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Fossil Fuel Alternative: Turning Sawdust Into Gasoline

2009-12-11T15:56:17Z

This is not science fiction: We actually can make gasoline from wood waste, switchgrass, algae and sugarcane. Maybe it won't be 'fossil fuel' anymore.

Clean Diesel Makes Its Case To Congress

2009-06-17T10:29:16Z

WASHINGTON D.C. To combat its often negative image as a "dirty" and inefficient source of energy, the diesel-fuel advocacy group Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) hosted a special event on Capitol Hill here to bring together members of Congress and elements of the diesel industry and show off how current diesel-based power systems can curb pollution and reduce overall fuel consumption.

Get Diesel Smart, America

2009-06-17T10:03:50Z

If we go back 100 years we would find a wide assortment of propulsion systems used on cars. We had electric cars, along with street outlets in cities to charge them. We even had steam powered cars. All of these different propulsion systems were pushed aside and gasoline and diesel piston engines became the engines of choice. This dominance occurred for the simple reason that these engines were the most reliable at the lowest cost.

Diesel Fuel Changes Coming To U.S. Soon

2009-06-17T09:52:54Z

The CEO of auto parts supplier Bosch today told a crowd at the National Summit for Clean Transportation that U.S. automakers must adopt diesel technology in order to meet the strict new CAFE standards the Obama Administration has laid out. The new legislation will see fleet averages for passenger cars rise to 35.5 mpg for 2016, up significantly from 27.3 mpg for 2011.

Maker Of 'Fuel' Documentary Promotes Algae Energy

2009-06-12T16:49:03Z

For documentary film maker Josh Tickell, it's all about algae.

The micro organism's potential to deliver America from its dependence on foreign oil receives a big chunk of screen time in Tickell's movie "Fuel," which goes into national distribution this fall after winning awards at the Sundance Film Festival and others.

10 Things You Need To Know About The New Fuel Standards

2009-06-12T16:38:28Z

There is not yet much data available on the President's CAFE announcement. Luckily, we have a huge base of analysis that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) did in 2008 that allows us to infer a lot from what was announced. Here are the specific data points we have from the President's announcement:

Biofuels Vs. Bioelectricity

2009-06-12T16:28:47Z

Running vehicles on biofuels such as ethanol reduces CO2 emissions and offers a way to lessen the world's reliance on oil. While this sounds great from an environmental perspective, the energy required to produce the biofuel and the land clearing for crops that can result means biofuels aren't necessarily the environmentally friendly solution they initially appear to be. Recognizing this, researchers have analyzed the best way to maximize the "miles per acre" from biomass and discovered that the far more efficient option is to convert the biomass to electricity, rather than ethanol. Another tick for the electric car.

In San Francisco, A Different Kind of Gas Station

2009-06-12T16:22:11Z

Bay Area residents have a new type of gas station at their disposal -- and it's certainly a different proposition than the average Shell or Chevron offering.

EPA Head: Higher Ethanol Blends Would Be Good For U.S.

2009-06-12T16:18:06Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mixing slightly higher levels of ethanol into gasoline would benefit the U.S. energy supply provided the higher blends do not hurt car engines, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said.

The Car That Runs On Bacon

2009-06-12T16:15:07Z

Bacon, it's not just for breakfast, lunch and dinner anymore.

It's the biofuel of choice for a pair of entrepreneurs building their business on pig fat. Founded in 2005 by married couple Dan and Tracy Kaderabek, Bio-Blend Fuels has a three-acre processing plant in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. "The pork gets run through microwaves to make precooked bacon, the grease falls off and that's what we use," Dan tells the Manitowoc Herald Reporter. "Americans' bad eating habits ensure our supply."

How To Brew Your Own Biodiesel

2009-06-12T15:51:48Z

There are a lot of good reasons to run your everyday diesel vehicle on homegrown oils energy independence and less particulate pollution among them but like all DIY projects

Algae Fuel Industry Could Be 10 Years Away

2009-06-12T15:47:15Z

MILAN (Reuters) - Industrial-scale production of bioenergy from algae, or seaweeds, can be expected in 10 to 15 years, helping Europe to reach its green energy targets, the top official at a newly created bioenergy body said on Wednesday.

How To Find Alternative Fuel Stations

2009-06-12T15:31:12Z

Many fuels have been proposed as alternatives to gasoline. Most face the early adopter with same problem -- where to refuel while on the road? A tool to address this chicken and egg dilemma has been created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, an Internet atlas showing the location of hydrogen, compressed natural gas, and other fuels.

STUDY: Biodiesel Blend Performs As Well As Low-Sulfur Fuel

2009-06-12T15:27:17Z

EST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Those worried about a performance drop-off going from standard diesel fuel to the more environmentally friendly B20 biodiesel blend can ease their minds.

Maryland Builds Clean Diesel Plant

2009-06-12T15:16:24Z

Three large pieces of construction equipment sitting outside the Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility represent the future of diesel emissions in Maryland.

Stimulus Dollars Funding Clean-Diesel Projects

2009-06-12T15:10:54Z

Federal stimulus dollars are picking up where a nearly $20 million state program aimed at cutting diesel engine emissions left off.

BIODISEL FACTS: All You Need To Know

2009-06-10T13:50:43Z

The following is a guest post by Chelsea Green's Makenna Goodman:

I remember a time when defenseless kids with hippie moms got made fun of for using wax sandwich bags (ehem). I remember a time when it was considered uncool to be packing carrot sticks in your tote bag. When yoga was what the weird naked guys did at the hot springs in Ouray, Colorado; you know downward-facing dogs splayed out by the pool. I remember a time, in other words, when trendy things used to be not-trendy. Like BIODIESEL. The wave of the future.

You've seen it station wagons clanking around town with a sign on the back window that says, "This Vehicle Runs on Veggie Oil I'm Awesome." You probably drive by and think: Damn. Those hippies are self-important, but I'm repressing the fact that I want to be just like them. What is wrong with me? But here's the first thing you should know about biodiesel: It's not just white people with dreads who use vegetable oil to run their cars. It's a movement. Dude, my boss does it.

Know this:
*Biodiesel can be made from virtually any vegetable oil
*It can be used in any modern diesel engine
*It's America's fastest growing alternative fuel

But really, biodiesel is a tricky thing to understand, which is why many people just plain don't. Consider it worth your while to get versed on biodiesel, from the experts. And everything you need to know, Greg Pahl will tell you. He's the author of Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy and The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook: Community Solutions to a Global Crisis and knows the deal.

The following is an excerpt from The Citizen-Powered Energy Handbook: Community Solutions to a Global Crisis by Greg Pahl. It has been adapted for the Web.

Biodiesel 101

Biodiesel, a diverse group of diesel-like fuels, can be easily made through a simple chemical process known as transesterification from virtually any vegetable oil, including (but not limited to) soy, corn, rapeseed (canola), cottonseed, peanut, sunflower, mustard seed, and hemp. But biodiesel can also be made from recycled cooking oil (referred to as "yellow grease" in the rendering industry) or animal fats. One Vietnamese catfish processor is even using fish fat as a biofuel feedstock.³⁰ There have even been some promising experiments with the use of algae as a biodiesel feedstock. As long as the resulting fuel meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) biodiesel standard (D-6751), it's considered biodiesel in the United States, regardless of the feedstock used in its manufacture (in Europe, the standard is EN 14214). And the process is so simple that biodiesel can be made by virtually anyone, although the chemicals required (usually lye and methanol) are hazardous, and need to be handled with extreme caution.

Simply stated, here is how biodiesel is made. The transesterification process is initiated by adding carefully measured amounts of alcohol (methanol) mixed with a catalyst (sodium hydroxide lye the same chemical used to unclog kitchen or bathroom drains) to the vegetable oil. The mixture is stirred or agitated (and sometimes heated) for a specific length of time. If used cooking oil is the feedstock, the process requires a bit more testing, lye, and filtration, but is otherwise essentially the same. During the mixing, the oil molecules are split or "cracked" and the methyl esters (biodiesel) rise to the top of the settling/mixing tank, while the glycerin and catalyst settle to the bottom. After about eight hours, the glycerin and catalyst are drawn off the bottom, leaving biodiesel in the tank. The whole idea of the process is to remove the thick, sticky glycerin from the vegetable oil, so the remaining biodiesel will flow easily and combust properly in a modern diesel engine without leaving damaging deposits inside the engine.

In most cases the biodiesel needs to be washed with water to remove any remaining traces of alcohol, catalyst, and glycerin. In this procedure, water is mixed with the biodiesel, allowed to settle out for several days, and then removed. The wash process can be repeated if needed, but it is time-consuming. Not everyone agrees on whether the water wash is necessary. A few smaller producers who are making biodiesel for themselves skip the process, while commercial producers usually must do it to meet industry standards. In the case of some larger, more sophisticated manufacturing facilities, the transesterification process itself is so carefully controlled and refined that the water wash is not needed. There are, of course, quite a few technical variations on this entire process for large-scale industrial operations, but the general transesterification procedure is similar.³¹

As the amount of biodiesel being produced grows exponentially, the quantities of glycerin by-product grows apace. Glycerin has always been a niche market that is highly sensitive to oversupply, and the recent exponential growth of this commodity as a result of biodiesel production has caused the world glycerin market to collapse. As a result, traditional glycerin manufacturing plants around the world have been closing, while new ones that use glycerin as feedstocks for epoxy resins, propylene glycol, and other products have been opening. Recently, glycerin has even been used by one California company, InnovaTek Inc., as a source for the production of hydrogen.³² Trying to develop new uses for glycerin has been keeping a lot of people awake at night.

Notes

"Vietnam firm to make biofuel from catfish fat," Reuters, July 4, 2006, http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/37105/story.htm.
This description of biodiesel basics and some of the other biodiesel-related material that follows is adapted from my Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy.
InnovaTek, "InnovaTek Inc. and Seattle BioFuels, Inc. announce the first successful production of hydrogen from 100% biodiesel in a microchannel steam reformer," March 14, 2006, http://www.tekkie.com/news/press_release_3-14-06.htm.

First Drive: Audi A3 TDI Clean Diesel Hatchback

2009-05-29T09:35:30Z

We like the idea of the 2009 Audi A3 , a small, sporty five-door hatchback ( Audi refers to it as a Sportback). It seems rather like the grownup big brother of the 2009 Volkswagen GTI , which which it shares some underpinnings. In the States, Audi has offered the A3 since 2006 with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four or a 3.2-liter ...

Watch "Oil Parade"

2009-05-19T14:55:37Z

Brought to you by

Read more: Future Fuel, Business News

Alex Pasternack: Obama Gives Ethanol High Five, Slaps It In the Face

2009-05-06T12:07:14Z
TreeHugger.com

Just as the Obama administration is launching an interagency task force to boost the biofuel industry amidst an industry-wide slump, it is also preparing to rigorously measure the carbon footprint of biofuels, making them look even more controversial and environmentally risky.

The effort announced today, which will immediately assist the corn-based ethanol and biodiesel industries, would help reduce America's petroleum consumption by 11 percent and lower direct emissions of greenhouse gases equivalent to "taking 24 million cars off the road," said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson. But she described corn-based ethanol, the predominant biofuel in the U.S., as only a "bridge to the next generation of biofuels," adding that biofuels must "reduce greenhouse compared to the fuels they replace."

Even as they applaud the White House's moves, the powerful farm lobby and farm state politicians are readying for a fight.

Steady Increase in "Better" Cellulosic Ethanol
The A new interagency task force, announced by the heads of the Agriculture Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department in a White House teleconference today, is developing policies to help biofuel producers as part of a congressional mandate to increase the volume of renewable fuel blended into gasoline from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons by 2022.

A related new draft rule under the National Renewable Fuel Standard calls for 15 billion gallons of traditional ethanol blending per year by 2015 and 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol, or fuel made from non-food crops like switchgrass and fast-growing trees. The measures include encouraging production of "flex-fuel" cars that can run on either gasoline or ethanol.

A slate of subsidies, credits and financing opportunities would also be given to the ethanol industry, which has long depended on government assistance, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Under the 2008 Farm Law, these measures would include loan guarantees for development of biorefineries and demonstration-scale plants that could be worth tens of millions of dollars, as well as financial incentives for farmers and bio-refiners to cut their carbon footprints by using cleaner fuels.

In addition, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said $780 million would be allocated through the stimulus package to explore the development of advanced biofuels, like bacteria that behaves like diesel fuel when fed simple sugars, or fuels grown out of algae.

The net result, the agency chiefs said, was to make biofuels more prevalent and more environmentally sound.

Under the EPA's draft rule, now renewable fuels will be subject to thresholds for reductions in greenhouse gases compared to the fossil fuels they replace: 20 percent less greenhouse gas emissions for renewable fuels (ethanol) produced from new facilities, 50 percent less for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels, and 60 percent less for cellulosic biofuels.

How Biofuels Here Impact Land There
The measures that the EPA will take will include examining how growing biofuels crops drive farmers around the world to cut down or burn forests to clear more land for food production, a process that leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions. "This is indeed path-breaking work, said Administrator Lisa Jackson.

A measurement of "indirect land use changes" (ILUC) is also incorporated into California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which was passed last month. The rule mandates penalties for fuels that do not meet an average declining carbon intensity based partly on a modeling of how fuels effect land use. The ethanol industry has expressed displeasure with the ILUC measure, which it says is based on faulty assumptions. It has also complained that other biofuels were not adequately scrutinized.

Though it has lower immediate greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-based fuels, many have called corn-based ethanol a dead end for its global environmental impacts. A study by Dutch Nobel prize winner Paul Crutzen in 2007 found that the production of most biofuel, with the exception of sugar cane ethanol, had a "net climate warming" effect compared to conventional gasoline.

Using corn for fuel also tends to drive up food prices, which creates a strain on food supplies and contributes to poverty in developing countries.

But the biofuels industry, led by lobbying groups like the Renewable Fuels Association, counter that biofuels do not drive up food prices, and say that the science behind measurements of "indirect land use change" isn't adequately developed. "So far there's been no defensible, indisputable proof linking biofuels to indirect land use change," the Renewable Fuels Association, said during its fight in California.

"The EPA is soliciting peer reviewed scientific feedback that includes the best available science," Jackson, the EPA chief, said today. The measurements will rely on satellite data and take into account estimated greenhouse gas emission from foreign crops as well as the seasonal timing of emissions, she said. "This is indeed pathbreaking work."

Biofuels producers have suffered in recent months, as credit has shrunk, consumers have cut back on driving and the global price of oil has plunged. After the world's largest ethanol producer went under in November, Valero Energy, the U.S.'s largest independent oil refiner, bought up their facilities at bargain prices. Across the U.S., one third of the nation's biofuel facilities -- like a recently built one in Nebraska -- are sitting idle.

But the ethanol industry has been lobbying hard to convince the White House to help. In December, the Wall Street Journal reported on the RFA's efforts to get $1 billion in short-term credit, and a $50 billion federal loan guarantee program to stimulate future investment and infrastructure expansion. It also requested that any automaker receiving federal bailout money be mandated to produce only flex-fuel vehicles that are capable of running on ethanol.

Obama's appointment of Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary was seen by some as a sign of his administration's strong commitment to the corn and ethanol industries, on whose planes Obama has flown before. As noted by Ken Silverstein, who described Obama's ties to Big Corn in a 2006 Harper's piece, an advisor on energy to the Obama campaign came from a group with heavy ties to ethanol courtesy of Tom Daschle and Bob Dole.

President Obama has asked the Department of Agriculture to begin giving assistance to ethanol producers within 30 days. The public will have 60 days to review the EPA's new biofuel proposal.

Read more: Biofuels, Future of Fuel, Corn, Epa, Agriculture, Obama, Future Fuel, Ethanol, Biodiesel, Green News

Hillary Newman : America is Fu... eled

2009-03-27T11:52:57Z

A few weeks ago, I pulled into my neighborhood gas station not to fill up my gas tank, but to fill my brain with FUEL.

FUEL is a documentary that tells the story of Josh Tickell's quest to spread awareness about the potential of biodiesel as an alternative energy source. After watching the film and hearing Josh speak, I wanted more- so I set up an interview...

I read that it took about 11 years to make your documentary, FUEL, from start to finish. Lets break down those 11 years and take a closer look. Initially, what was your intent and hopes for the film?

Initially, I just wanted to see if I could drive a van on biodiesel that I made myself. That was the Veggie Van (you can learn more about that saga at www.veggievan.org). But secretly, personally, I always planned to make a movie. I wanted to do something that my sociology college professor told me that was 'insane' - to both catalog and catalyze the green movement. So I set out on the road in 1997, made fuel from Long John Silver's grease and filmed everything that happened. I lived in the Veggie Van for 2 years, traveling around the country. Not a lot of great footage was produced, but that trip lay the groundwork for the research of the movie. For the next couple of years, I finished my first book and tried to pretend that I was going to get a real job. Then, I got seriously committed to making the movie, went to graduate school for two years (during which time I continued to shoot and edit) and then graduated with an MFA in film in 2002. I moved to LA and for the next 7 years, I did little other than shoot and edit FUEL. (Oh yeah, I wrote my second book, Biodiesel America, but that was because I had to put all my notes in one place). The movie premiered at Sundance in 2008 and won the audience award for best documentary. Two days later, biofuels were slammed in two articles in Science Magazine. Then the biofuels backlash happened. Instead of selling the movie to a distributor, we spent the next year fundraising and re-cutting the movie. The final film, FUEL, was completed in November of 2008 and began its self-funded theatrical release.

Where there any specific scientific breakthroughs or events that helped drive FUEL in a direction?

The anti-biofuels backlash, which by the way, was mostly funded by oil interests, made the movie obsolete overnight. It was challenging, but we had to turn what was essentially a movie about biodiesel into a movie about green energy and the green energy movement. It was our initial failure and the re-framing of the subject thereafter that gave the movie its guts. In a way, the oil companies played their entire hand at once (blowing their wad on thinly veiled anti biofuels propaganda) and we had an opportunity to address the food vs. fuel issues in the movie. It turns out that the anti-biofuels backlash showed how easily swayed environmental groups are. Oil had hit $148 a barrel, pushing food prices through the roof, which opened up the beef market in Brazil which pushed soybean (read - cow food) production through the roof. Viola! Deforestation. Similarly in Malaysia - the cause of the deforestation was the booming demand for hardwood, an acre of which is worth more than the average person in Malaysia makes in their lifetime. Once the valuable wood is cleared and the land is practically worthless, palm oil plantations are planted (which take 5 years to bear fruit). And 99.9% of the palm oil is turned into margarine, lamp oil and junk food. So the whole anti-biofuels argument was B.S. And the irony is that it was bought - lock stock and barrel - by the very organizations that had been fighting the oil companies!

The green movement has picked up quite a bit of momentum in the past several years. Talk a little bit about your approach and what tactics worked best to spread your film.

We're really still figuring it out. The green movement is very disenfranchised. There's no central voice - unless you consider Whole Foods or Gaiam a voice. But really, unlike movements that were clearly defined by leaders and objectives, this one is amorphous, large and moving in so many directions at once. Part of our strategy is to find the common threads that can bring different factions together - from Prius drivers to hard core cyclists to green shoppers to yoga people to vegans to transition towners - FUEL applies to the whole movement. It's a matter of getting people to the theater where the magic of community really takes over.

FUEL includes a good amount of coverage on the political presence in America's addition to oil. How do you see the Obama Administration playing a role?

In some ways, President Obama is fighting tooth and nail to get out from under the grip of big oil. The incentives package included a number of good provisions for public transportation and alternative energy. But in other ways, for each step forward, there seems to be at least one step back. The entire bailout of the banks and the auto companies is a total scam. Those institutions should be left to wither and die. It is the way of the free market that when an institution has repetitively screwed the American people, we don't prop them up with more tax money - we punish them! So there are a lot of inconsistencies in this administration's approach. I think for us to move forward with any efficacy, we are going to have to take a hard stand against oil finance and against the associated industries.

What are the differing viewpoints on energy, specifically oil, that currently exist? (Economist views, Science community, Corporate views, etc.)

There's the mythological view held by "flat-earth" economists and companies that resources are infinite and energy is finite. Ergo, whomever controls the energy controls the economy. Hence our current mess. Then there's reality. And in reality there are a finite amount of resources but an infinite amount of solar energy. This 'whole system' paradigm is not yet dominant. But when it becomes dominant, it will restructure the fabric of our society - from the grassroots up.

Do you think the Free Market can solve our energy problems?

Um, free market? What's that? I don't think we've had a free market in terms of energy - ever. The closest thing may be in some remote unindustrialized society. But in the western world, control over energy resources has always been the norm and from that has been a constant 'exception' in the free market system - governments have always propped up energy systems and the companies that run them. Until now. I think we are starting to see that shift with the decentralized energy production systems being installed in countries like Germany and Sweden. It's a scary thing to truly lose control over your population as they become self-sufficient in energy and food and even water, but it is the only way our societies will survive and evolve. These old monolithic, centralized institutions that dole out energy as if it were a sacred commodity are crumbling and underneath them the economy they built is also crumbling. Cometh a new era. The era of decentralized, miniatureized and easily replicable energy production technology. The energy production of tomorrow will take a quantum leap forward - like the mainframes of yester year have turned into the iPhones of today.

When we speak of oil (the 80+mb per day) we are speaking of conventional oil. What makes this kind of oil so important?

It's easy to get, our infrastructure is made to drill it, process it, turn it into gasoline and agri-products (fertilizers, pesticides etc), and we know where the rest of it is (plus or minus 10%). It's also important because our current infrastructure cannot run on anything else. Our species uses about 29 billion barrels of it a year and there are approximately 1 trillion barrels left in the crust of the earth. That gives us 30 years - assuming consumption won't increase, which it is in fact doing. And fast. India is releasing the $2,500 car. How will 250 million new cars affect the world's supply of sweet crude? Oh yeah, there's one other thing about conventional oil - the US passed its peak in conventional oil production in 1971. We produce less each year than we did the year before.

Where do you see us 25, 45, 85 years from now?

I don't have a crystal ball - but I hope that somewhere between reacting to the inevitable global resource crisis and following a proactive vision for sustainability that we will evolve into a new era of sustainability in all areas of human civilization and development. At least, that's the hope that drives me to do what I do.

What is your next step?

To push to get FUEL into 150 theaters across America by the end of summer.

My favorite books and blogs...

I like this blog.

A piece of advice for President Obama...

Give the nation a clear objective and time frame. Sweden will be petroleum free by 2020. What about the US? This was the thing that made Kennedy so powerful. He made unreasonable promises and then got the scientific community to perform to those expectations. Don't try to fix our spiraling debt with more debt financing from countries overseas. Instead, divorce the US dollar from petroleum. It will hurt to pull the oil needle out of Lady Liberty's arm, but it's the only way the Republic will withstand the coming economic and oil shocks.

A piece of advice I will always hold on to...

Frustration comes from thinking it should be some way that it isn't.

-Ecowarrior

Read more: Gas, Green Transit, Future of Fuel, Fuel Efficiency, Oil, Josh Tickell, Documentaries, Future Fuel, Interview, Biodiesel, Green News

Dave Pinter: Audi: Recession-proof?

2009-03-10T14:21:45Z
This article originally appeared on PSFK.com.

While 2008 left nearly every other automaker stranded on the side of the road, Audi managed to record its best year of sales ever. The company earned $42 billion in revenue during 2008, a 4.1 percent increase from a year earlier. More Audis were exported to China in 2008 than any place else in the world. Audi plans to share $407 million in bonuses with its German factory workers.

Audi announced these figures today. But if you think the report went all charts and graphs crazy, have a look at their 2008 annual report online. Audi created a site that allows you to fly around the world and see what the company has been up to. Featuring everything from unconventional Audi dealers in China to a special Audi service center in Russia to the TDI clean diesel road trip right across the United States, the content is far more exciting than your typical annual, the creation of a team of renowned writers and photographers from around the world.

To continue reading this story, please visit PSFK.com.
Read more: Automobiles, Media, Business, Automotive Industry, Future Fuel, Business News

John Wellington Ennis: Review: "Fuel" Release Party (Photos)

2009-02-17T16:31:42Z
Celebrating its national theatrical release, the Sundance award-winning film Fuel held its party and screening at the most appropriate place for its topic, but at a location you don't normally see celebrities and paparazzi: a gas station.

Specifically, the only bio-diesel gas station in Los Angeles, Conserv Fuel in Brentwood at San Vicente and Barrington Ave. The entire affair -- film and TV stars posing with the ultra-cool Tesla electric car, an open bar of organic wines and beers, eco-cups glasses, and chairs lined up under heat lamps between gas pumps -- it was a fitting celebration not just for Josh Tickell's landmark film, but for the same gas station which only months ago had decided to stop selling bio-diesel fuel, until loyal customers voiced their strong support. Not one year before, Barack Obama stood at that gas station and lavished praised upon the green entrepreneurial owner.

The station's struggle is an apt symbol for Tickell's documentary, a sprawling epic that follows Tickell through his quest to spread the message of bio-diesel's promise over 11 years, along with his humbling setbacks. Fuel features appearances from an endless parade of recognizable faces and knowledgeable guests, including luminaries I would love to be able to interview such as Naomi Klein and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

I arrived at the screening in my 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300D, converted to run on vegetable oil. (The inconvenient truth is that maintaining a 25 year-old diesel car is fraught with frustrations, but none about the fuel.) I brought an old friend and social doc filmmaker with me, Matthew Cooke, who like myself has seen the thesis of his film overtake his life for years and actually grow into split projects.

As a documentary filmmaker passionate for change, I could appreciate Tickell's tremendous journey, but I could appreciate even more the ways he weaves it in to the many complex issues he does justice to. In Matt's case, his film in progress has focused on the Media, mine on political corruption in Ohio. Matt's film Deliver Us From Evil was nominated for an Oscar, losing honorably to An Inconvenient Truth. We agreed that it is regrettable that Fuel was not nominated for an Oscar this year (though it made the short list), and that documentaries bear the added weight of being considered not just on style and substance, but on relevance. And we concurred that Fuel is one of the most important films of our time.

I will dispense with overly summarizing Tickell's well-plotted, brisk film that unfurls one tangible reform after another in a flow that might disarm a viewer used to seeing solutions only at the end of a movie. Just see the movie, people. That's why he made it. I'm not going to simplify anything in it after he has spent a decade putting this masterpiece together.

But I won't cop out entirely. (Ahem.) Josh Tickell was born in Australia, playing in the waters and with wildlife growing up. When he moved to Louisiana as a boy, he realized the rampant pollution in a state where most of the country's gasoline is made. The toxic reality of living near oil processing plants that actively pollute as much as they can, and then have hundreds of "accidents" a year to dispose of even more waste, is why Tickell's 200-mile stretch along the river in Louisiana is dubbed "Cancer Alley." Tickell's mother powerfully recounts her inability to conceive, one of many health issues in the area. And there are hundreds of Cancer Alleys around the world where gasoline is processed from oil. Tickell discloses his personal bias in this film at that point, as if it needed justification.

Where many filmmakers may crusade on camera, Tickell's crusade has already been long running. He has driven around the country for years in a bio-diesel bus educating people about how to make your own bio-fuel, landing on the "Today" show and getting celebrity support. But as Tickell keenly observes, as an activist, you are faced with many setbacks of doubt, that your message is not getting out. The film weaves his travels to Europe to explore countries that are thriving on putting bio-diesel in their diesel cars. He returns to Louisiana on a bio-diesel powered boat with relief supplies after Hurricane Katrina. The oil spill in the wake of Katrina is as big as the Exxon Valdez, but no state politician has asked to hold the oil companies accountable to clean it up. The climate implications of global warming and a fossil-fuel economy are considered in the rise of hurricanes. These are just some of the many different impacts Tickell points out along the way while showing the web of ways oil poisons us in ways we don't consider. For instance, school buses pollute diesel smoke, trapping children with exhaust fumes, that could instead be run on bio-diesel, like in Las Vegas, NV.

Here are just some of my favorite parts of the film thrown out in no particular order. RFK Jr. on the loss of American greatness: "We put the oil before our bill of rights." Naomi Klein intoning: "The problem is not the dependence on foreign oil, the problem is the imperialist mindset." The compelling story of Rudolph Diesel, brilliant inventor who patents the diesel engine in 1882 in hopes of empowering the farmer to grow the fuel for America, and his mysterious death in 1905 on a cruise ship.

A similarly suspicious hit-job befell the good name of bio-diesel. In 2008, Tickell saw the progress he made become vanquished by two obscure scientific articles plastered in over 600 articles worldwide, blasting bio-fuel for its devastating potential to usurp the world's food supply. Instead of simply tracing the influences in disseminating the origins of a petrol-friendly report, Tickell shows how food is already overproduced and exported in America, undermining other economies from developing their own self-sustaining agriculture. He also places bio-fuels as just one component of an overhaul necessary for our society's energy, which include wind, solar, and algae development. Algae grows many times faster than crops, and can produce the same usable vegetable oil. How much to create a desert aquatic processing plant which could provide enough bio-fuel power for the country? $25 million. (That's a line item in an important bill just waiting to get jumped on by Rush Limbaugh's ditto-heads because it's something they don't understand. Wait until they see how algae can be grown in cities around the world through processing human waste.) You owe it to yourself to open your mind to the dizzying number of ways bio-diesel could already be integrated into our life, and be inspired by the eco-opportunism in new industries that are the only growing sector right now.

Leaving the screening, Matt and I agreed that when you have a media that refuses to cover essential stories such as our fuel supplies, these are the exact kinds of films that need to be made, and made widely known. Finding re-surging relevance under the Bush years, documentaries serve as one of the last bastions of journalism. It is only through these films that vital information can get out and change can really happen.

Go see Fuel. (Carpool.) And then go change the world.

Read more: Fuel, Biofuels, Future of Fuel, Ed Begley Jr., Naomi Klein, Future Fuel, Biodiesel, Robert F. Kennedy, Green News

Josh Tickell: Economic Stimulus: Biodiesels as Giveaways Could Build Community, Consumer Awareness

2008-12-23T12:28:10Z
Big 3 Buyout - Eat your heart out, America, our government is back in control. How many biodiesels could we put on the road with the $15-30 billion the Big 3 Auto Monsters are going to receive? Let's tell Congress how many! We need statistics: how much do average algae-diesel/bio-diesel automobiles cost? How much does it cost to build an algae fuel plant? And who is building them, what tax credits are involved? Is there a blueprint for people to produce algae fuel at home? We have to empower ourselves here, and Fuel is as good an impetus as any to fan the flames of enlightenment on this pressingly critical global matter. Let's burn the Big 3 and buy out biodiesel, America!
Read more: Congress, Big 3, Big Three Automakers, Biofuels, Future of Fuel, Big Three, Environment, Biodiesel Fuel, Future Fuel, The Big 3, Green Living, Green Energy, Biodiesel, Home News

Steve Parker: Los Angeles Auto Show -- Clean Diesels Clean Up

2008-11-27T06:05:29Z
At this year's version of the Los Angeles Auto Show, the 205-mile per hour, $100,000, 2009 Corvette ZR1 is relegated to the very rear of the Chevrolet exhibit, like the "adults only" section in video stores. The Green Car of the Year is a diesel and the usually standout exhibits from GM and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep were strangely quiet (we'll have Ford, Ferrari, Porsche and more news in posts this weekend). And so posts are well under-1,000 words each, we'll report only on all-new cars or trucks.

(Corvette's over-600 horsepower 2009 ZR1, the $100,000 car relegated to an empty space in the back of the Chevrolet exhibit, just like so much automotive pornography).

For the past two years, Green Car Journal has given an award titled Green Car of the Year. Toyota's Camry hybrid won the first, and Chevrolet's Tahoe hybrid won last year, which, although a good choice, was hard to explain to non-tech-types.

Volkswagen's Jetta TDI clean diesel won this year, the first car with clean diesel technology approved for sale in all 50 states. Now we await the first pure, mass-produced EV to win (which will be from Nissan, if you believe company chief Carlos Ghosn, who spoke to the media at the Los Angeles show about that very thing), then the first mass-produced hydrogen-fueled fuel cell EV.

(VW's Jetta TDI was named Green Car of the Year; this is a turbocharged racing version of the car built for VW's "TDI Cup" racing series).

Nissan had the stand-out exhibit in terms of size and brightly flashing video screens. Their exhibit introduced two all-new vehicles, the 370Z and the Cube, two autos which could not be more dissimilar.

The newest Z-car is familiar-looking, and its engine is a 3.7-liter V6 producing 332-horsepower and the car is priced at just under $30,000.

(Nissan's all-new 370Z is very familiar-looking; the original Z-car turned then-Datsun into one of the top-selling car companies in the US, Nissan).

Nissan's 2009 Cube is for those who feel Scion's xB is just not funky enough. The car's website says, "Symmetry is so last year," and apparently unsymmetrical is in. Cube's 1.8-liter 4-banger offers 122-horsepower and 30+ miles-per-gallon (the + is from Nissan's website). A six-speed manual transmission or CVT (continuously variable transmission) can be picked, and while I am no lover of CVTs, Cubes so equipped will probably get better mileage than the stick shift. And it's base price is under $14,000.

(Nissan's 2009 Cube - Say no more).

Nissan's luxury channel Infiniti showed their 2009 hardtop convertible version of the current G37 coupe. The Z-car and G37 share many parts and are rear-wheel drive cars; G37 can be ordered with all-wheel drive. The car's top-up and top-down time is rated at 23 seconds; there are many people who see hardtop convertible operation times as a new form of automotive competition. Expect G37 convertible pricing in the $60K-range.

BMW rolled out their latest Mini, the Mini E (E for "electric"). Mini is leasing 500 E models, and it's going to cost the chosen lessees $850 a month. After a year, Mini takes the E back, and they'll use the cars to develop information for an E model slated for mass production.

(Mini's E attracted a lot of attention, the EV is a first for BMW).

All The General's divisions were on-hand for the show, but GM's exhibits had, apart from the 2010 Camaro and the 2009 Corvette ZR1, no really all-new models. There were a few mostly uninteresting concept cars, some looking suspiciously like ones we've seen before.

A Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid had little cachet with visitors; they'd seen it last year, and all over TV, and it might not be any closer to production now, anyway.

(Saturn's FlexTreme concept stores two Segways under its rear hatch - Interesting idea!).

A 3.6-liter V6 2010 Camaro will produce 304-horsepower and start well under $25,000. The 6.2-liter V8 makes 400-horsepower and will start at under-$30K.

The 2009 Corvette ZR1 makes 638-horsepower, and it was positioned right next to (and lower than) the Camaros. It was almost a Festival of Wastefulness, demonstrating exactly how Americans need to stop thinking about cars.

The Camaro had been seen in near-production form at the last two L.A. shows, and the ZR1 doesn't look much different from the standard 'Vette to the casual viewer (Chevy made the same mistake with earlier generation ZR1s; people who pay more for a car want their neighbors to know).

(The much-anticipated 2010 Camaro did not disappoint styling or horsepower enthusiasts; a V6 version is reasonably-priced).

The high-mileage Cruze, a Daewoo-built car which was originally planned for late 2010 U.S. sales, now has no schedule for U.S. manufacturing or sale; a Korean version already on-sale wasn't at the show.

But Volkswagen's exhibit was packed. They had much to show, even apart from their Green Car of the Year Jetta TDI. Their new CC sedan (they call it a four-door coupe) was a big attraction, as was a Touareg SUV outfitted with a clean diesel engine, but not yet available; if VW were questioning visitors about the vehicle, a Touareg TDI will be here within two years, judging by comments I overheard (research, you know).

(A clean diesel Audi Q7).

VW partner Audi showed-off their clean diesels with a messianic fervor, too, showcasing Audi's recent cross-country "Mileage Marathon." In a 23-strong contingent of Audi Q7's, Q5's and A4's using the 3.0-liter V6 TDI, and A3's using 2.0-liter TDI engines, they averaged 38.5 miles-per-gallon in a New York-to-Los Angeles jaunt between October 5 and 20.

Hyundai had a large exhibit, featuring their V8-powered Genesis sedan. There was also a pretty cool cutaway of their proposed new Blue Drive hybrid system, due in the U.S. in a year or two.

(Hyundai's cool Blue Drive gas/electric hybrid system is being developed for the company's US-market cars and trucks).

Smart had a, well, small exhibit in the vast South Hall. Available in the U.S. only at around 70 of Roger Penske's near-200 dealerships, more than 20,000 have already been sold. The U.S. is the 37th country where Smart is available, and is already third in sales, ranking behind Germany and Italy. For 2009, Brabus, a German aftermarket tuning firm, is adding their touch to the handling and appearance of the 2009 Smart Fortwo.

(German tuning company Brabus has developed an appearance and handling improvement package for Smart's Fortwo).

The Los Angeles Auto Show remains open until 8pm Sunday, November 30, in the Los Angeles Convention Center. All photos by www.SteveParker.com.

Read more: Saturn, Chrysler, Scion xB, Stick Shift, Cars, Ford, Clean Diesel, Nissan, Brad Pitt, Blue Drive Hybrid System, Los Angeles Auto Show, General Motors, Touareg TDI, Hyundai, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, Los Angeles Auto Show Green, Climate Change, Computers, Hydrogen-Powered Cars, Volkswagen CC, Nissan 370z, Energy, Corvette ZR1, Infiniti G37, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Gm, Afghanistan, Nissan Cube, Carlos Ghosn, Chevrolet, 2010 Camaro, Porsche, Jetta TDI Cup, Daewoo, Green Car of the Year, Smart ForTwo, Manual Transmission, Continuously Variable Transmission, Ferrari, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Volt, Q7, Smart Car, Dodge, Datsun, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Fuel Cells, Audi, Chevrolet Corvette, Bmw, Christianity, Jeep, Hyundai Genesis, Volkswagen Jetta Diesel, Brabus, q5, a3, Cvt, a4, Future Fuel, Business News