Category Archives: Energy

Energy, Sailing

Diesel-hybrid sailboat launched

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Lagoon 420 A 42 foot luxury catamaran called the Lagoon 420, which uses an innovative diesel-electric hybrid engine, was recently launched:

The latest version of the electric motors made an impression as she left the docks in silence. The electric motors had incredible torque, smooth acceleration was provided while working the throttles. The soundproofing of the genset compartment worked extremely well.

The “Hybrid Diesel-Electric Propulsion Drives” seem pretty straightfoward and sensible:

Complete installation comprises of two standard electric motors connected to propellers by straight shaft transmissions, one generator and two set of 6 batteries.

• When batteries are 100 % charged, the boat will be able to function with both motors for approximately two hours (depending on speed).

• When batteries are 80 % charged, the generator will automatically start and charge the batteries in order to provide electricity for the motors.

• When sailing, propellers will turn freely and recharge the batteries.

They even have survey results for the question “What do you consider important about a hybrid diesel-electric multihull?” Not the most scientific-looking survey (e.g. they just added a fourth choice and are mixing results), but still interesting.

Energy, Security

Campaign Consumption in CA

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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the campaign trail. Actually, he has a giant 40-foot recreational vehicle (RV) on the campaign trail that he is using to offer photo opportunities. His campaign stands for three things, as far as I can tell from the website:

  1. Fame
  2. Protection
  3. Consumption

I do not say this lightly, I am just trying to point out what the marketing effect is of a giant inefficient engine driving around the state and a website that says “Protecting…” on every page.

1) The fame message is obvious. Can’t underestimate the effect of a famous actor with a pleasant persona offering folks a photo-opportunity.

2) I have to admit from a security perspective the overwhelming use of a “protection” theme is a little disturbing. Is the idea to promote a message like “Anything you are afraid of, Arnold can protect you”? Seems plausable, given the image he has cultivated from the type of movies he has appeared in and the roles he usually plays (e.g. other than the ones opposite DeVito). Wonder if he will step down off the bus carrying a giant broad-sword or a 50 caliber machine-gun? “I will protect your dream!”

3) Seriously, though, with regard to consumption a quick review of the vehicle he is promoting led me to the rvforsaleguide.com site, which really puts Arnold’s campaign style in perspective:

most expensive per lineal foot of the factory built choices. Many new ones get less than 7 mpg, and 10+ year old units may not even get 5 mpg.

Surely he is driving a new one. Perhaps compared to a fleet of Hummers a single 40-foot RV is economical, but less than 7 mpg still seems rather crude as a campaign message given the bitter history of electric cars and alternative fuel in California. The bus is green, but is it green, if you know what I mean? Maybe it was painted green as a deliberate snub to environmentalists or to give it the appearance of concern about the environment without need for reality.

Arnold’s campaign says his aim is “Protecting the California Dream”, but to me this RV represents more of a late 1990s Texas or Detroit dream. Where is the hybrid technology or alternative fuel source? In other words if the dream is to build giant heavy buses that consume excessive amounts of petroleum then I am sure Ford, Firestone and companies like Bayoil have some campaign contributions headed his way.

Shame the JoinArnold campaign did not have the foresight to run the bus on alternative energy, since that might show some vision or more consistency with the “dream” theme. Instead, they are just pushing more hype and hypocricy, and that is hardly the stuff dreams are really made of.

Incidentally, Arnold’s RV is also a rather sad contrast to the famous green bus of the late US Senator Paul Wellstone. And that bus is apparently still being used, according to Wellstone Action:

The vintage green school bus, long a campaign fixture for the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, becomes training tool for progressive action Saturday in Bemidji.

Energy, Security

Virgin Alternative Energy

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Richard Branson is diving into the Ethanol market by promising $400 million in investments for alternative energy, according to Bloomberg. Let’s hope he also supports biodiesel and hybrid/electric technology for vehicles, but so far it looks like just more of the same Ethanol hype:

Cilion, which was formed in 2006, builds and runs factories producing ethanol, an alcohol derived from plants. The company plans to build as many as seven plants with capacity to produce as much as 440 million gallons a day of ethanol by 2009. The first three units will be built in California, Branson said.

Branson plans to expand the investment program, which will also target other forms of alternative energy, into the U.K., Europe and other parts of the world, he said.

Energy, History, Security

BioDiesel trumps Ethanol

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A new study reaches the same conclusion that I have been harping about for some time:

The first comprehensive analysis of the full life cycles of soybean biodiesel and corn grain ethanol shows that biodiesel has much less of an impact on the environment and a much higher net energy benefit than corn ethanol, but that neither can do much to meet U.S. energy demand.

Ok, the first part was what I was referring to, not the latter part.

With regard to demand, it should be noted that biodiesel can be made from numerous sources including fish oils, nut oils, vegetable oils, as well as waste oil and grease from restaurants, oils from meat and tannery plants, etc. and not just from soybeans. In other words, biodiesel can be a form of recycling products that otherwise would be put into landfill or worse.

Also, demand is often confused by a false dichotomy. We do not have to switch completely to Ethanol or Biodiesel tomorrow. In fact, mixing biodiesel using “splash blend” (e.g. just pouring a few gallons into your tank of petro-diesel) reduces the immediate need for high amounts while still allowing a significant benefit in terms of lubricity (eliminating the need for other more harmful additives like sulfur) as well as safer emissions. You will notice an immediate difference when you put only a few gallons of biodiesel into your tank as the engine gets quieter and the exhaust becomes sweeter smelling and smoke-less.

The fact is a gradual transition from 100% petroleum diesel to 90/10 or 80/20 is perfectly acceptable to the engines available today and yet still hugely beneficial to the environment. Production would thus only need to ramp up gradually rather than be a complete switch-over. Besides, we all know that bio-diesel technology for production and refinement is in the very baby stages of advancement. Remember portable computers of the 1980s? That’s what biodiesel production technology is like today. Ten years from now we should see amazing things by comparison, IF the government is clever enough to allow, or even help, the market to develop.

Back to the news, here is an even more important finding:

The study showed that both corn grain ethanol and soybean biodiesel produce more energy than is needed to grow the crops and convert them into biofuels. This finding refutes other studies claiming that these biofuels require more energy to produce than they provide. The amount of energy each returns differs greatly, however. Soybean biodiesel returns 93 percent more energy than is used to produce it, while corn grain ethanol currently provides only 25 percent more energy.

Still, the researchers caution that neither biofuel can come close to meeting the growing demand for alternatives to petroleum. Dedicating all current U.S. corn and soybean production to biofuels would meet only 12 percent of gasoline demand and 6 percent of diesel demand. Meanwhile, global population growth and increasingly affluent societies will increase demand for corn and soybeans for food.

The authors showed that the environmental impacts of the two biofuels also differ. Soybean biodiesel produces 41 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than diesel fuel whereas corn grain ethanol produces 12 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. Soybeans have another environmental advantage over corn because they require much less nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides, which get into groundwater, streams, rivers and oceans. These agricultural chemicals pollute drinking water, and nitrogen decreases biodiversity in global ecosystems. Nitrogen fertilizer, mainly from corn, causes the ‘dead zone’ in the Gulf of Mexico.

41%! That’s huge. The environmental and fuel experts may soon conclude that Ethanol, although a good additive to help reduce dependence on foreign oil in the interim years, is definitely not the right solution long term. However, that being said, many people complained that Microsoft produced poor quality products in the 1980s that were insecure and harmed consumers and yet one of its predecessors (UNIX) has only just finally started to be recognized more widely as a superior architecture. Within the next few years, virtually all computerized personal devices, let alone personal computers, will have some form of UNIX or UNIX-like operating sytem on them.

As a funny aside, I recently heard a story about an older gentleman in a beginning UNIX class who said “hey, these commands are all just like DOS” to which the instructor laughed and said “no, other way around. It’s the other way around”. And so, perhaps someday after billions of consumer money has been unwittingly invested into Ethanol in order to try and get its emissions down and energy up someone might say, “hey, this Biodiesel stuff is just like Ethanol”…