Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Turning beetle-kill wood into motor fuel
Lodgepole pines | flickr user gregor_y
Weird. The Post reports that some clever folks have found yet another use for beetle-kill wood — motor fuel.
Its not exactly turning a sows ear into a silk purse, but Cobalt Technologies Inc. is aiming to transform pine-bark-beetle-killed lodgepole pines into motor fuel.
A Colorado State University lab is preparing to test the brew from the California startup company in a four-stroke, overhead-valve Honda engine.
Plus, if you read the story, you’ll learn a little about the differences between ethanol and butanol.
So here’s a dumb question — what’s the demand for beetle-kill wood looking like? Or what would it look like if a few people started using beetle-kill butanol?
A modest proposal for alternative energy: burning calories
Sari Levy made a slightly Swiftian presentation at IgniteBoulder 6 regarding alternative energy and a way for the U.S. to curb its use of oil and coal.
For your enjoyment:
I say “slightly” Swiftian because Sari’s satire is actually just a touch behind the curve, as evidenced by this boat that actually ran on human fat (via liposuction!) as early as 2007.
Colorado Southern Utes jump into algae fuel fray
From the New York Times, a cool story on some adventurous energy entrepreneurs working on carbon-reducing algae fuel:
With the twin goals of making fuel from algae and reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases, a start-up company co-founded by a Colorado State University professor recently introduced a strain of algae that loves carbon dioxide into a water tank next to a natural gas processing plant. The water is already green-tinged with life.
The Southern Utes, one of the nation’s wealthiest American Indian communities thanks to its energy and real-estate investments, is a major investor in the professor’s company. It hopes to gain a toehold in what tribal leaders believe could be the next billion-dollar energy boom.
Boulder biofuels company scores $45 million deal
The Camera’s Alicia Wallace reports that Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises will supply up to 4.5 million gallons of biodiesel per year (over three years) to Gray Oil Company in Ft. Lupton.
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