Trying to understand the chemistry that turns plant material into the same energy-rich gasoline and diesel we put in our vehicles, researchers have discovered that water in the conversion process helps form an impurity which, in turn, slows down key chemical reactions. The study, which was reported online at the Journal of the American Chemical Society, can help improve processes that produce biofuels from plants.
Water leads to chemical that gunks up biofuels production
Trying to understand the chemistry that turns plant material into the same energy-rich gasoline and diesel we put in our vehicles, researchers have discovered that water in the conversion process helps form an impurity which, in turn, slows down key chemical reactions. The study, which was reported online at the Journal of the American Chemical Society, can help improve processes that produce biofuels from plants.
Here Comes Cheaper Oil: Why Prices Are Set to Fall
I learned from Art Laffer that government is the 800lb gorilla in the economy and that investors can profit from changes in government policies. But a practitioner has to accept the framework – that government policies drive incentives as much or more than any other single driver. The charts that follow should prove that out. They show how a proposed change to the RFS ethanol mandate drove corn prices down 30% almost instantaneously. Similarly, in 2008, oil prices plunged at the mere suggestion that a moratorium against drilling on the outer continental shelf (OCS) might end.
U.S. Government Sells 400,000 Acres in Gulf
The federal government has sold more than 400,000 acres in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast for oil and gas exploration and development, an official with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Wednesday.
54.5 mpg: Why our measure of fuel economy is wrong
While average fuel economy continues to improve, the target benchmark seems impossible to reach. That’s because we’re looking at two different measurements of fuel economy.
Federal Tax Credits For Plug-In Hybrids, Electric Cars: What You Need To Know
If you want to get a special incentive for driving a hybrid, you’re a few years too late; but a tax credit applies to nearly every electric car and plug-in hybrid on the market and it can, in some cases, effectively reduce your cost for such a model to that of an ordinary gasoline vehicle (or even less).
Study: Ethanol co-product may offer low-fat product for use in swine diet
Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are a co-product of the ethanol industry and have been an affordable source of energy and protein in swine diets for decades. In recent years, ethanol plants have begun to centrifuge the solubles from ethanol production to extract oil, which is sold to the biodiesel industry.
Ethanol production volumes among highest ever reported
In the US Energy Information Administration’s August issue of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, ethanol production has averaged approximately 940,000 barrels per day over the past three months.
Transportation Forecast: Global Fuel Consumption
Reducing the transportation sector’s dependence on oil has long been a policy goal of governments globally. The sector’s overwhelming dependence on the resource results in major costs that affect energy security, environmental security, and economic stability for nations globally.
Light Duty Natural Gas Vehicles
Natural gas supplies have increased in many parts of the world during recent years due to new pipelines and hydraulic fracturing. This increase has led to reduced prices for natural gas and the wider geographic availability of vehicle refueling. As a result, interest has been renewed in utilizing natural gas as a transportation fuel to reduce both the use of oil and greenhouse gas emissions
World’s First Bacon-Powered Motorcycle
Hormel Foods has built the first motorcycle that runs off bio-diesel made from bacon grease. I know what you’re thinking – yes it does smell like breakfast when cruising down the road. Game changer? Definitely.
Hormel Foods was looking for a unique way to promote its Black Label bacon so they teamed up with BBDO Minneapolis to create the #DrivenByBacon campaign. The campaign saw Eric Pierson take the motorbike on a documented cross-country road trip starting in Austin, Minnesota, making its way to San Diego for the 2nd annual International Bacon Film Festival on August 29th – yes that’s a real thing. Eric arrived in San Diego yesterday but the “Driven By Bacon” documentary won’t be premiered to fellow pork lovers for a few more weeks.