decentralized power
Make Local Energy, Not War
The bottom line of some of our largest corporations is money rather than people. Why else would there be so many sick and hungry people, environmental destruction, violence, addictions of all types, and wars in the world? People are making money maintaining rather than solving problems. A successful businessperson has to be tough, and some think you can't care about other people or the environment to make money. But, for those of us with our eyes open, this most dangerous time in human history is also an opportunity to participate in an economic development renaissance - the creation of new more appropriate technologies to replace our lost jobs and no longer viable industries.
There has been a long-term trend toward concentration of both financial power and energy generation - yielding massive energy generation facilities owned by a relatively small group of super-wealthy people. People with enough money to invest end up able to make even more money. Those of us with little resources to do other than keep our heads above water don't have any extra financial fat to put to use to better our futures; we have enough trouble taking care of the here and now, one day at a time. So the rich become richer, the middle class and poor even more helpless, and the energy facilities ever larger.
As in the rest of the financial world, the energy industry's thoughtless pursuit of money without considering the consequences of it's methods has planted the seeds of it's own destruction. Now we have massive energy generation and delivery systems - nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas - and environmental problems so breathtakingly complex that we can't even assume a continuation of traditional weather patterns. The fossil fuel and nuclear industries are finding themselves on the business end of legal attempts to make them more people- and Earth-friendly. And the general public is wondering how those in a position to know didn't notice we have been destabilizing the planet's ecosystem. Had distributed energies, able to be supplied and run locally - such as solar, wind, microhydro, and biofuels - been given fair competition in the marketplace, our energy system would have become by now much more decentralized and secure. People would be making their own power, or buying from nearby rather than being monopolized by some distant massive utility with whom they have no say. And we wouldn't be enmeshed in increasingly cutthroat competition worldwide to import power. Now that's homeland security.
As humanity trembles with wars over non-renewable resources (and ever more advanced weapons of mass destruction), the new captains of industry are rising to make war unnecessary.
I was privileged the other evening at CMU to attend a free lecture by a couple businessmen clearly positioned to make a "killing" by decreasing this country's need to fight for fossil fuel market share.
With the language of science applied to manufacturing, they discussed their work making biodiesel in New York City and models for biodiesel production, distribution, and use throughout the United States. Tri-State Biodiesel representatives Brent Baker and Christopher Frank spoke about how waste vegetable oil, animal fats, and oil extracted from crops (including even algae) grown specifically for energy is replacing gasoline with a cleaner, more climate-friendly alternatives. Like originators of past advances, these pioneers integrate the desire to make money with the will to improve our world and a passion for experimentation to improve what they've already created.
I urge those who know that green technology, not gambling, is real economic development, to get involved in the rebuilding of our already melting down economy. Much information is available on the net. Here are some links:
======
Tri-State Biodiesel
http://tristatebiodiesel.com/links.htm
======
U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Alternative Fuels Data Center
http://eere.energy.gov/afdc
======
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
http://nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/npbf/renewable_diesel.html
======
Biodiesel gaining steam as alternative fuel source
CMU spinoff's technology could make it a big player in fledgling market
by Pamela Gaynor 8/16/5
http://post-gazette.com/pg/05228/554468.stm
...Capital Technologies International, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff in Hazelwood, expects to jump on the bandwagon with a new process for making the fuel...
http://capital-technologies.com
======
http://www.cleancities-pittsburgh.net/interesting.htm
http://steelcitybiofuels.org
http://dancingrabbit.org/biodiesel
http://greasecar.com
http://chooseclimate.org
======
GreenFuel Technologies
http://greenfuelonline.com
...bioreactor systems that can convert the CO2 in your smokestack gases into clean, renewable biofuels...
======
http://www.socialforge.net/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=33
The bottom line of some of our largest corporations is money rather than people. Why else would there be so many sick and hungry people, environmental destruction, violence, addictions of all types, and wars in the world? People are making money maintaining rather than solving problems. A successful businessperson has to be tough, and some think you can't care about other people or the environment to make money. But, for those of us with our eyes open, this most dangerous time in human history is also an opportunity to participate in an economic development renaissance - the creation of new more appropriate technologies to replace our lost jobs and no longer viable industries.
There has been a long-term trend toward concentration of both financial power and energy generation - yielding massive energy generation facilities owned by a relatively small group of super-wealthy people. People with enough money to invest end up able to make even more money. Those of us with little resources to do other than keep our heads above water don't have any extra financial fat to put to use to better our futures; we have enough trouble taking care of the here and now, one day at a time. So the rich become richer, the middle class and poor even more helpless, and the energy facilities ever larger.
As in the rest of the financial world, the energy industry's thoughtless pursuit of money without considering the consequences of it's methods has planted the seeds of it's own destruction. Now we have massive energy generation and delivery systems - nuclear, coal, oil, natural gas - and environmental problems so breathtakingly complex that we can't even assume a continuation of traditional weather patterns. The fossil fuel and nuclear industries are finding themselves on the business end of legal attempts to make them more people- and Earth-friendly. And the general public is wondering how those in a position to know didn't notice we have been destabilizing the planet's ecosystem. Had distributed energies, able to be supplied and run locally - such as solar, wind, microhydro, and biofuels - been given fair competition in the marketplace, our energy system would have become by now much more decentralized and secure. People would be making their own power, or buying from nearby rather than being monopolized by some distant massive utility with whom they have no say. And we wouldn't be enmeshed in increasingly cutthroat competition worldwide to import power. Now that's homeland security.
As humanity trembles with wars over non-renewable resources (and ever more advanced weapons of mass destruction), the new captains of industry are rising to make war unnecessary.
I was privileged the other evening at CMU to attend a free lecture by a couple businessmen clearly positioned to make a "killing" by decreasing this country's need to fight for fossil fuel market share.
With the language of science applied to manufacturing, they discussed their work making biodiesel in New York City and models for biodiesel production, distribution, and use throughout the United States. Tri-State Biodiesel representatives Brent Baker and Christopher Frank spoke about how waste vegetable oil, animal fats, and oil extracted from crops (including even algae) grown specifically for energy is replacing gasoline with a cleaner, more climate-friendly alternatives. Like originators of past advances, these pioneers integrate the desire to make money with the will to improve our world and a passion for experimentation to improve what they've already created.
I urge those who know that green technology, not gambling, is real economic development, to get involved in the rebuilding of our already melting down economy. Much information is available on the net. Here are some links:
======
Tri-State Biodiesel
http://tristatebiodiesel.com/links.htm
======
U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Alternative Fuels Data Center
http://eere.energy.gov/afdc
======
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
http://nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/npbf/renewable_diesel.html
======
Biodiesel gaining steam as alternative fuel source
CMU spinoff's technology could make it a big player in fledgling market
by Pamela Gaynor 8/16/5
http://post-gazette.com/pg/05228/554468.stm
...Capital Technologies International, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff in Hazelwood, expects to jump on the bandwagon with a new process for making the fuel...
http://capital-technologies.com
======
http://www.cleancities-pittsburgh.net/interesting.htm
http://steelcitybiofuels.org
http://dancingrabbit.org/biodiesel
http://greasecar.com
http://chooseclimate.org
======
GreenFuel Technologies
http://greenfuelonline.com
...bioreactor systems that can convert the CO2 in your smokestack gases into clean, renewable biofuels...
======
http://www.socialforge.net/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=33
posted by St. Jim the Composter at 9:09 AM
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