Post by: Desertdog on April 17, 2008, 02:57:05 PM
Man working to convert all that grows into fuel surprised by 'inattention'
By Joe Kovacs
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61808
It could potentially be one of the biggest energy breakthroughs in history genetically manipulating bacteria to quickly convert anything that grows out of the Earth into oil. But the biggest names in the national media have thus far not provided any coverage of this possible solution to skyrocketing gas prices and America's long-term energy security.
A WND story last month introduced to the nation a new technique where altered bacteria "rapidly digest" everything from grass clippings and wood chips, turning them into hydrocarbons for fuels such as gasoline and diesel. If done on a large scale, it could provide billions of barrels of renewable oil every year.
One reader, Joe Russo of Fairbanks, Alaska, called it "the biggest story we've seen in a decade, yet the cable and mainstream news networks haven't even picked up on it."
The apparent inattention comes as a big surprise to the agricultural researcher pioneering the process, J.C. Bell, the CEO of Bell Bio-Energy, Inc.
"We've been on several radio stations, but nothing really national," he said. "We haven't talked to anybody. Nobody's called us nobody from the Associated Press or CNN or Fox News Channel, which kind of surprised us. We thought it would generate something."
Bell gave an overview of his plans today at the U.S. Defense Department's Worldwide Energy Conference & Trade Show in Arlington, Va., where more than 750 Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard and federal organizations were represented.
"He was very well-received there," said Wesley Cox, owner of WCGA Radio, a news/talk station in St. Simons Island, Ga.
Cox complains, "The mainstream media has been ignoring systematically the facts about energy creation and use, and they've been doing it for years."
He thinks believability could be a factor when it comes to the lack of national coverage.
"It's a lot easier to not run a story than it is to run a story that's not proven yet."
Bell's bacterial discovery has already been published in two Georgia newspapers the Tifton Gazette and the Macon Telegraph but neither report was picked up by the Associated Press, despite those papers being members of the news cooperative.
WND contacted the bureau chief at the AP's Atlanta office, who said, "I can't give you an answer as to why, because this is the first I've heard of it. We'll look into it and see what's going on."
Reporter Jana Cone, who documented Bell's claims for the Tifton paper, was also at a loss to explain why the AP neither picked up the story nor assigned its own writer.
"I have no explanation except people don't think it's possible," Cone said. "All of our stuff is available to them, and they pick up stories as they wish. If what [Bell] says is a fact, it could be absolutely huge."
Bell maintains with just 2 billion tons of biomass, his process can produce 5 billion barrels of oil each year naturally, with no negative impact on the environment.
"That's 5 billion barrels of oil that can be produced from just trash," he said.
Despite the national media's silence, Bell is moving forward with plans to make his process a reality.
"It's not even theory anymore," he told WND. "Now we're just engineering. We are within a very few days of announcing the location of our first pilot plant."
The process of converting biomass into energy is not in dispute scientifically.
"Yes it can be done, but you have to do it economically," said Dr. Art Robinson, a research professor of chemistry at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine who publishes the Access to Energy newsletter. "These other ways [of producing energy] work; the only question is if they're competitive in price. Any hydrocarbon under pressure and temperature can turn into oil."
Robinson added, "We only have two competitive ways of making energy at low costs: hydrocarbons [oil, gas, coal and methane clathrate] and nuclear, and both are demonized to the point that our country is in trouble."
For the third straight day today, oil prices settled at a record high, gushing to a record $115.07 a barrel at one point. Gasoline prices have also been surging along with crude. AAA reports gasoline prices hit a new record of $3.399, up more than a penny from the previous day's price of $3.386.
Post by: PTK on April 17, 2008, 03:17:41 PM
Post by: Gewehr98 on April 17, 2008, 03:25:25 PM
Post by: Finch on April 17, 2008, 04:53:35 PM
Post by: seeker_two on April 17, 2008, 04:57:35 PM
Post by: K Frame on April 17, 2008, 05:27:56 PM
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
Post by: Headless Thompson Gunner on April 17, 2008, 05:35:24 PM
It's an elegant solution, really. Solar energy is captured by plants and stored as hydrocarbon biomass. Man harvests the biomass and uses engineered bacteria to convert it into hydrocarbon liquid vehicle fuel. Vehicles burn the fuel, releasing atmospheric carbon, water, and transporting Mommy and her precious crotch-fruit to soccer practice. Rinse, lather, repeat. The net result is that solar energy is captured and used to provide our transportation needs.
As to the bacteria running amok and liquefying everything, I doubt it. I have no specific knowledge of this particular bacteria, but engineered bacterias generally only survive under strictly controlled circumstances. Let them loose in a real environment they quickly die. Man isn't nearly as good at designing hardy, self-sustaining life forms as <choose one: God or Darwin>. Genetic engineering just isn't there yet.
And like it or not, we're already using special purpose bacteria and protozoans and whatnot for industrial purposes. As one example, your municipality's sewage treatment plant depends on this sort of thing to process your flushings. Nobody seems to complain about that.
Post by: Bogie on April 17, 2008, 06:03:39 PM
WND.com = Nutjob.com
Post by: Fjolnirsson on April 17, 2008, 06:06:52 PM
Quote
Vehicles burn the fuel, releasing atmospheric carbon, water, and transporting Mommy and her precious crotch-fruit to soccer practice.
Pardon me, whilst I remove the liquid refreshment from my monitor. Best line I've ever seen on APS...HTG, you rock.
Post by: Firethorn on April 17, 2008, 07:04:42 PM
Still this is nothing especially new. They have a process to turn algae into diesel, complete down to growing the algae in trays in a desert somewhere. Recycling and covered trays keep water demands down.
It's just a question of economy.
Post by: Perd Hapley on April 17, 2008, 07:31:15 PM
You know, am I the only person in the world to equate...
WND.com = Nutjob.com
WND.com = Nutjob.com
Lotta folk on APS seem to feel that way.
Post by: Gewehr98 on April 17, 2008, 08:10:46 PM
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=7892.msg128932#msg128932
and here:
http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=7409.msg120575#msg120575
I've since stopped using the term and refer to them as mobile sources of Soylent Green biodiesel, instead.
Post by: Bogie on April 17, 2008, 10:46:55 PM
Post by: grampster on April 18, 2008, 04:19:30 AM
Post by: charby on April 18, 2008, 04:40:42 AM
What everyone fails to understand is THE GORISTAS DON'T WANT US TO USE OIL, COAL, GAS OR NUCLEAR ENERGY. IT CAUSES GLOBULAR WORMING AND LINES THE POCKETS OF DIRTY RICH CAPITALIST ENERGY COMPANY PIGS AND CHOKES THE LANDFILLS WITH PLASTIC!!!
with this new GMO bacteria we won't even need landfills. I think the squirrel kissers would be all over this.
The bacteria makes sense because they use bacteria to clean up hydrocarbon spills. I also imagine that crude oil is a byproduct of bacteria, makes sense because bacteria in coal creates methane gas, which they extract from under the ground out in the Western states.
Post by: Jamisjockey on April 18, 2008, 05:37:40 AM
Don't care.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
Neither do I. As soon as the good banker in Zimbabwae gets my account information, I'm getting 10% of a deceased billionaire's estate.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 18, 2008, 05:42:51 AM
You can see rows of operating bacteria-action bioreactors at most any large city sewage plant.
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 18, 2008, 05:52:48 AM
Don't care.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
Neither do I. As soon as the good banker in Zimbabwae gets my account information, I'm getting 10% of a deceased billionaire's estate.
Post by: Jamisjockey on April 18, 2008, 06:39:02 AM
Don't care.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
Neither do I. As soon as the good banker in Zimbabwae gets my account information, I'm getting 10% of a deceased billionaire's estate.
Post by: Matthew Carberry on April 18, 2008, 08:14:49 AM
I also imagine that crude oil is a byproduct of bacteria, makes sense because bacteria in coal creates methane gas, which they extract from under the ground out in the Western states.
And they use chili out West to extract methane gas from around campfires.
Post by: BryanP on April 18, 2008, 09:01:17 AM
Quote
"It's not even theory anymore," he told WND. "Now we're just engineering. We are within a very few days of announcing the location of our first pilot plant."
If this is true then media coverage or the lack thereof is irrelevant.
Quote
You know, am I the only person in the world to equate...
WND.com = Nutjob.com
WND.com = Nutjob.com
Nope. If they are the only source for a story then I automatically assume it's BS until shown otherwise.
Post by: Firethorn on April 18, 2008, 09:05:57 AM
If this is true then media coverage or the lack thereof is irrelevant.
At least to me, the fact that they're looking for an area to site a test plant means this stuff isn't new. It's probably been in the news in the past; perhaps limited to more scientific minded publications.
For example, Discover had an article on Thermal Depolymorization a while back. From the descriptions, it's a lot like a non-organic version of the process described here.
TD can be used to dispose of pretty much anything that includes hydrocarbons, and the output is purified water, light oil, purified metals, etc... It can even be used to process chemical weapons and such. Any mostly organic garbage works. And 'plastic' counts as organic in this case.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 18, 2008, 09:07:43 AM
If this is true then media coverage or the lack thereof is irrelevant.
At least to me, the fact that they're looking for an area to site a test plant means this stuff isn't new. It's probably been in the news in the past; perhaps limited to more scientific minded publications.
For example, Discover had an article on Thermal Depolymorization a while back. From the descriptions, it's a lot like a non-organic version of the process described here.
TD can be used to dispose of pretty much anything that includes hydrocarbons, and the output is purified water, light oil, purified metals, etc... It can even be used to process chemical weapons and such. Any mostly organic garbage works. And 'plastic' counts as organic in this case.
It's already being used. ConAgra operates a plant that uses that process to turn their turkey offal into fuel oil that they use to run the plant, and they sell other distillates from the process.
Post by: AJ Dual on April 18, 2008, 09:18:49 AM
Thermal Depolymerization comes to mind. There's a big plant at the Butterball Turkey processin plant that turns all the blood, feet, beaks, offal, and feathers into light sweet low-sulfur crude. The plant is even somewhat self-fired by the methane pulled off the top of the reaction.
However, the real test is if the production is economical once ALL the costs and energy inputs into the process are taken into account. Bio-algae, Thermal Depolymerization, GM bacteria etc. all of them work, it's if they work creating net energy gain, and are economical in terms of infrastructure, land cost, wastes etc.
And everyone's looking for investors, and to make a buck, so they're also very cagey about real and honest energy/cost input/output figures.
That's the real rub.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 18, 2008, 09:23:57 AM
I wonder if the vegan greenies know they're printing with animal products.
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 18, 2008, 09:33:32 AM
The butterball plant is the ConAgra one. And yes, it produces light oil as well as middle distillates, and the remainder is powdered carbon used in things like printer toner.
I wonder if the vegan greenies know they're printing with animal products.
Do you think we should tell them? We might cause a few PETArds to suffer heart attacks I wonder if the vegan greenies know they're printing with animal products.
.
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 18, 2008, 09:34:44 AM
Don't care.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
I've invented an amazing new pill that, when dropped into water, allows a car to run on the solution.
Neither do I. As soon as the good banker in Zimbabwae gets my account information, I'm getting 10% of a deceased billionaire's estate.
.
Post by: Firethorn on April 18, 2008, 09:36:33 AM
Do you think we should tell them? We might cause a few PETArds to suffer heart attacks .
.Then we can stuff them into the TD plant and print on them!
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 18, 2008, 09:50:41 PM
Do you think we should tell them? We might cause a few PETArds to suffer heart attacks .
.Then we can stuff them into the TD plant and print on them!
Win-win situation!
Post by: rocinante on April 19, 2008, 05:18:40 AM
Quote
At least to me, the fact that they're looking for an area to site a test plant means this stuff isn't new.
If they are in Georgia the PERFECT facility already exist sitting idle. In Cordele Georgia there is a 55 million dollar recycling plant. It was designed to separate the organic from the plastics, metals, etc. Technically it worked fairly well but business wise and goober small town georgia government management doomed it.
Their idea was to turn the organics into compost. That worked too but not a huge market for compost. Take that raw organics and feed to this process and it would be the perfect marriage.