Environment - Alternative Energy Sources

Switchgrass

Also from Vol. 170 of Science News:

Corn-grain ethanol and soybean biodiesel are the two major alternative transportation fuels in the United States.

[...]

Both biofuels yield energy, but with corn-based ehtanol, "it takes so much energy to grow the corn and convert it into a fuel, you don't gain very much energy in the overall process," says ecologist David Tilman at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. While ethanol provides 25% more energy than it consumes, [...] soybean biodiesel (yields) 93% (more energy).

[...]

Per unit of energy, biodiesel requires 1% of the nitrogen, 8.3% of the phosphorus and 13% of the pesticides that corn ethanol does.

Moreover, producing and using corn ethanol decreases greenhouse gas emissions by 12% compared to gasoline. Soybean biodiesel produces 41% less greenhouse gas emissions than corn ethanol.

I'm waiting for them to move to switchgrass, which requires no pesticides or fertilizers and is expected to provide a larger energy gain than either of the other alternatives mentioned. According to the article, if the entire corn and soybean crop of the U.S. were used for fuel, it would only provide 12% of the gasoline and 6% of the fuel.

Apparently, Americans haven't yet heard that the first crucial step in recycling is reduce.

Stumble It!

Politics - Department Of Oblivious Obviousness

Some of us have been saying - hey, okay, a lot of us, especially those of us that don't make CEO salaries, or have mortgages, or pay too goddamned much for health care - that ever since Presidunce Shrub took over, our incomes have remained stagnant or shrunk appallingly, and it seems we work harder for less, with more stress and less enjoyment.

And, lo and behold! Today, the benighted gits at the NYT finally come to the same realization:

Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money than at the peak of the last economic expansion, new government data shows.

It's nice to have statistics confirm what was merely practical observation and experience before, I suppose. All I know is, before Commander Bunnypants took power, we ran this household quite well - almost luxuriously - on one-third of what it takes to run it now, and at times our lifestyle feels quite meagre by comparison. We scrimp. We pinch pennies. And still, we're so much better off than many of our friends and compatriots, some of whom got laid off in previous great corporate bloodlettings and are still looking for work five years later.

I used to say that every time Idiot Boy opened his mouth, the stock market took another dive. Woe betide us all, I didn't know it would turn out to be so true.

Stumble It!

Iraq War - Twenty per cent Have TBI

Argh. I mean - just ARGH. What is going to happen to all these - mostly young - people? Bush has no plan for anything other than reducing the VA budget and making it more difficult for veterans to obtain medical care. TBI is going to leave all these people in need of some ongoing assistance, financial, medical, and, for many, physical. Where are the caregivers going to come from? Who is going to pay for the care?

Stumble It!

Politics this week

How delusional can a person get? Condi Rice insists the coalition is intact in Iraq. Someone should point out to her that the British are pulling out nearly one quarter of their troops, and the Danish are pulling out all their troops. Who does that leave? The Australians and Poles? The Editors at The Poor Man Institute has the figures on who's pulled out and when.

Presidential hopeful John McCain is getting the respect that he deserves from Dick Cheney:

Karl: “You probably heard John McCain again come out and say that your friend Donald Rumsfeld is perhaps the worst secretary of defense ever. What do you make of that?"

Cheney: “I just fundamentally disagree with John. John said some nasty things about me the other day, and then next time he saw me, ran over to me and apologized. Maybe he'll apologize to Rumsfeld.”

Act like a lapdog, you get treated like a lapdog. "... ran over to me and apologized ...."? I guess even Dick can't bring himself to say "groveled and fawned over me till I slapped him down."

More here.

In other news, Stupie McChickenHawk's puppet government in Iraq appears to be calling him a liar. Wonder how he's going to respond.

The National Guard is falling apart, with insufficient equipment and manpower to handle any domestic crises, even as Bush prepares for a new war with Iran. Even as rumours start, again, that al Qaeda is planning an attack on American soil. Nasty sense of deja vu, no? This is exactly what happened the last time. Chatter picked up by intel about attack planned on American soil, Stupie McChimperson took a vacation, and voila! 9-11. While he's distracting us with Iran, sending troops, carriers, arms and equipment in that direction, al Qaeda is creeping in the back door, jackbooted foot aiming at our collective arse.

My prescription? Drink early and often. At least your muscles will be relaxed when whatever it is hits, and you'll do yourself less injury. Skoal!

Stumble It!