We are still burning crops to move vehicles

No surprise here, Electric vehicles are more efficient than burning fuel in a conventional engine. According to a California Professor we should be using the energy we get from crops and use it to generate electricity for electric vehicles.

Excerpt:

"Bioelectricity outperforms ethanol across a range of feedstocks, conversion technologies, and vehicle classes. Bioelectricity produces an average 81% more transportation kilometers and 108% more emissions offsets per unit area cropland than cellulosic ethanol. These results suggest that alternative bioenergy pathways have large differences in how efficiently they use the available land to achieve transportation and climate goals.

This is hardly a surprise, though it has seemed startling enough to the media that it's gone mainstream. After all, conventional car engines of the sort used to burn ethanol put out barely 20 per cent of their fuel's energy at the drive shaft. By contrast, an electric motor can beat 80 per cent without trouble."

But wait:

"Are you sure there's enough land, Professor?

Let's hope that Campbell never bumps into Dr Richard Pike, head of the Royal Society of Chemistry here in the UK. Pike is deeply scathing about the idea of using plants to power transportation by any means - electric or ethanol. He notes that you get 2,000 per cent more energy per acre by covering land with solar cells, making Campbell's measly 80 per cent improvement look pretty rubbish"

Read the full article here

Biochar - No April Fools Joke

Putting the Gene back in the bottle is always the trick. In the case of CO₂ it my be critical for mankind and the planet.

A group of researchers in Georgia are working on a new/old solution: Biochar

Not only does it help the soil, microbes and plants, it also holds the CO₂ in the soil. By taking organic waste and creating Biochar not only are we helping our Global Warming issue, we are are also helping feed people and possibly make more energy (fuel).



Also visit http://www.biochar.org/

In Reality - No Existing Clean Coal Plants

All this talk about "Clean Coal" my be just a bunch of hot air. Hot air full of green house gases!

It turns out there is not one coal fired plant using technology to clean up their by product before it goes out into the air we breath.

thisisreality.org has a TV campaign and a website with the Facts.

So You Want Bail Out Money?

This good folks over at TreeHugger.com have a great article on making sure there are strong strings, no ropes, attached to any money used to Bailout the Big 3 Auto Makers in the US.

When I saw the Heads of those companies sitting there telling us that it was not their products or the business plan, but rather the Economy, that caused the issues for them I knew right then and there we need those ropes... If they can't see it, then we must mandate it. Hey, and I am for less government. But some times you just have to.

Read the Article Now - Click Here

100 Mile Diet - Eating Locally

It is so simple. It just makes sense.

Buying local supports local business owners and farmers. The food is fresher, most likely better quality and better for you.

Check out this site and make a pledge to do more to eat better and buy local.

Visit the Site

See the FAQs

A Call To Action Worth Hearing Again

This call from then 12 year old Severn Cullis-Suzuki was done in 1992.

Have we heeded the warning?

Are we different now?

Change on a massive scale, such as what is needed for the entire planet, can be slow and even the change invisible to the eye and mind of humans. But each action does change the world and the people in it. We are never the same once the information has been imparted.

A Simple Thing You Can Do to have Safer Water

Think you're water bottle is safe? Think again. Check to see if it is a "1" type of plastic and not a "3", "6" or "7"

A few simple changes, like only using type "1" bottles, can eliminate one more possible hazard (hormone mimicking chemical - see video).

Play Video News Story

Solar Power Now Cheaper than Coal!

Their mission: to deliver cost-efficient solar electricity. The Nanosolar company was founded in 2002 and is working to build the world’s largest solar cell factory in California and the world’s largest panel-assembly factory in Germany. They have successfully created a solar coating that is the most cost-efficient solar energy source ever. Their PowerSheet cells contrast the current solar technology systems by reducing the cost of production from $3 a watt to a mere 30 cents per watt. This makes, for the first time in history, solar power cheaper than burning coal.

Read More and DIGG this while you're there!


Sundog

The Earth Cinema Circle

You are what you watch!

This is a "Cool Alert". If you have not seen this yet, surf on over and have a look.

Earth Cinema Circle

This is a great venue to showcase little known movies on the earth, the environment and the world we live in.

Films you may not see anywhere else. Join and support this new venture and help get the word out.