Tag Archives: fuel

Wind power and nuclear power

Posted on November 7, 2013 by argylesock

Here in Britain our Energy Secretary is Edward Davey. This week he announced that the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DOCC), which he leads, will invest more in offshore wind farms to generate electricity. This comes just two weeks … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology | Tagged Davey_Edward, Department of Energy and Climate Change, energy, fuel, history, nuclear power, politics, sea, wind farm | Leave a comment

More corn grown in U.S. this year than ever before. Thanks, biofuels.

Posted on November 6, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… We can hope for more ‘advanced biofuels’ but just now, biofuels in the USA are mostly from corn (maize, Zea mays).

Posted in agriculture, money and trade | Tagged biofuel, conservation, corn, crop, cropland, eutrophic, fertiliser, fuel, grain, herbicide, land use, maize, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, pollution, research, soya, sustainable, technology, trade, waterway | 2 Comments

Developing advanced biofuels

Posted on October 31, 2013 by argylesock

In the United States, the Agriculture Secretary is Tom Vilsack. He’s offering money to develop commercial-scale biorefineries or retrofit existing facilities with appropriate technology to develop advanced biofuels. ‘Advanced biofuels’ means that these fuels are to come from non-food sources. … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged algaculture, algae, biobased industry, biofuel, biotechnology, conservation, corn, finance, food waste, forest, fuel, land use, maize, palm oil, plant_monocot, tree, waste, woodland | 9 Comments

Existing cropland could feed four billion more by dropping biofuels and animal feed

Posted on August 8, 2013 by argylesock

Emily Cassidy at the University of Minnesota says that four billion more people could eat if existing croplands were used in better ways. ‘We already produce enough calories to feed a few billion more people. As our planet gets more … Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged biofuel, crop, cropland, dryland, egg, farm, feed, food, fuel, land use, meat, milk, pastoral, population, research, sustainable | Leave a comment

Electric cars and bacterial plastics

Posted on July 16, 2013 by argylesock

We need to get better at using organisms. Organisms are alive so they can breed. That is, they’re renewable. Some of them can be used in ways that, people claim, are sustainable. That is, using some organisms is supposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer, miniculture | Tagged allotment, bacterium, biobased industry, car, compost, fuel, garden, knowledge, laboratory, plastic, renewable, soil, sustainable, technology, transport | Leave a comment

Where are we going with biofuels?

Posted on July 13, 2013 by argylesock

The word ‘sustainable’ can ring hollow. Like ‘the environment’ and ‘the people’, ‘sustainable’ is an easy thing to say without meaning much. One of my most loyal blog followers, eqfe, has commented a few times about my ‘sustainable’ tag here. … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, miniculture | Tagged algaculture, algae, arboriculture, arthropod, biofuel, biotechnology, brassica, breeding, canola, corn, crop, energy, entomoculture, food, fuel, grain, insect, land use, law, maize, oilseed, palm, palm oil, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, rapeseed, renewable, sustainable, technology, trade, transport, tree, waste | 4 Comments

Agricultural biotech against poverty and hunger

Posted on July 11, 2013 by argylesock

Too many people are hungry. Many of the hungry people are African. Biotechnology might help. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) tells us how biotech can help to feed people. ‘A successful strategy should have MULTIPLE … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged Africa, biotechnology, breeding, cassava, corn, crop variety, development, feed, food, fruit, fuel, genetic modification, grain, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, knowledge, legume, maize, marker assisted selection, melon, millet, pearl millet, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, potato, research, seed, selective breeding, sorghum, soya, staple food, sugar cane, sweet potato, textile, tissue culture, tomato, trade, transport, tuber, wheat | 3 Comments

When it comes to food, technology won’t save us

Posted on June 30, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… Food security isn’t all about GM (genetic modification, GE) and other kinds of biotech. But those can help.

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to land, agroecology, biofuel, biotechnology, cattle, crop, development, feed, food, food security, food waste, fuel, genetic modification, laboratory, livestock, mammal, marker assisted selection, meat, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, population, poverty, research, ruminant, vertebrate | Leave a comment

Microalgae: renewable biofuel source with no need for fresh water. Just give them our wastewater.

Posted on June 17, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Just Science:
Last week, I presented illustrations for yeast and a microalgal species of Chlamydomonas. Today I will expound on part of this. Ongoing research is working to identify ways to circumvent the need for fresh water,…

Posted in knowledge transfer, miniculture | Tagged algaculture, algae, biofuel, biotechnology, fuel, knowledge, research, sustainable, waste, water, water waste | 4 Comments

Starving Poor, Racing Cars

Posted on April 14, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… Biofuels have become a terrible error. You’re right that forests are being cleared to grow corn (maize), so the world loses forests. It’s not working out well for farmers in the poor world as you say, and not … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, money and trade | Tagged access to food, biofuel, corn, development, food, forest, fuel, maize, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, poverty, trade, transport, tree | Leave a comment