I want to start this blog off with an encounter I had with Ward 2 candidate Rodney Glassman. I was serving Tuesday night at Outback Steakhouse and he came in with a friend of his to eat. It was such a weird coincidence because on Monday I chose the Tucson City Council elections as my Special Project topic for the Cat Scan. He ordered a side salad but went on to tell me that he wanted it in a big bowl. I told him I could do it for him, but he wanted me to make sure it wasn't just the same amount of salad you would get in a small bowl just put into a bigger bowl. I brought out the salad, in the big bowl, and he wanted to test to see if there was indeed more salad. I then brought out a small ball and he proceeded to pour the salad from the big bowl into the small bowl to measure just how much more he was getting (I didn't charge him any extra for it anyway). He was happy because it filled the small bowl much more than normal. Anyway, he talked to me a little about his career, he has received four degrees from the UA, and I explained to him the project I am working on and inquired his ideas about a greener Tucson. He said he was endorsed by the Sierra Club, a green organization that I was embarrassed I had not heard of, and talked about Prop 200. He seemed like a nice guy and one I would consider voting for.
My partner and I decided that we are going to focus our special project around the Green Party candidates Dave Croteau and Ward 1 candidate Beryl Baker. If all goes according to plan, we will each be with the candidates on election night taking video and interviews as the votes come rolling in. Croteau is running for mayor against incumbent Bob Walkup. He is running under the 10 key values of the Green Party, is strongly in favor of sustainability and mentions more than once on his website the harsh realities of global warming and centralization. He, and all Green Party candidates are for Prop 200, which is a tricky propostion to sift through in order to understand exactly what would happen if it passes. Passing the proposition would repeal the $14-a-month garbage fee, but it would limit the use of reclaimed water. The Daily Star breaks down all the parts of the proposition here.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Searching for an alternative fuel vehicle
As my days as an undergrad wind down, I'm beginning to realize that my days in Tucson are probably numbered. Wherever I end up living next year with a new job, I want my first indulgence to be on a vehicle that can run on alternative fuel. While a new Benz might be a little out of reach for an entry-level reporter, an older model would certainly work just as well. Clean Air Choice lists vehicles that can run on E85 and there are certainly quite a few tantalizing choices. A search on eBay Motors will bring up a list of flex fuel cars and trucks ranging from under $1,000 to over $40,000. While the Yukon is quite nice, that Taurus seems like a steal at just $500 right now. It has a V6 that puts out 155 hp, and 185 lbs. of torque. Not too shabby at all. Because E85 is so efficient in engines, it would allow SUV-driving Americans to drive their huge vehicles without feeling so bad about it (I really don't know if they do or don't, actually). This Suburban gets 15/19 mpg while putting out around 300 hp. It's true the thing probably does weigh around 6,000 pounds or more, but it only uses imported petroleum as 15% of it's fuel intake.
While there are not quite as many options for someone looking for an alternative fuel vehicle as opposed to regular, gasoline fueled vehicles, there is probably something for everyone. We covered the SUV and sedan drivers, but for those speed demons, like me, there are BMW's and turbo diesel Volkswagens that can run on biodiesel. Check back to my blog in a couple months and I'll update on what cars have been catching my eye and if any purchase has been made.
While there are not quite as many options for someone looking for an alternative fuel vehicle as opposed to regular, gasoline fueled vehicles, there is probably something for everyone. We covered the SUV and sedan drivers, but for those speed demons, like me, there are BMW's and turbo diesel Volkswagens that can run on biodiesel. Check back to my blog in a couple months and I'll update on what cars have been catching my eye and if any purchase has been made.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Algae ethanol
I read an online article on the New York Times that discussed how ethanol production might harm the water industry. Well, not all ethanol, just corn-based ethanol. The article said that because so many companies are now beginning to jump on the corn bandwagon, my guess is because of the subsidies our government is now paying farmers, it is having negative effects on water in this country. The author wrote that in a report the National Research Council, financed by the EPA and National Science Foundation, claimed that more ethanol-production plants are contaminating ground water at higher levels and using a lot more water that would have been used as "drinking, industry, hydropower, fish habitat and recreation." The author did not explain how or go into any great detail about fertilizers and their impact on ground water contamination, but I checked out the actual report itself to find out. The report says, "corn has the greatest application rates of both fertilizer and pesticides per acre, higher than for soybeans and mixed-species grassland biomass."
The UNH said in report how efficient algae is at producing biodiesel. The report talks about the hurdles that would need to be overcome for algae to work as a mass-produced biofuel, but the author said the problems are already in the process of being solved. The article starts out by talking about how much land is used for corn production in the United States and how we could eventually rid ourselves of our dependency on foreign petroleum. The second section describes algae production and the problems that could arise. What caught my attention first is the fact that we are currently using 450 million acres for crop farming and 550 million for farm animal grazing. The author than says that only 9.5 million acres of algae producing land would satisfy every single persons and cars need for petroleum! 140.8 billion gallons to be exact.
It gets better though. THe author writes, "algae farms could also be constructed to use waste streams (either human waste or animal waste from animal farms) as a food source, which would provide a beautiful way of spreading algae production around the country." He also says that it could create a loop because a high-in-nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer. So by using algae, one can recycle fertilizer as well. And where is a good place to start this wide-spread algae production? The author says none other than the Sonoran Desert. He said it would be a good place due to the amount of sun we get every year. If a plant is built, than he said it could go around the Salton Sea in Southern California.
Financially, there is no question we should embrace this biofuel. He said to produce enough algae (pay employees, run plants, land) to run every car in America, it would cost a total of $46.2 billion per year. We distribute $100-150 billion to foreign countries every year for petroleum. So not only are we no longer harming the environment, we are also creating more jobs at home and all the money is going back into our economy.
The next couple of years could be quite interesting in terms of when and how we realize that we have alternatives to petroleum readily at our disposal and how fast we choose to embrace them.
The UNH said in report how efficient algae is at producing biodiesel. The report talks about the hurdles that would need to be overcome for algae to work as a mass-produced biofuel, but the author said the problems are already in the process of being solved. The article starts out by talking about how much land is used for corn production in the United States and how we could eventually rid ourselves of our dependency on foreign petroleum. The second section describes algae production and the problems that could arise. What caught my attention first is the fact that we are currently using 450 million acres for crop farming and 550 million for farm animal grazing. The author than says that only 9.5 million acres of algae producing land would satisfy every single persons and cars need for petroleum! 140.8 billion gallons to be exact.
It gets better though. THe author writes, "algae farms could also be constructed to use waste streams (either human waste or animal waste from animal farms) as a food source, which would provide a beautiful way of spreading algae production around the country." He also says that it could create a loop because a high-in-nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizer. So by using algae, one can recycle fertilizer as well. And where is a good place to start this wide-spread algae production? The author says none other than the Sonoran Desert. He said it would be a good place due to the amount of sun we get every year. If a plant is built, than he said it could go around the Salton Sea in Southern California.
Financially, there is no question we should embrace this biofuel. He said to produce enough algae (pay employees, run plants, land) to run every car in America, it would cost a total of $46.2 billion per year. We distribute $100-150 billion to foreign countries every year for petroleum. So not only are we no longer harming the environment, we are also creating more jobs at home and all the money is going back into our economy.
The next couple of years could be quite interesting in terms of when and how we realize that we have alternatives to petroleum readily at our disposal and how fast we choose to embrace them.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Tucson Golf Courses and a little bit about Segways
I just got back from a two hour Segway tour guided by the folks down at Segway of Tucson. This was my first experience riding one of these machines but I have to say it was a pretty neat experience. They start you off with about 20 minutes of training on how to turn, go up curbs, go forward and reverse and how not to kill yourself or others during operations. It takes times to get used to the motion system but once you do its pretty easy and fun to maneuver one of these bad boys. The whole thing is controlled by where your center of gravity is. Thus, if you are standing straight up on it, you remain still. But if you lean forward, the Segway picks that up and starts to move forward. The same goes for leaning back. The more you lean in either direction, the faster you will go. Since we were beginners, they started us off with a 6 mph limiter which was later bumped up to 8 mph. The steering is done with by a motorcycle type throttle on the left handle bar. Once you get used to turning and controlling your speed, its pretty fun to operate. However, at $5k a pop, students like myself won't be able to take advantage of such an eco-friendly machine.
Denise, the owner of Segway of Tucson, talked about just how friendly they are. On a full charge a Segway can go about 25 miles. She said, electricity wise, it costs about 10 cents to get a full charge out of the lithium battery. The charge takes about 15 minutes per mile used. Some quick math will tell you that it takes about 6.5 hours to fully charge a Segway. Overall, it was a great experience, even though we probably turned more heads in those two hours than a group of naked coeds running through campus.
The other thing I did this weekend was visit seven or eight golf courses all over Tucson for Ray and my's special project. We found out that a lot of courses are using reclaimed water now. The Forty-Niner course was one of these and they have been using reclaimed water for a year now, if I remember correctly. It took a good amount of time to set up the operationg since they had to build a pipe from the Santa Cruz River all the way to where they are which is a few miles east of Houghton. Pretty intense.
All of the city course, including Randolph, El Rio, Silverbell, are also on reclaimed water. We learned that every year around this time, every course has to reseed every hole. That's why you will see in some of the pictures I took that some course are browning and others are a happy green. Del Lago, one of the courses we visited, is absolutely gorgeous right now. They had just finsihed the reseeding process and used reclaimed water to do so. Check out the pics!
Denise, the owner of Segway of Tucson, talked about just how friendly they are. On a full charge a Segway can go about 25 miles. She said, electricity wise, it costs about 10 cents to get a full charge out of the lithium battery. The charge takes about 15 minutes per mile used. Some quick math will tell you that it takes about 6.5 hours to fully charge a Segway. Overall, it was a great experience, even though we probably turned more heads in those two hours than a group of naked coeds running through campus.
The other thing I did this weekend was visit seven or eight golf courses all over Tucson for Ray and my's special project. We found out that a lot of courses are using reclaimed water now. The Forty-Niner course was one of these and they have been using reclaimed water for a year now, if I remember correctly. It took a good amount of time to set up the operationg since they had to build a pipe from the Santa Cruz River all the way to where they are which is a few miles east of Houghton. Pretty intense.
All of the city course, including Randolph, El Rio, Silverbell, are also on reclaimed water. We learned that every year around this time, every course has to reseed every hole. That's why you will see in some of the pictures I took that some course are browning and others are a happy green. Del Lago, one of the courses we visited, is absolutely gorgeous right now. They had just finsihed the reseeding process and used reclaimed water to do so. Check out the pics!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
More on Biofuels
TO start on a funny note, I was at Arizona Petroleum, checking out their ethanol and biodiesel pumps, and some guy pulls up in his older Mercedes Benz to fuel up on biodiesel. I was up to him and start out by saying I hoped I wasn't bothering him. He turns and tells me I am bothering him and asks what it is exactly I want and before I can answer he tells me he doesn't have it. I'm like, what are you talking about? He seemed to think I was homeless asking for spare change. It was at this point I took a look at what I was wearing to see if I dawned the apparel of a Tucson bum. Needless to say, we joked about it after that and he turned out to be a pretty cool guy. He bought his 1983 MB purely for the fact that it could run on biodiesel without any modification. He asked me if I drove a similar car and I was almost ashamed to say I drove a Honda Civic. I mean, it gets great gas mileage, but this biodiesel thing is changing the way I think about cars by the minute.
What I also learned in the process of writing the article was that all the white UA cars that say "for state of Arizona use only," run on E85. I was quite impressed with the job Mark Harrell, Fleet Manager for UA Motor Pool, and that program has accomplished. It became an even bigger story that I wish I kind of explored more with because now I am thinking that I should have gone up to the Pinal Energy plant up in Maricopa. I am thinking that I might take a video camera up there and tape a tour or something of the plant to document the process of creating ethanol out of the corn they receive locally and from the midwest. I think that also might turn into a story of its own in order to explain where they are receiving their corn from and why they do so. It could make for something interesting.
The thing that I have learned about ethanol, as told to me by Harrell, is that it will never end our dependence on foreign oil. The most common blend is, of course, E85, but that still requires 15% to be petroleum. That is why biodiesel is something we need to embrace. It is very clean with little to no emissions and we can produce every gallon of it in the United States. I asked Harrell if he knew about the algae form of biodiesel and he said that it was the most promising thing we have in the US right now, in terms of 86ing our need for imported petroleum. This is what bugs me a bit though. You don't hear anything about it on the main stream media. A search on CNN will show you what I mean. I don't like to embrace conspiracies too much, although I do love some, but it just adds to the fact that companies like CNN are mega corporations who are rumored to be influenced by the administration. I don't really know where I was going with that but I've hated the mainstream media for awhile now and the fact that they do not take extra space to talk about how to save the environment with new technologies developed right here in the good ole US of A, well it doesn't make me want to watch more of it, lets just say that.
What I also learned in the process of writing the article was that all the white UA cars that say "for state of Arizona use only," run on E85. I was quite impressed with the job Mark Harrell, Fleet Manager for UA Motor Pool, and that program has accomplished. It became an even bigger story that I wish I kind of explored more with because now I am thinking that I should have gone up to the Pinal Energy plant up in Maricopa. I am thinking that I might take a video camera up there and tape a tour or something of the plant to document the process of creating ethanol out of the corn they receive locally and from the midwest. I think that also might turn into a story of its own in order to explain where they are receiving their corn from and why they do so. It could make for something interesting.
The thing that I have learned about ethanol, as told to me by Harrell, is that it will never end our dependence on foreign oil. The most common blend is, of course, E85, but that still requires 15% to be petroleum. That is why biodiesel is something we need to embrace. It is very clean with little to no emissions and we can produce every gallon of it in the United States. I asked Harrell if he knew about the algae form of biodiesel and he said that it was the most promising thing we have in the US right now, in terms of 86ing our need for imported petroleum. This is what bugs me a bit though. You don't hear anything about it on the main stream media. A search on CNN will show you what I mean. I don't like to embrace conspiracies too much, although I do love some, but it just adds to the fact that companies like CNN are mega corporations who are rumored to be influenced by the administration. I don't really know where I was going with that but I've hated the mainstream media for awhile now and the fact that they do not take extra space to talk about how to save the environment with new technologies developed right here in the good ole US of A, well it doesn't make me want to watch more of it, lets just say that.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Tucson's Alternative Fuel Locations
I went by to see with my own eyes the Go Go Mart on Broadway near Tucson Blvd. and there were indeed two biodiesel fuel pumps. I wanted to talk to a manager or owner to see what made them decided to purchase the stuff but alas, no one was around except for the cashier. The only information he had for me was that someone was going around, presumably the people from RoadRunner, and offering businesses their chance to put biodiesel on their pumps. The guy from the Alternative Energy Expo said this was the only gas station in Tucson with biodiesel, but I wondered if there were any other alternative fuels available. My editor told me there are some out there that distribute ethanol, so I went looking.
These are the locations you can purchase E85 for you car in Tucson.
1015 S. Cherry: Arizona Petroleum
8601 E. Golf Links: C+T Oil
2710 N. First Ave
1701 N. Alvernon: C+T Oil
Ethanol is produced by fermentation. Yeast is added to the sugar solution, much like in the beer-brewing process, and the result is ethanol and carbon dioxide. While I was reading about how ethanol is used in alcohol, such as beer, it reminded me of that Simpsons episode where Homer envisions what it would be like to have an alcohol-fueled car ("one for you, one for me," check youtube for it). While hilarious, he probably would be dead after one sip of the stuff. Yeast used for brewing can handle at most 15% ethanol, the type you can buy at the aforementioned locations sell 85% ethanol. Pretty poisonous but Homer could probably still handle it.
Wikipedia says ethanol is the stuff that causes depression in our central nervous systems when we consume alcohol. Also on the ethanol page, they discuss the different types of alcohol, how each is fermented, and what product it is fermented from. For example, "rum is distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane."
The American Coalition for Ethanol describes the benefits of using ethanol and the differences of types you can buy at the pump. It says that all vehicles can run on a 10% ethanol blend, and some, known as Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV), can run on anything up to 85% ethanol, including regular unleaded. Also cool about ethanol is that E85 has an octane rating of at least 105, according to AME website. So not only does E85 reduce all those pesky greenhouse gases, it also make your car perform roughly 22% better if you are filling at 87 octance.
These are the locations you can purchase E85 for you car in Tucson.
1015 S. Cherry: Arizona Petroleum
8601 E. Golf Links: C+T Oil
2710 N. First Ave
1701 N. Alvernon: C+T Oil
Ethanol is produced by fermentation. Yeast is added to the sugar solution, much like in the beer-brewing process, and the result is ethanol and carbon dioxide. While I was reading about how ethanol is used in alcohol, such as beer, it reminded me of that Simpsons episode where Homer envisions what it would be like to have an alcohol-fueled car ("one for you, one for me," check youtube for it). While hilarious, he probably would be dead after one sip of the stuff. Yeast used for brewing can handle at most 15% ethanol, the type you can buy at the aforementioned locations sell 85% ethanol. Pretty poisonous but Homer could probably still handle it.
Wikipedia says ethanol is the stuff that causes depression in our central nervous systems when we consume alcohol. Also on the ethanol page, they discuss the different types of alcohol, how each is fermented, and what product it is fermented from. For example, "rum is distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane."
The American Coalition for Ethanol describes the benefits of using ethanol and the differences of types you can buy at the pump. It says that all vehicles can run on a 10% ethanol blend, and some, known as Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV), can run on anything up to 85% ethanol, including regular unleaded. Also cool about ethanol is that E85 has an octane rating of at least 105, according to AME website. So not only does E85 reduce all those pesky greenhouse gases, it also make your car perform roughly 22% better if you are filling at 87 octance.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Alternative Energy Expo and Biodiesel
So I stopped by the Energy Expo Saturday morning to see if I could find anyone who I might be able to interview for my hemp article that is due later this week. There were two "booths" dedicated to biodiesel: this company Roadrunner Biodiesel and the Arizona Biodiesel Board. The guy at the Roadrunner booth was telling me that their company is the one that sells the biodiesel to gas stations. He said there is only one such gas station in Tucson and it is the Go Go Mart at 2200 E. Broadway Blvd. He said that at the time it is going for about $3.29 per gallon, about 70 cents higher then regular gasoline. He was also telling me about cars that currently can run on the fuel. He said that all diesel engine cars, such as the Volkswagen Jetta, a few Mercedez's and a couple Jeep models can run on biodiesel. The difference between biodiesel and regular diesel is that biodiesel comes from biological sources, such as corn, hemp, and vegetable oils, and regular diesel has been processed from petroleum, which is also what makes up our regular gasoline.
I was not quite sure at the time I was talking to the guy from Roadrunner, but I wanted to know why dont all diesel cars run on biodiesel. It can be made from corn oil, and right now is a great time for that considering the heavy subsidies the government is currently paying farmers in the midwest. There is a great article here that talks about the good and bad effects of using government subsidized corn. A quote from the article: "For years we were criticized for having cheap corn that was encouraging obesity," Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, said at a news conference. "And then this last year when corn got to $4 (per bushel), it switched to, 'You're causing people to starve around the world.'"
This is a very hot topic in America at the moment like I said. I honestly thought about trading in my car for a diesel-powered car to see what I could do with biodiesel. The guy at the booth said biodiesel has about 50% less Carbon Monoxide emissions then its petroleum based counterpart.
He also talked to me briefly about how they are starting to use algae as a method of creating biodiesel. On the biodiesel page on Wikipedia they have a chart about how many gallons of oil are produced for each hectare. Corn was the absolute lowest at 18 gallons/ha, hemp came in at 39 gallons/ha, but algae was off the chart in comparison. I dont know how accurate the chart is but it says a hectare of algae produces a whopping 819 gallons of oil! So just how are they turning algae into biodiesel fuel?
Algae is pretty intense. The Department of Energy Aquatic Species Program says that algae is the only feasible method of world-wide dependence on petroleum based gasoline. This is so because of algae's ability to grow in just about any condition, high reproduction rate and extremely high harvesting results compared to alternatives. Algae, like hemp, is high in protein and can be used in foods, and, this is probably the most intriguing thing about mass-algae production is that it can be fed carbon dioxide in its growth process. The guy at Roadrunner mentioned to me that an industrial plant (I dont remember where or what company) was feeding its carbon dioxide emissions directly into a algae-growing plant. So not only is algae a renewable source of energy but it can also reduce worldwide CO2 emissions! Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me.
I was not quite sure at the time I was talking to the guy from Roadrunner, but I wanted to know why dont all diesel cars run on biodiesel. It can be made from corn oil, and right now is a great time for that considering the heavy subsidies the government is currently paying farmers in the midwest. There is a great article here that talks about the good and bad effects of using government subsidized corn. A quote from the article: "For years we were criticized for having cheap corn that was encouraging obesity," Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, said at a news conference. "And then this last year when corn got to $4 (per bushel), it switched to, 'You're causing people to starve around the world.'"
This is a very hot topic in America at the moment like I said. I honestly thought about trading in my car for a diesel-powered car to see what I could do with biodiesel. The guy at the booth said biodiesel has about 50% less Carbon Monoxide emissions then its petroleum based counterpart.
He also talked to me briefly about how they are starting to use algae as a method of creating biodiesel. On the biodiesel page on Wikipedia they have a chart about how many gallons of oil are produced for each hectare. Corn was the absolute lowest at 18 gallons/ha, hemp came in at 39 gallons/ha, but algae was off the chart in comparison. I dont know how accurate the chart is but it says a hectare of algae produces a whopping 819 gallons of oil! So just how are they turning algae into biodiesel fuel?
Algae is pretty intense. The Department of Energy Aquatic Species Program says that algae is the only feasible method of world-wide dependence on petroleum based gasoline. This is so because of algae's ability to grow in just about any condition, high reproduction rate and extremely high harvesting results compared to alternatives. Algae, like hemp, is high in protein and can be used in foods, and, this is probably the most intriguing thing about mass-algae production is that it can be fed carbon dioxide in its growth process. The guy at Roadrunner mentioned to me that an industrial plant (I dont remember where or what company) was feeding its carbon dioxide emissions directly into a algae-growing plant. So not only is algae a renewable source of energy but it can also reduce worldwide CO2 emissions! Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me.
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