Energy And Politics Bio-Fuels And Barack

I wrote, more like groused, just a few posts ago about getting into writing repeat posts on various subjects like energy and bio-fuels. Well, here I am creating a post on energy and bio-fuels. The primary purpose of this weblog is to be a medium for self-education. It helps me find informative links on various subjects. It also helps me to combine and synthesize the information found in those links. The writing of the post is a means of finalizing the process of learning for this set of related links. Once the information is gathered, organized and made meaningful for myself, there is also a certain pleasure in sharing it.

These issues have particular importance as we are about to elect a new president who will set the energy agenda for the next four to eight years.

The weblog Earth2Tech provides a look at both the Obama and McCain energy policies.

• FAQ: The Obama Energy Plan « Earth2Tech

• diigo tags: earth2tech, environment, energy, politics

  • Now that the Democratic Party has a presumptive nominee, it’s time to take a closer look at Sen. Barack Obama’s energy plan and how he intends to use the office of the president to accelerate our transition to a greener economy. We profiled Sen. John McCain’s energy plan earlier, and since energy will almost certainly not get as much debate time as Iraq, health care or the economy, we encourage you to compare McCain’s and Obama’s plans and comment below. (The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the comparison this morning.)

One of the comments in reaction to the article raised an issue with Obama's position on bio-fuels. Barack Obama has, as have many of us, changed his view on bio-fuels according to this Wired Magazine article.

To better understand the impact that these decisions are and will have on our world, the website Breathing Earth illustrates the acceleration of pollution in developed and developing countries. The link goes to a StumbleUpon site which comments from others who agreed or disagreed.

BreathingEarth - StumbleUpon --- - diigo Tag: environment

• The site provides an effective visualization of the impact of carbon emissions on the environment across the globe. The use of energy always has a cost. This originates from another social tagging community StumbleUpon providing different perspectives on the site - post by brianddrpm

Finally for this particular learning component, and with the objective of providing different points of view, is a video snippet from FORA-tv featuring a debate between Newt Gringrich and Jeffery Sachs on Iraq Oil. The full video is far more informative. To see the entire video on their conversation regarding a Contract With The Earth click on the FORA-tv icon at the bottom right of the video

Revisiting Eco20/20 Group At Diigo.com

Back in April I joined one of the diigo groups Eco20/20, an organization that according to the group description, is the leader at providing safe,clean,environmentally friendly alternative-renewable energy information. We must be energy smart and independent. Fossil fuels are finite,expensive and damage the air.

Since then it has tripled the number of friends from 56 to 158 and doubled its membership from 15 to 33. This would seem to demonstrate that having a specific focus of purpose and established credentials to achieve that purpose makes it more likely that others will join you or at least tag along. Membership would suggest greater commitment than friendship, the basis of that commitment being contributions of bookmarks.

Energy Net is by far the greatest contributer to the group with 174, as of this writing, bookmarks provided. A visit to Energy Net's profile page will show a long term commitment to this cause. According the profile of the owner, I'm the archivist for the anti-nuclear movement in California that was organized by the Abalone Alliance and further down this site is organized around educating public about the dangers of nuclear power and alternatives to it. Energy Net has 5,348 bookmarks most dealing with energy and nuclear.

I would seem to be third, at least in terms of shared bookmarks with a paltry 12, but then energy and environmental issues have not been a top focus for me. Truth is that most of my shared bookmarks have dealt with economics, economic sustainability, technology or other issues and happened to involve energy issues. I have also, as of yet, not participated in any forums.

I do, however, have more shared bookmarks and even total bookmarks at the eco20/20 diigo site than eco20/20 itself. Is the site then merely a container created for others to fill in their contributions? Does the diigo site help to feed new people to the ECO20/20 website homepage? It is all for the good, rather the question being raised is on effective communication or conversation with the "crowd". At its highest level, the best term I can come up with would be "collaboration". My past posts on this perspective though have bounced all over the place. Energy Net would seem to be getting the greatest leverage out of their efforts on this subject, at least in relation to the diigo community.

Some of my contributed Group Bookmarks are below. Some perhaps could be debated as to whether or not they were applicable or not.

TED | Talks | Majora Carter: Greening the ghetto (video) --- Add comment
- Tag: development economics environment paradigms poverty social-entrepreneurship sustainability ted video - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:24

- Quotes & Comments -

• Why you should listen to her: Majora Carter is a visionary voice in city planning who views urban renewal through an environmental lens. The South Bronx native draws a direct connection between ecological, economic and social degradation. Hence her motto: - comment by Brian Dowling

European Commission - External Trade - Trade Issues --- Add comment

- Tag: biofuel environment global - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:26

- Quotes & Comments -

• Mandelson writes: "The issue is not biofuels or no biofuels, but the right biofuels. Europe's governments have signed a commitment ensuring that 10% of the petrol in Europe's vehicles in 2020 is made from renewable transport fuels, including biofuels. This will make an important contribution to the EU's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote security of energy supply. But there is an obvious caveat: biofuels must be an environmental policy in pursuit of an environmental outcome - the most sustainable policy is the only right policy".

Food prices | The end of cheap food | Economist.com --- Add comment

- Tag: economics environment - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

- Quotes & Comments -

• This year biofuels will take a third of America's (record) maize harvest. That affects food markets directly: fill up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year. And it affects them indirectly, as farmers switch to maize from other crops. The 30m tonnes of extra maize going to ethanol this year amounts to half the fall in the world's overall grain stocks.

Change the Incentive Structure | Cosmic Variance --- Add comment

- Tag: economics environment - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

- Quotes & Comments -

• Change the Incentive Structure

  Sean at 11:46 am, December 13th, 2007

  Via Climate 411, through the intermediaries of Matthew Yglesias and Bradford Plumer, here’s a dramatic example of the government driving innovation â€" the number of patents granted for sulfur-dioxide control technologies per year, with major air-quality legislation marked.

Zerofootprint --- Add comment

- Tag: environment - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:24

Powerset Co-Founder to Launch Crowdsourced Green VC Fund --- Add comment

- Tag: crowdsourced economics environment vcfund - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:26

- Quotes & Comments -

• Steve Newcomb, a co-founder of search startup Powerset, is in the early stages of launching a ventur- capital fund that would accept green investments as low as $100, with a maximum investment of $1,000.

  "It would be a breakthrough green venture-capital fund for the people, by the people. As excited as I was about PowerSet, I'm 10 times more excited about this," Newcomb told Wired.com. "Worldwide, there is the potential to raise a multibillion-dollar fund."

Food vs. Fuel --- Add comment

- Tag: economics environment - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

- Quotes & Comments -

• Corn is caught in a tug-of-war between ethanol plants and food, one of the first signs of a coming agricultural transformation and a global economic shift. Ever since our ancestors in the Fertile Crescent first figured out how to grow grains, crops have been used mainly to feed people and livestock. But now that's changing in response to the high price of oil, the cost in lives and dollars of ensuring a supply of petroleum imports, and limits on climate-warming emissions of fossil fuels.

The Greener Grass --- Add comment

- Tag: design environment social-engagement - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

- Quotes & Comments -

• 

  One of the objectives we should want to achieve when defining and presenting ourselves or our life's endeavors is authenticity. One could take it that design also has authenticity has an objective as well from the writings of Finn McKenty, who blogs at Lightheavyweight. Perhaps, though, it is wrong to think of them as being in separate arenas.

  Finn McKenty extends the concern with authenticity to endeavors of social-engagement. Specifically, the Greener Grass project, which is about connecting people with ideas designed to have a positive impact.

  - comment by Brian Dowling

• About The Greener Grass

  The Greener Grass uses our resources to initiate positive change by opening discourse, connecting people, and becoming a conduit for new thinking and discussion that leads to positive outcomes. Our goal is to build a community by interviewing experts and thought leaders, identifying trends, and creating concepts for products, services, and ideas that bring solutions to life.

Make Green Pay Video, Part 1 - CNBC.com --- Add comment

- Tag: business economics entrepreneurship environment sustainability - Shared By: Brian Dowling 2008-05-21 03:07:25

- Quotes & Comments -

• Make Green Pay Video, Part 1 - comment by Brian Dowling

Good Intentions:Biofuels / Bad Consequences: Worse Than Gasoline And Better As Food?

One technological development with the worthwhile intentions of helping to improve the environment and to lessen the economy's dependency on foreign oil was the move from petroleum based fuels to biofuels. Unfortunately, as there so often is, there are unintended consequences.

One debate is centered around Food versus Fuel. Some sample articles are included in this online folder. It is not the purpose of this post to take a side, but to understand better the challenge in realizing what is necessary to create benefit without unintentionally creating harm elsewhere or at the very least to have a net benefit.

The Economist raised the issue for this weblog's consideration.

This year biofuels will take a third of America's (record) maize harvest. That affects food markets directly: fill up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year. And it affects them indirectly, as farmers switch to maize from other crops. The 30m tonnes of extra maize going to ethanol this year amounts to half the fall in the world's overall grain stocks.

BusinessWeek Magazine also reported on the Food vs. Fuel debate.

Corn is caught in a tug-of-war between ethanol plants and food, one of the first signs of a coming agricultural transformation and a global economic shift. Ever since our ancestors in the Fertile Crescent first figured out how to grow grains, crops have been used mainly to feed people and livestock. But now that's changing in response to the high price of oil, the cost in lives and dollars of ensuring a supply of petroleum imports, and limits on climate-warming emissions of fossil fuels.

The other articles in the folder take sides regarding the issue but not merely for or against. Other possibilities are explored including technological ones. Mongabay.com, one of the articles in the online folder, informs us that,

Bruce Dale, an MSU chemical engineering and materials science professor, notes that ethanol can be made from cellulosic materials, like farm waste, instead of corn grain.

Now more hurtles appear for this technology of best intentions.

Wired Science on via Wired: Top Stories reports that Studies Say Biofuels Worse Than Gasoline

According to two studies published this week in Science, when all relevant factors are accounted for, biofuels produce more greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels.

The same issue was reported on in the Los Angeles Times By Staff Writer Alan Zarembo.

The conversion of forests and grasslands into fields for the plants offsets the benefit of using the fuel, researchers find. Greenhouse-gas output overall would rise instead of fall.

The rush to grow biofuel crops -- widely embraced as part of the solution to global warming -- is actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions rather than reducing them, according to two studies published Thursday in the journal Science.

This follow the same path as other stories in this weblog of attempting to fijavascript:void(0)
Publish Postnd solutions to problem but not fully understanding all of the ramifications, especially concerning healthcare

. I don't see it the same though as Alex Tabarrok does as,

The law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system.

Rather I see it as multiple complex systems competing, or more as limited humans trying to place their narrow intentions on a disinterested world. Good intentions not withstanding, the question of actual benefit still remains and it will likely still be difficult to ascertain whether the final outcomes were unintended or not.