I have always tried to pursue a certain level of preparedness in life, for those things that would disprupt “life as we know it”. Auto insurance, fire insurance, health insurance, savings, and all that, of course. And my sweetie sometimes calls me the Boy Scout, like when we drive up to the big city in the winter. In the trunk I’ll have food, water, sleeping bags, camp stove, chains, shovel, sand, extra boots and gloves, flares and lights… in short, I try to be prepared for the “just in case”. Here at home, we have a pantry that is full and could take us months if need be, and we have preparations far beyond what FEMA suggests. Yes, I got ready for Y2K, and not just the week before, I started in Y98. We were covered for the “longshot”. Still are.
As part of that, I like to swing by and read some of the preparedness websites regularly. Not just the survival sites, but the Peak Oil sites too. Yes, it’s difficult to find good ones, especially ones that don’t tout what I consider an extreme political point of view. Sorry, I’m just not into New Age Gaia worship, hippie communes (been there, did that), or secret mountain militias. One of the themes I find common to both is an under-riding pessimism that nothing good will happen to change the course of what looks like our headlong rush to complete disaster. Especially on some of the Peak Oil type sites, the idea that science and technology can actually come up with any kind of alternative energy that will matter is an idea that is dismissed almost universally. Look at the right side of that Bell Curve, they say, and you can clearly see we’re heading into the New Middle Ages. Our dependence on oil is too great, there is no possible replacement, we’re heading for a complete collapse…In fact, I was reading a long article last night on a site that seems to promote exactly that belief.
I like to be prepared, but I also like to be more optimistic than that. I have a great faith in God and His Plan, and in His hand on everything. And I have a little faith in man, especially American man, and his ability to come up with ingenious things (although, judging from many of the commercials and tv shows lately, that ability is not widely practiced, but that is a different post). So it doesn’t surprise me to wake up in the morning and find an article announcing some kind of breakthrough process that might turn out to be something really great. Here is just that sort of article which I stumbled on this morning (hat tip Instapundit)
DETROIT — General Motors announced a partnership today with bio-fuel developer Coskata that it hopes will result in the production of cost-effective E85 by 2011.
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Using patented microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, Coskata ethanol is produced via a unique three-step conversion process that turns virtually any carbon-based feedstock—including biomass, municipal solid waste, and a variety of agricultural waste—into ethanol, making production a possibility in almost any geography. The technology is ethanol-specific and enzyme independent, requiring no additional chemicals or pre-treatments.
Simply put, the Coskata process can produce ethanol almost anywhere in the world, using practically any renewable source, including feedstock, garbage, old tires and plant waste. And it can do so for less than a dollar per gallon.
The process also uses less than a gallon of water to make a gallon of ethanol compared with three gallons or more for other processes.
According to Argonne National Laboratory, which analyzed Coskata’s process, for every unit of energy used, it generates up to 7.7 times that amount of energy, and it reduces CO2 emissions by up to 84 percent compared with a well-to-wheel analysis of gasoline.
From this short article, it appears to be a process that addresses all the knocks on ethanol as an energy source. It takes the pressure off of agricultural raw materials (corn), it is more water efficient, it requires less energy input… in short, it is one of those good things that happens in a capitalistic economy. There is a need that folks are willing to pay money to solve. Some smart guy finds a way to solve the need less expensively than the other guy. I hope they make a ton of bucks! And I hope an even smarter guy comes along with an even better solution. That is, after all, the American Way.
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