to HHV for the output can be misleading. If you consistently use HHV for input and outputs, then you should get a consistent answer for the net energy, but if you mix lower and higher heating values you could easily conclude that you are creating energy when in fact you are simply subtracting apples from oranges.

Having said that, I think artificial photosynthesis has great potential for energy production. I have often speculated on this. Natural photosynthetic efficiency is very low, but it does result in captured solar energy in plants all over the world. Plants do take CO2 in and convert to biomass. The trick is that they do take in more BTUs in the form of solar energy (and maybe also energy in the form of fertilizer) than are found in the the biomass they produce.

So I am in no way trying to diminish the work. This sort of work needs to be done. I just want to inject a dash of reality into the energy balances. It’s like I tell people all the time – you can in fact run a car off of water. You can turn combustion products like CO2 and water back into fuels of all sorts. The catch in both of these cases is that you must always input more energy into the system than you can get back. That’s how the laws of nature unfortunately work.

So while technical feasibility can often be easily demonstrated, there are many more hurdles that must be jumped before you would operate a scheme like this in practice. For instance, what is the source of energy? If you are using sunlight, then it may be perfectly acceptable to input 100 BTUs of sunlight and get back 10 BTUs of liquid fuel. But it wouldn’t be a good idea to input similar quality fuels and get back fewer BTUs.

A second consideration is energy required to purify the final product. The story above indicates that the product is in water at a 15% concentration. This is quite similar to the concentrations of ethanol that corn ethanol producers make and then have to purify. The water has to be removed, and it takes energy to do that. So even if I had a perfect conversion of 1 BTU of energy input to 1 BTU of energy out, the net energy will fall as I input energy to purify the final product. (A 3rd major consideration is the capital costs, which keeps many fine ideas in the lab).

So in conclusion, technical feasibility of so many of these schemes is not in question. (Of course as was the case with Steorn or (possibly) with Cello, sometimes technical feasibility itself is the problem). But beyond technical feasibility are all sorts of considerations that can render a seemingly wondrous invention into something that never escapes the lab. If you hone in on the mass and energy balances of the system (a chemical engineer’s bread and butter), you can often see why a promising experiment in the lab won’t work in practice.

Biocarburants: plus écologiques, mais toujours pas rentables

André Dumont

(Agence Science-Presse) – Printemps 2008: la hausse vertigineuse des prix d’aliments de base comme le riz, le blé et le maïs provoque des émeutes aux quatre coins de la planète. Au banc des accusés, les biocarburants. Un an plus tard, rien n’est tout à fait réglé, mais la science s’en est mêlée.

Si l’on se fie aux récentes annonces de groupes de chercheurs et d’entreprises spécialisées en énergies vertes, l’époque où l’on mélangeait à l’essence de nos voitures de l’éthanol fabriqué à partir de cultures alimentaires comme le maïs et la canne à sucre ne sera bientôt qu’un mauvais souvenir. Place aux biocarburants de deuxième génération, qui valorisent plutôt des résidus agricoles et forestiers, ou même des déchets domestiques!

De déchets à éthanol et méthanol

Enerkem, une entreprise de Montréal, a annoncé la mise en chantier cette année d’une usine qui transformera une partie des déchets domestiques de la ville d’Edmonton en éthanol et méthanol, deux alcools pouvant servir de carburant. À partir de 2011, cent mille tonnes de déchets serviront à produire 36 millions de litres par année de biocarburant, l’équivalent en consommation d’essence de 15 000 voitures.

Plus près de chez nous, Enerkem met la touche finale à une usine à Westbury, près de Sherbrooke, qui transformera des poteaux d’électricité usagés en éthanol.

Enerkem «recycle les molécules de carbone». Le bois des poteaux est transformé en gaz de synthèse dans un réacteur à haute température par simple réaction entre le carbone du bois et de la vapeur soumis à une forte chaleur.

D’ici la fin 2009, Enerkem sera en mesure de liquéfier ce gaz en éthanol. Ce procédé thermochimique donnera 360 litres d’éthanol par tonne de bois usagé, de quoi parcourir 2500 km en voiture ou cinq fois la distance entre Montréal et Val-d’Or.

Retour sur la crise alimentaire

Ces percées arrivent à point. Les biocarburants de première génération, qu’on appelle aussi agrocarburants, parce que tirés plantes agricoles, sont en crise.

L’an dernier, une étude commandée par la Banque Mondiale a attribué 75 % de la hausse des prix des denrées à la production d’agrocarburants. Les gouvernements américains et brésiliens contestent cette conclusion. La production d’agrocaburants n’accapare qu’une infime part des terres qui pourraient aussi servir à la production d’aliments, disent-ils.

Le tiers de la production de maïs des États-Unis sert à produire de l’éthanol, ce qui comble à peine 3 % des besoins en essence du pays. Au Brésil, la production d’éthanol à partir de canne à sucre est si importante que l’on retrouve de l’essence contenant 20 % d’éthanol dans toutes les stations-service.

Faillites à prévoir pour les usines d’éthanol

Aujourd’hui, la crise alimentaire est moins aigüe, mais le prix du baril de pétrole a chuté. Puisque l’éthanol est un substitut au pétrole, son prix est également au plus bas. Celui de la matière première, le maïs, reste ferme. La rentabilité des usines en prend pour son rhume.

Aux États-Unis, on prédit la faillite d’environ 40 des 190 usines d’éthanol en 2009. Là-bas comme au Canada, tous les projets de nouvelles usines sont mis sur la glace ou carrément abandonnés, malgré les subventions au démarrage.

Le bilan énergétique et l’impact environnemental de l’éthanol de maïs en faisaient un biocarburant controversé bien avant cette crise. Aujourd’hui, l’industrie admet qu’il n’est pas la voie de l’avenir, observe le microbiologiste Vincent Martin, professeur à l’Université Concordia et membre du Réseau canadien sur les biocarburants cellulosiques.

«Tout le monde est d’accord pour dire que l’éthanol de maïs aura été une technologie de transition, affirme Vincent Martin. On a beaucoup appris et les connaissances en matière de fabrication, stockage et distribution seront transférées à d’autres types de biocarburants.»

Production de carburants écologiques au Québec

On ne compte qu’une seule usine d’éthanol de maïs au Québec. À Varennes, au sud-ouest de Montréal, Éthanol Greenfield transforme 300 000 tonnes de maïs par année en 120 millions de litres d’éthanol. Le procédé de distillation est très semblable à la production d’alcool pour boissons fortes.

Éthanol Greenfield, dont le siège est en Ontario, planche déjà sur des projets d’usines d’éthanol à partir de résidus agricoles, dont un pourrait voir le jour à Varennes.

L’éthanol cellulosique, que l’on fabrique à partir de matériaux sans valeur alimentaire, comme l’épi de maïs sans ses grains, la paille du blé ou le bois d’arbres atteints de maladie, est plus complexe à produire. On doit utiliser les bonnes enzymes ou un procédé chimique efficace – comme le fait Enerkem — pour percer les molécules de matière ligneuse et en tirer l’énergie.

Cet éthanol de deuxième génération n’a plus de secrets pour les chercheurs, affirme Vincent Martin. Le défi consiste à atteindre la rentabilité en production à grande échelle, dit-il.

Un procédé peu rentable

Si l’éthanol de maïs n’est pas rentable dans le contexte actuel, l’éthanol cellulosique l’est encore moins! La crise financière a réduit les capitaux disponibles pour la recherche, ce qui n’empêche pas nombre d’entreprises et de chercheurs américains d’annoncer qu’ils ont mis au point des procédés qui rendent la production en usine viable.

Au Témiscamingue, la papetière Tembec fabrique déjà depuis quelques années de l’éthanol avec des résidus de son usine de pâtes et papiers. Par contre, cet alcool tiré de déchets n’est pas utilisé comme carburant. On le retrouve plutôt sous forme de vinaigre utilisé dans la plupart des marinades et vinaigrettes commercialisées dans l’Est du Canada!

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Up to now, most of the alcohols fuels action has centered on the 2-carbon alcohol, Ethanol (EtOH). The Brazilians have made a 3 decade success of their EtOH experiment – turning the liability of a huge sugar cane processing waste stream into an economic asset largely unencumbered by petroleum imports. And over the past few years, of course, corn-based fuel EtOH has flourished in the US on the strength of Federal mandate and the Midwest farm lobby.

Ethanol enjoys a large experience advantage today, and – in Brazil – a true competitive advantage. In the US, the economics of corn based EtOH is not nearly so clear – not to mention the political liability of diverting farmland and farming resources from food crops to gas guzzlers. But Ethanol isn’t the only potential fuel alcohol – maybe it’s not even the best. Both the simplest alcohol, 1-carbon alcohol Methanol MeOH, and 4-carbon Butanol BuOH present (alike with EtOH) and array of advantages – and, to be fair, some significant drawbacks.

Methanol is already a huge item of commerce, produced and traded in the many tens-of-billions of pounds per year. In a large sense, you can view MeOH as a handy way to move huge amounts of inconvenient and unusable natural gas from the Middle East to industrial users in the US, Europe, and increasingly, in Asia. And since MeOH is easily derived from nearly any carbon source, it may have a bright future as an environmentally less offensive way to tap huge coal reserves in the US and China.

Similarly, there is a large (although a couple of Zero’s less large than MeOH) commercial marketplace today in Butanol (primarily as an ingredient in paints, flexible plastics, etc). Today, nearly all BuOH comes from petroluem sources, so conventional BuOH for fuels doesn’t make much environmental or energy independence sense. But recently, there have been substantial improvements in bio routes to BuOH that (in some cases, at least) start with ag waste, not food or feed grains.

Lots of sources compare the properties of these fuel alcohols with the gasoline they might replace. I think this version (from ButylFuels, LLC – www.butanol.com) is especially easy to use.

Source: ButylFuel, LLC

Both 1-carbon MeOH and 2-carbon EtOH suffer from low energy density (poor miles-per-gallon) and an inconvenient propensity to pick up corrosion causing moisture from the air. The more carbon-rich BuOH behaves much more like conventional gasoline in the fuel tank. Indeed, some claim that most US cars on the road today can run quite well on BuOH. And some industry heavyweights – DuPont and BP, for example – are pushing for Butanol as the next motor fuel.

So, bottom line, there is no single right answer to the 1 vs 2 vs 4 in the alcohol fuels question. (And, indeed, there are strong manufacturing arguments favoring a mixture of these and other alcohols.) Each has it’s place – except the truly wasteful diversion of food resources into fuel tanks – and each can make important contributions during our transformation from a fossil fuels economy to one fueled by renewable energy.

Carcinogenic formaldehyde decomposition product of methanol ingestion in humans

Jun. 4th, 2009 at 8:10 AM

Beer and Wine Probable Carcinogens by Metabolic Breakdown of Methanol to Formaldehyde.

4 May 2009

Here is the key reference that is of utmost concern to those who drink beer or use windshield washer that leaks into the air conditioning system.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1243424&blobtype=pdf

This coupled to the recent finding confirming the carcinogenicity of formaldehyde seal the story on whether or not beer is a carcinogen. Because beer is not distilled and the methanol is not removed, it is ingested by drinkers leading to the formation of formaldehyde in the body.

The story gets even more insidious. Here is an article showing how methanol increases in chronic drinkers.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19348158?ordinalpos=5&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

I therefore conclude that beer and probably wine which is likewise not distilled are both probable carcinogens due to the methanol and its metabolic decomposition byproduct, formaldehyde.

Copyright 2009 Jorma Jyrkkanen. All rights reserved.
Tags:
beer, carcinogens, methanol, wine

25 people killed by wine.

In Indonesia 25 mensen, amongst them a Dutchman, an Irishman, a Britishman, an American and an Indonesian man have died of drinking poisonous palmwine. The palmwine was illegally brewed, and sold on Bali, and was mixed with methanol instead of ethanol.

One man was arrested by the police. He could be responisble for mixing the wine. The police is still investigating whether or not it was done on purpose. Toxic methanol is commonly used as dissolver or anti-freeze.

bron: www.telegraaf.nl

May 22nd, 2009 – Hemp seed oil can be used as is in bio-diesel engines. Methyl esters, or bio-diesel, can be made from any oil or fat including hemp seed oil. The reaction requires the oil, an alcohol (usually methanol), and a catalyst, which produces bio-diesel and small amount of glycerol or glycerin. When co-fired with 15% methanol, bio-diesel fuel produces energy less than 1/3 as pollution as petroleum diesel.

Energy and Fuel from Hemp Stalks through Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is the technique of applying high heat to biomass, or organic plants and tree matter, with little or no air. Reduced emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles can be accomplished by converting biomass to fuel utilizing pyrolysis technology. The process can produce, from lingo-cellulosic material (like the stalks of hemp), charcoal, gasoline, ethanol, non-condensable gasses, acetic acid, acetone, methane, and methanol. Process adjustments can be done to favor charcoal, pyrolytic oil, gas, or methanol, with 95.5% fuel-to-feed ratios. Around 68% of the energy of the raw biomass will be contained in the charcoal and fuel oils — renewable energy generated here at home, instead of overpaying for foreign petroleum.

Pyrolysis facilities can run 3 shifts a day, and since pyrolysis facilities need to be within 50 miles of the energy crop to be cost effective, many new local and rural jobs will be created, not to mention the employment opportunities in trucking and transportation.

Hemp vs. Fossil Fuels

Pyrolysis facilities can use the same technology used now to process fossil fuel oil and coal. Petroleum coal and oil conversion is more efficient in terms of fuel-to-feed ratio, but there are many advantages to conversion by pyrolysis.

1) Biomass has a heating value of 5000-8000 BTU/lb, with virtually no ash or sulfur emissions.

2) Ethanol, methanol, methane gas, and gasoline can be derived from biomass at a fraction of the cost of the current cost of oil, coal, or nuclear energy, especially when environmental costs are factored in. Each acre of hemp could yield about 1000 gallons of methanol.

3) When an energy crop is growing, it takes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, and releases an equal amount when it is burned, creating a balanced system, unlike petroleum fuels, which only release CO2. When an energy crop like hemp is grown on a massive scale, it will initially lower the CO2 in the air, and then stabilize it at a level lower than before the planting of the energy crop.

4) Use of biomass would end acid rain, end sulfer-based smog, and reverse the greenhouse effect.

Coal

Unlike petroleum reserves, America has enough coal to last 100-300 years, but burning it for electricity puts sulfur (toxic to every membrane in which it comes in contact, especially the simplest life forms – into the air, which leads to acid rain, which lills 50,000 Americans, and 5,000 – 10,000 Canadians, annually, and destroys the forests, river, and animals.

Charcoal can be created from biomass through pyrolysis (charcoaling), which has nearly the same heating value in BTU as coal, virtually without sulfur. Biomass can also be co-fired with coal to reduce emissions.

Ethanol and Methanol

Ethanol is a water-free, high-octane alcohol which can be used as fuel to drive cars. Under current conditions, use of ethanol-blended fuels such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) can reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases by as much as 37.1%. Ethanol-powered vehicles do suffer in performance (barely), but ethanol is effective as a fuel additive because it helps engines burn cleaner.

Once pyrolysis facilities are up and running, converting biomass into charcoal for electrical power plants, it will be more feasible to build the complex gasifying systems to produce ethanol and/or methanol from the cubed biomass, or to make high-octane lead-free gasoline from the methanol using a catalytic process developed by Georgia Tech University in conjunction with Mobil Oil Corporation.

Ethanol is currently being used as a fuel additive, replacing toxic methyl tertiary ether (MTBE). Ethanol producers are currently providing only 1% of America’s liquid fuel. Soon though, as new development processes are researched, and with the use of hemp, the plant worlds number one producer of biomass, the cost of this alternative fuel will give petroleum vigorous competition.

Hydrolysis: A process whereby cellulose is converted to fermentable glucose, which holds the greatest promise for production and feedstock, because it could produce 100 gallons/ton. Tim Castleman and the Fuel and Fiber Company are researching this technology. Their method extracts the high-value bast fiber as first step. Then the remaining core material (mostly hurd) is converted to alcohol (methanol, ethanol), and then to glucose. Hydrolysis could produce 300,000 to 600,000 tons of biomass per year per facility, if each facility could process input from 60,000 to 170,000 acres.

Gasification: A form of pyrolysis which converts biomass into synthetic gas, such as ethanol, and low grade fuel oil with an energy content of about 40% that of petroleum diesel. This process is good for community power-corporation and people seeking self-sufficient energy needs. A small modular bio-powered system is in place in the village of Alaminos in the Philippines, using gasification techniques for energy.

Anaerobic Digestion: A process of capturing methane from green waste material (biomass). This process is toxic, but well suited for distributed power generation when co-located with electrical generation equipment.

Boiler: Biomass can also be burned in a boiler, but this energy has a value of $30-50 ton, which makes it impractical due to the higher value of hemp fiber, unless used on a local small scale, and in remote rural applications.

Hemp Produces the Most Biomass of Any Plant on Earth.

Hemp is at least four times richer in biomass/cellulose potential than its nearest rivals: cornstalks, sugarcane, kenaf, trees, etc.

Hemp produces the most biomass of any crop, which is why it is the natural choice for an energy crop. Hemp converts the sun’s energy into cellulose faster than any other plant, through photosynthesis. Hemp can produce 10 tons of biomass per acre every four months. Enough energy could be produced on 6% of the land in the U.S. to provide enough energy for our entire country (cars, heat homes, electricity, industry) — and we use 25% of the world’s energy.

To put which in perspective, right now we pay farmers not to grow on 6% (around 90 million acres) of the farming land, while another 500 million acres of marginal farmland lies fallow. This land could be used to grow hemp as an energy crop.

Conclusion

The most important aspect of industrial hemp farming, the most compelling thing hemp offers us, is fuel. Right now we are depleting our reserves of petroleum and buying it up from our Arab enemies. It would be nice if we could have a fuel source which was reusable and which we could grow right here, making us completely energy independent.

Petroleum fuel increases carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and contributes heavily to global warming and the greenhouse effect, which, the EPA has warned, will lead to global catastrophe in the next 50 years if these trends continue. Do you want to find out if they are right, or do you want to grow the most cost effective and environmentally safe fuel source on the planet?

Using hemp as an energy and rotation crop would be a great step in the right direction.

Hemp Seed Oil

Hemp seed oil has historically been used as lamp oil. It is said to shine the brightest of all lamp oils. Hemp seed oil lit the lamps of Abraham Lincoln, Abraham the prophet, and was used in the legendary lamps of Aladdin.

Anything which can be made from fossil fuels can be made from an organic substance like hemp. Toxic petrochemicals can be replaced with hemp oil.

Hemp oil can be made into anything with an oil base, including paint, varnish, detergent, solvent, and lubricating oil. The advantage of these product is that they are earth friendly and biodegradable, and do not destroy ecosystems around them like petrochemicals do.

Until the 1930s most paint and varnishes were made with non-toxic hemp oil. Hemp paint provides superior coating because hemp oil soaks into and preserves wood, due to its high resistance to water.

Hemp oil is a good base for non-toxic printing inks. Soy is currently made into inks, but soy ink requires more processing and takes longer to dry than hemp oil based inks. Source.

This is the sweetest thing to come out of Singapore since the Sling.

Scientists at Singapore’s Institute of Biotechnology and Nanoengineering have developed a method of transforming carbon dioxide into methanol. That’s right, go ahead and read that again if you need to do so. Let it sink in. Now, ask why none of the major news outlets have reported this discovery?

Okay, so maybe this isn’t exactly breaking news. This process has been discovered before, but the new method is a lot a lot a lot cooler. The new catalyst being used can convert carbon dioxide to methanol straight out of the air!! That changes everything.
Seriously. This advance gives us the ability to turn carbon dioxide (harmful greenhouse gas) into methanol (clean burning fuel). This is the same carbon dioxide that we release every single time we breathe! Yes, we will be able to recycle our own energy!! This will revolutionize the energy industry, as long as big oil doesn’t stand in the way of its progress.
Gosh, can you imagine a future where we rely heavily on this method of energy capture?
Suddenly, burps will be a lot sexier. The louder you go, the more you care about the environment. In fact, if you’re into enviro-friendly ladies or boys, just go right up to your sweetie and burp in his or her face. There’s no need for silly pick up lines anymore.

(Angewandte Chemie)

ScienceDaily reports that researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have discovered a “simple” way to convert CO2 to useful C1 chemicals, like methanol. Methanol, one of the world’s largest volume industrial chemicals, is a convenient starting point for many petroleum derived chemicals and plastics, and a useful fuel component in its own right.

The the CO2 to methanol reaction, which uses a N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst and a hydro-silane reducing agent, yields a process “… by which CO2 can be efficiently converted into methanol under very mild conditions…” according to the researchers.

If – and that’s a huge word in this context – if this new science can be engineered to a practical, economic scale, then we may have a powerful new tool (complementing and perhaps displacing absorption-sequestration schemes) to begin making headway toward controlling CO2 greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: “Carbon Dioxide Snatched From The Air”, ScienceDaily. Wiley-Blackwell (2009, April 21).