Archive for October, 2009

Who in their right mind would consider a Coal-To-Liquid Technology(CTL) investment when we have plenty of oil supplies? You should. Because we dont.

Yes, oil prices are high. But crude production has peaked. Output in all major fields is fixed, or is declining. New oil fields are smaller and harder to get at, and extraction techniques are getting more difficult and expensive. Energy demand around the world is rocketting. Oil prices are rising steeply. Increasing political unrest means uncertain supplies, and the markets hate uncertainty.

That suggests oil substitute fuels like liquid coal will be needed soon. The obvious oil substitutes-liquid natural gas, oil sands, biofuels, fuel cells, renewable sources and nuclear power can’t meeting total demand at a reasonable cost for the next decade at least.

What is likely to be the solution? Large supplies of coal. Combined with a long-used proven technology which can convert coal into a clean pumpable liquid with low burnoff emissions- CTL. Both are now readily available at competitive costs.

There are vast available coal deposits in the USA, China, India ,Canada, and Australia, allowing enough liquid coal for scores, maybe hundreds of years, even if demand accelerates.

Note that the Middle East has declining oil and virtually no coal.

Once oil prices rise above $35 a barrel, coal-to-liquid technology providing liquid coal at $20-$30/barrel begins looking very attractive as an oil alternative. Presently oil prices remain above $60, show no sign of descending and could peak at $100-$150 a barrel – IF available from anywhere. This would potentially lead to gasoline at $8/gallon at US pumps and widespread recession.

Other technologies such as coal gasification and gas-to-liquids (GTL) are currently cheaper than coal liquefaction and so some companies afraid of a downturn in oil prices and seeking the best current investment returns may be tempted by those instead.

However China and the US-now the two major powerhouses of world industry-are likely to opt for liquid coal on the basis of huge cheap domestic supplies and the incentive of non reliance of volatile outside markets.

China is an fast awaking industrial giant. They need vast amounts of energy badly for electricity for factories homes and schools, have little oil but lots of coal. Trouble is, the coal is in the north, and industrial developments in the south, China is huge and the roads and railways are presently poor.

It’s hard to transport solid coal then burn it and create lots of pollution, but much easier and ultimately cheaper to pump clean liquid coal by pipeline.

The government there doesn’t argue or debate issues with the public-with collaboration with Royal Dutch Shell, they have already started to build a liquid coal plant in the Ningxia region, with three more on the way.

Also, consider the car. Demand is growing worldwide. But so are demands for cleaner more efficient vehicles. Liquid coal can be used to make both gasoline or diesel fuel. But the most ecofriendly efficient car of the near future probably WON’T be a electric-gasoline hybrid but an electric-diesel hybrid. This will have similar refinement and performance but far better overall miles per gallon, lower emissions.

Also note that China and India plan to break into the car production market and will be in a powerful position to provide cheap clean fuel-efficient cars to their own vast markets and overseas.

Extra pressure on car manufacturers (dependent on crude oil and suffering from high production costs) and already hovering on the brink of bankruptcy in the US? Or to switch production heavily towards hybrids?

Liquid coal – way to go!

Present coal plants can’t and wont use oil for a fuel- burn profile is wrong and way too expensive. However any existing coal plant that presently burns coal will be able to burn liquid coal too. Efficient, kinder to the environment, no sulfur, mercury or ash AND less smells dust and fumes.

Expect politicians to push CTL and give it an easy tax ride for the same reasons they are presently favoring biofuels like ethanol:

(1) there’s the lure of a vote winning rural job-creation side from an industry otherwise viewed as declining.

(2) Many Western voters and investors are getting worried about the security implications of depending on their energy supplies from increasingly unfriendly or unstable nations.

(3) Many environmentalists, given the right conditions (e.g. high carbon capture at CTL plants, alternatives like nuclear energy), are likely to warm to CTL because of its overall cleaner profile.

Many firms are already investing in CTL. Forget oil and other oil substitutes for the moment. Look into it now if you are interested, and look for CTL specialists like Headwaters, Syntroleum Corp, and Rentech, and particuliarly, the highly experienced South African company, Sasol.

Mick Madigan
http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/high-oil-prices-mean-invest-in-coaltoliquid-technology-ctl-114657.html

Green tea has always been known to have several health benefits, but who knew that it could contribute to losing weight as well?

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition show that green tea extract can increase metabolism and fat oxidation of the body. In theory, scientists believe that the weight loss benefits of green tea extracts are due to their caffeine content but the results of the study show otherwise as they discovered that green tea extracts have weight loss benefits beyond that of caffeine.

In their study, the researchers administered alone the same amount of caffeine as that in tea extracts but found that it did not make any significant changes in the body’s overall energy expenditure. This led them to conclude that tea extracts have ingredients in them that actively interact with each other, promoting increased metabolism and fat oxidation that lead to loss of weight.

Further findings indicated that a certain compound found in tea full of the extracts might be the ingredient that causes weight loss. These extract compounds called Flavonoids may alter the way the body uses norepinephrine, a hormone that monitors how calories are burned. When flavonoids interact with other extract ingredients, more calories are burned thus contributing to loss of weight.

Another ingredient that actively contributes to the weight loss benefits of green tea is the compound catechin polyphenols. These compounds also interact with other extract ingredients in order to promote lossing weight by fat burning and thermogenesis (a process of losing energy by daytime heat).

The great thing about the loss of weight benefit of extracts is that it does not have any adverse side-effects. Unlike other herbal products like ephedra and prescription drugs for obesity, green extract does not increase the speed of heart rates or raise blood pressure. In this regard, tea is an effective and safer alternative to other weight loss products which may cause harm to the user.

The study conducted by the University of Geneva on the loss of weight benefit of the extract implicated that green tea can also help thyroid patients. According to dietitian Lynn Moss, M.S., R.D.,tea extracts are a healthier choice for people with thyroid who may be too sensitive to stimulants. tea can promote loss of weight by increasing metabolism without over stimulating the adrenal glands.

A common beverage all throughout Asia, healthy tea has recently gained popularity in the West. Further researches were conducted to identify other health benefits of tea extracts aside from weight loseing. It was found that certain extract compounds can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and even ulcers.

John Pawlett
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/green-tea-extract-and-weight-loss-91492.html

Jules Verne would be right at home with today’s emerging car technology. Although compressed air technology was used in pneumatic locomotives and trams in the late 1800s, widespread commercial use in cars was partially blocked by pressure from the oil industry by the 1930s. This is of course should not come as a surprise to the reader since new information about GM’s electric car of the 1980s has recently surfaced (but that’s another article). With the race on to find eco-friendly fuel alternatives, air cars rate up high on the efficiency vs. clean fuel alternative ratio. Although in the past people have bantered around the idea of an air car, the ultimate clean air car may be closer than you think. 

How does it work?

An electric pump compresses air into a tank at high pressures and stores energy. As the air escapes, it pushes against the pistons, similar to a combustion engine. Compressed air is stored in large cylinders underneath the car, and the only emission into the environment is cold air. In fact, the tailpipe air emissions will be cleaner than the air going in since the air is run through carbon filters to remove dust, dirt and other impurities that could curb engine performance. This makes the car especially attractive to emissions activists, worried over global warming. Not only that, but the energy it does use is minimal compared to other future cars such as hybrids or bioethanol, which employ still controversial energy conversion techniques that can have an adverse effect on the environment and economy. 

Zero Pollution Motors, the U.S. licensee of Luxembourg-based Motor Development International, has an air car scheduled for production in the U.S. in late 2009 or early 2010. To fill up, just stop by your local compressed air service station for a few minutes, or plug into an electrical outlet at home for four hours. At speeds over 35 mph this particular air car uses small amounts of fuel to heat air inside a heating chamber and allows the car to get to an estimated top speed of 96 mph. 
Infrastructure.

No major infrastructure is necessary to support the air car, other than a high pressure recharger around 300 psi. This of course makes the Air Car very attractive since most of our stumbling blocks when it comes to finding an alternative to petroleum are infrastructure changes. Clearly, service stations could change system configurations to accommodate widespread needs for compressed air. While fossil fuels are still needed to generate electricity to recharge, there will still be a net energy savings and reduction in CO2 emissions and pollutants.  Of course as wind and solar energy are used more and more as primary energy generators then the electricity used to run the car’s electric pump will also be from clean sources.

Air cars have a promising future and are one of the major hopes for an easier than expected transition into a new clean fuel era. It is going to be exciting to watch these early air car prototypes transform and grow into viable vehicles for the 21st Century.

Andrew Beckers
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/air-cars-fuel-for-free-well-almost-536966.html

Late this summer, CPES Executive Director Kelly Kennedy attended a clean energy panel discussion that Congressman Chris Murphy hosted with Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington. The panel focused on the promise that green energy advancements hold for our environment and for Connecticuts economy.

Joining Browner and Murphy were representatives from Connecticut-based renewable energy businesses, including Apollo Solar (Bethel), FuelCell Energy (Danbury and Torrington), Duracell (Bethel) and Optiwind (Torrington).

The nearly two-hour meeting covered stimulus investments in energy, the US House bill on climate change (ACES), transmission issues for renewable energy, smart meters, energy efficiency rules for appliances, initiatives of some of Connecticuts renewable energy businesses, and more. Heres some of what they had to say.

Duration : 0:9:51

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Technorati Tags: apollo energy, carol browner, chris murphy, clean energy, connecticut, CPES, Duracell, FuelCell Energy, kelly kennedy, Optiwind

Transforming a kernel of corn into fuel-grade ethanol is nothing new for biofuel producers like Green Plains Renewable Energy.
Broadcast Date: Oct. 23, 2009

Duration : 0:5:49

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Technorati Tags: agriculture, Biofuels, crops, energy, Environment, Ethanol, Iowa, Iowa Public Television, IowaPublicTV, IPTV, iptv.org, Market to Market, renewable energy