One of the list-serves (discuss@hm.swapspace.com) I belong to has an interesting thread on bio-diesel in the wake of the opening of a B-20 station in Troy:

[Jim W]: Well that was easy. We needed only to state our intent to facilitate
the establishment of a bio-diesel station in the Capital District and
like magic one appears. For those who didn't see the Story about the
John Ray and Sons station in Troy in this morning's TU or local
news broadcast on channel 13 here it is.

[George M]: I don't like to eat much soy anyways...

[Steve B]: George raises a good question, and I must also rain on another facet of the good news from Troy.

The biodiesel lobby in this country is made up mostly of soy bean farmers from Missouri and Iowa. They have a trade association. I think the site is . This is industrial monocrop ag at it's largest-scale: energy-intensive, and chemically dependent.

While there are other conventional, commercial oil-laden crops from which biodiesel might be refined (canola for one, peanuts for another), the soy bean farmers are out in front.

You sustainable ag and peak oil folks will realize the myriad problems here.....

(1) Why can't we first use all the "yellow grease" (used commercial fryer oil and animal by products) available before we move to planting/using crops for biodiesel?

A commercial collection system already exists for yellow grease. Some truck literally drives to your local McDonald's to take its used oil (business models differ; some collectors get paid for carting it away, and again when they sell it to end-users). It's mostly turned into animal feed. So it's already a decent case of reuse. But my sense is reusing it for biodiesel would be better.

(2) why is it only B-20 for sale in Troy? Will a higher percentage BD be available soon? There's pure 100% biodiesel available commercially (it's what Will[y] Nelson sells at his station in Texas).

[Jim Z]: Steve B wrote: "(1) Why can't we first use all the "yellow grease" (used commercial fryer oil and animal by products) available before we move to planting/using crops for biodiesel?"

Answer from Corporate America: Not enough profit in it and it would involve recycling (which is not as "sexy" as starting a whole new industry and claiming its a deep shade of green).

I have a friend with two "Greasers" (www.greasecar.com): a diesel Mercedes and a diesel Ford F-350 behemoth. I personally don't support the notion of continued happy motoring on alternative fuels or with increased fuel economy/efficiency. I feel they just perpetuate the notion of lower-density, less-human scale development patterns akin to suburban sprawl, while fostering the neo-classical economists' argument of substitutability with regard to automotive fuels. I favor conservation of precious petrofuels thru proximity planning. Make non-human-powered transportation more the norm thru rezoning, localization of commercial economies, and much better planning principles. The land use patterns and private property and tax laws that are seen as sacrosanct in the US are simply unsustainable irrespective of what energy source we power our systems with (renewable, non-renewable, or any combination thereof).

I think bio-diesel and yellow grease are great fuels for onsite distillation at local farms to power any machinery used in the production, and possibly dissemination of their organic food.

Another problem with the industrial monocropping efforts needed to produce the methadone equivalent for our heroin-like addiction to oil is that so much of it would be needed, it is likely that Genetic Engineering will attempt to come to the rescue and soon we'll have Monsatan and ADM playing God with soybeans and canola (already a GMO of rapeseed) to create more "efficient" strains of crops for fuel production. The probability of windborne or spilled contamination a la Percy Schmeiser could spell the end of guaranteeing GMO-free food for us.

Localization is a great way to build local economies, to reduce demand for the importation of precious resources that may exist locally, and to minimize waste in the form of excess consumption and byproducts of the combustion of all fuels. These benefits will not come about thru alternative fuels and/or better fuel economy.

I attended last Friday's (21 April 2006) forum at SUNY-Albany's D'Ambra Auditorium along with about 24 other attendees. The event was sponsored by SUNY-Albany's Department of Biological Sciences, Biodiversity, Conservation, & Policy Program. Most of the attendees appeared to be over 35, with only a small smattering (about 6) of traditional student-aged adults.

There were four distinguished speakers:

• Dr. Charles Hall, Systems Ecologist, SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
• Dr. Richard Perez, Atmospheric Science Research Center, SUNY-Albany
• Dr. Gary Kleppel, Department of Biology, SUNY-Albany
• Dr. Steve Breyman, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Hall started the forum with a sobering look at the phenomenon of Peak Oil and discussed its gross ramifications. He discussed the lack of substitutable energy sources for fossil fuels to support our current voracious apetite for cheap energy. He indicated that we don't know the extent of the problem due to the lack of information about global supply of oil. He dismissed the notions that technology can "rescue" us from the finite and dwindling supply of oil. His opening presentation set the tone of desperation for those who still cling to perpetuation of the status quo, and opened the door for the next three speakers.

I attended last Friday's (21 April 2006) forum at SUNY-Albany's D'Ambra Auditorium along with about 24 other attendees. The event was sponsored by SUNY-Albany's Department of Biological Sciences, Biodiversity, Conservation, & Policy Program. Most of the attendees appeared to be over 35, with only a small smattering (about 6) of traditional student-aged adults.

There were four distinguished speakers:

• Dr. Charles Hall, Systems Ecologist, SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
• Dr. Richard Perez, Atmospheric Science Research Center, SUNY-Albany
• Dr. Gary Kleppel, Department of Biology, SUNY-Albany
• Dr. Steve Breyman, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Hall started the forum with a sobering look at the phenomenon of Peak Oil and discussed its gross ramifications. He discussed the lack of substitutable energy sources for fossil fuels to support our current voracious apetite for cheap energy. He indicated that we don't know the extent of the problem due to the lack of information about global supply of oil. He dismissed the notions that technology can "rescue" us from the finite and dwindling supply of oil. His opening presentation set the tone of desperation for those who still cling to perpetuation of the status quo, and opened the door for the next three speakers.

Courtesy of Wendy A.:

Livingstone plans 1,000-home eco-estate

Matt Weaver

Thursday April 13, 2006

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, set out plans today to build Britain's biggest eco-development in east London, modelled on a sustainable city being planned in China.

The London scheme will involve at least 1,000 homes, which will be
powered entirely by renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic
panels, wind turbines and the burning of waste.

It is being worked up by Greenpeace, the London Development Agency and

I watched CNN Presents last nite because I just love their "news" reporting. NOT!!!

I watched because they aired an hour piece (of what, I'll let you decide) on a scenario whereby the combination of a Category 5 hurricane and a terrorist attack on the Abqaiq oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia brings the world to its collective knees some 40 months from now.

At the behest of another Peak Oil group in the area (Hudson-Mohawk Socio-Economic Collaborative), I wrote a critique of the show as feedback for CNN. Here it is:

Just back from the NOFA-VT 24th Annual Winter Conference at Vermont Technical College in Vermont. What an event! Over 850 attendees filled the VTC Judd Gymnasium to hear Jim Kunstler's keynote address "Feeding America in the Long Emergency" and closing remarks by Amy Seidl of LivingFuture.

The Conference Theme was "Local Energy, Local Economies." During her closing remarks, Amy mentioned that at last year, almost no one at the conference knew what the term "Peak Oil" meant. Now, she added, almost no one at the conference hasn't at least heard of "Peak Oil." Indeed, most of the concurrent sessions had some bearing on Sustainability with "Peak Oil" serving as the rallying cry and call to action.

The EPA will require car manufacturers to more correctly estimate the fuel economy of their cars starting with the 2008 models. The 2008 cars will see their "window sticker" estimated mpgs go down by up to 25% and probably more for highway driving with hybrids, thus making hybrids look less attractive to potential buyers. But, at the same time the CAFE standards and the methods used to determine the efficiency numbers the auto industry reports to the EPA to avoid fines (for inefficiency) will remain unchanged! Talk about a double standard. Who seems to be in bed with whom here?

As a former resident of 13 years in the heart of the People's Republic of Boulder (Colorado), I know it seems hard to believe that there could be another Boulder Valley out there (in US or Canada). In fact, there's a lovely town in the middle of the Henry Mountains of Utah called "Boulder" and I'm sure they have a valley too. Then there's Boulder City, Nevada; not sure if there's a valley there...

In fact the two "Boulder Valley" entries in the USGS Geographic Names Information System refer to one in Montana and another in Nevada.

I had to dig into one of the blogs to find a reference to KGNU (yea!) to realize this is Boulder Valley, CO.

There is an interesting article on how public buildings are keeping city centers alive and thriving in the Planning Commissioners Journal (2003). The Saratoga Springs Post Office, City Hall, and Public Library are featured prominently on pages 3 and 4 of the PDF document.

The American Planning Association came out with an article in it's January 2006 issue of Planning magazine titled "The Not-So-Secret Code," by New Urban News senior editor, Philip Langdon. On page 28, he devotes eight paragraphs to an explanation of how Saratoga Springs "finally adopted a form-based code in 2003." He cites the efforts of Joel Russell of Northampton, MA, and Environmental Design & Research of Syracuse (no website?) as the consultants. The subtitle of the section is "Everyone's favorite example." The article focusses on how the "SmartCode" used six transect zones to devise a form-based code for structures within the denser 28 square mile section of the village.