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May 30, 2006

Quick facts about Biodiesel

Every bullet point you ever wanted to know. Fun facts about biodiesel fuel- Pasadena Weekly. Even I learned something. Biodiesel is has the highest eneregy content of ANY alternative fuel (120,000BTU) and it's high flash point (above 300F) makes it safer than regular diesel to handle and transport.

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May 29, 2006

Diesel and Biodiesel in Italy

One of our guys just got back from Italy with these pictures:

Biodiesel is the middle one. A couple cents more than diesel a couple cents cheaper than unleaded. 50% of the cars were diesel. He saw at least 10 different mercedes diesels. He said without the lable on the back he wouldn't even have know it was a diesel it was so clean and quite. These are coming in 2007.

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Bluetooth Roomba

here is how to make your Roomba dance to via Bluetooth. This is next weekend's project. MAKE: Blog: HOW TO - Roomba Bluetooth Interface

Posted by Martin at 9:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

hacking my Scooba

Thanks Chris for teh pointer to: What's up with the RoombaDevTools RooStick? - Engadget. As I listen to my Scooba run around the house cleaning up the last of Finn's birthday party yesterday, hacking it sounds good. I have a couple of stairs and small niches where it tends to get stuck. It could use some re-programming in that area. I also have a 3,000 sq ft concrete floor. The Scooba was programmed to cover a 400 sq ft floor. It needs some tuning. Hummm next weekend.

Posted by Martin at 9:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 28, 2006

Kauai gas prices seem reasonable now


Took this picture in Kauai last month. I was totally appalled at the time since gas prices in seattle were hovering around $3.00 per gallon for regular. Now these prices seem like a bargain. San Francisco in the city is higher. Will take a picture next time I am down there.

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What is wrong with this picture?


so I parked at the airport last week. This is the only spot I could find. Surrounded! And you wonder why we are paying such high oil prices? Look at these beasts! I was at a fundraiser for a politician last week and when he talked about the energy situation, he said "you all came here on foreign oil". I raised my hand and said "no, I came here on American soy beans".

Posted by Martin at 9:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

My new favorite on-line store

X-tremegeek.com - Extreme Electronic Gadgets, Computer, Toys & More. Just bought the wood Trebuchet. Look out.

Posted by Martin at 9:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 27, 2006

Roundup story on Asia Biodiesel mentions Imperium's new plant in Gray's Harbor

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan. Quite a ways from Asia, but I will take the press. Also it seems Vinod is pushing up shares in India of Praj industries who I know are building an ethanol plant in Hawaii.

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Cement that eats NOX and CO?

Wow: Cement that Absorbs Pollution � Coolest Gadgets. If this works, I am building my next house out of it!

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BP goes big on biofuels in Australia

SenterNovem GAVE, Climate neutral gaseous and liquid fuels / biofuels reports that BP has announced an investment in a biodiesel refinery for 100M litres per year (tallow very interesting) and another 100M of ethanol. Looks like the giants are awakening.

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Biodiesel incentives up for renewal

Well I what would you guess I found in the most recent issue of AgriNews? Biodiesel supporters ask Congress to extend incentives. Who would have thought I a tech geek like myself would be reading AgriNews anyway? Well I don't actually, I let Google read everything and tell me what is important. This article has the most realistic estimate of new biodiesel capacity to come on-line in next 18-24 months (total 245Mg) that I have seen as well as (industry) arguments to extend the CCC credit program set to expire next month. I doubt it will be extended, but if it is, great!


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Port of Vancouver steps up to B20

ctl.ca - CTL - 5/28/2006. Yes Imperium Renewables will be selling fuel to them.

Posted by Martin at 9:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Dutch pass 5.75% biofuels RFS for Kyoto

i have mentioned a couple times that the fastest way to meet Kyoto targets is to switch to biofuels. The Dutch agree in this article: SenterNovem GAVE, Climate neutral gaseous and liquid fuels / biofuels. They were going to have trouble meeting their Kyoto requirements and the solution was to increase the pace of biofuels adoption.

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Bioproducts, Science and Engineering Lab in Tri-Cities

Catching up a bit on news. The Tri-City Herald: Local has a very extensive package including alot of video on the groundbreaking of the Bioproducts, Science and Engineering Laboratory in the Tri Cities. This will be a $24M research facility to keep Washington state on the leading edge of bioproducts including biofuels, biolubricants and other petroleum alternatives. See John Plaze founder of Seattle biodiesel talk up a storm!

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May 26, 2006

The American spirit of Adventure lives!

Yesterday I was in Berkley visiting Biofuels Oasis and ran into the crazy kayaker boys running the Welcome to Oil and Water!. These guys stopped by a couple months ago to our Seattle Refinery at the start of their journey where we fueled them up with bio and sent them on their way. Yesterday they showed me the map of all across the US and Canada and back again (over 7,000 miles). Their rig shows the miles but they say they have run every mile on biodiesel or straight veg oil with the exception of 4 gallons in the middle of the desert once.

The guys are coming back through seattle in a couple weeks on their way up to Alaska then back down the west coast for the "real" trip. This is American entrepreneurship and adventure alive and well in 2006!

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May 25, 2006

Buy Seattle biodiesel for $2.99

Local retailer Seaport BioFuels has it for $2.99. SeaPort BioFuels: B99 Pump Price. I was in SFO today and regular diesel was $3.58. In Seattle dino diesel is over $3.25. go Bio.

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May 24, 2006

Martin Tobias on San Francisco KCBS news radio

The highest rated drive time talk radio show was very interested in the fact that biodiesel is cheaper than diesel this summer. We were scheduled to talk for less than a minute, but ended up over 3 minutes. http://podcast.medianext.com/stations/kcbs/media/mpeg/Biodiesel_Fuel_Gets_Cheaper_As_Petroleum_Prices_Rise-1146753627.mp3

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Northwest Energy Angels meeting this week

The group I started this week we see three companies. May 24 from 11:30-1:30. This time in two places tied together with video conference, Seattle And Portland. Come to either.

 

Please join us for the fifth meeting of the Northwest Energy Angels hosted by Stoel Rives LLP and presented by Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative. The meeting will feature presentations from three to four start-up companies.

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 24, 2006, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (lunch provided)

Locations:  The meeting will be held at Stoel Rives LLP, 900 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600, Portland, Oregon. For directions, go to: http://www.stoel.com/showlocation.aspx?Show=969 . 

There is also a remote active participation in Seattle at Stoel Rives LLP, 600 University Street, Suite 3600, Seattle, WA. For directions, go to: http://www.stoel.com/showlocation.aspx?show=203

RSVP: Email tmedrano@watechcenter.org (please include meeting location – Portland or Seattle) or go to https://www.sporg.com/registration?link_type=reg_info&form_id=43991&view_type=windowed by Friday, May 19, 2006.

The Northwest Energy Angel Group is a membership organization of successful entrepreneurs, retired executives and other business leaders in the Pacific Northwest, who provide investment capital, strategic advice and mentoring to early-stage companies, or companies embarking on major expansion efforts, to help them achieve market leadership. The Northwest Energy Angel Group is unique in that it focuses only on the energy industry, including alternative sources of energy, improved distribution and efficient transmission. The Northwest Energy Angel Group is a program of the Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative (NWETC), a joint effort of industry and government, working together to accelerate the emergence and growth of the energy programs and partnerships that position the region as a global leader in energy technology products and services, including clean and renewable energy. NWETC spans five U.S. states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana) and two Canadian provinces (British Columbia and Alberta).

 

 

 

For questions or comments, please contact:

 

Thea Medrano (on behalf of Nate Silverman, Manager, NW Energy Angel Group)

Commercialization Services

Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative

206.543.1226  |  tmedrano@watechcenter.org  |  www.nwetc.com
300 Fluke Hall  |  Box 352140  |  Seattle, WA 98195

 

NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you may have received this communication in error, please reply to the sender indicating that fact and delete the copy you received. In addition, you should not print, copy, retransmit, disseminate, or otherwise use the information. All original material created by the sender of this e-mail is the property of the sender. Thank you for your attention to this.

 

 

 

 


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May 21, 2006

Jefferies Clean Tech industry overview March 2006

Prior to their conference last week, Jefferies analyst produced a Clean Tech industry overview which is one of the best I have seen from any bank. Here it is:Jefferies CleanTech Review - March 2006.pdf

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Jefferies Conference on Clean tech summary report

I spoke at the Jefferies conference last week in NYC. lots of public companies and only a handful of private companies. Imperium Renewables is noted in the summary here for our differentiated strategy and potential faster growth than ethanol. Mention of a private company at a public company conference is quite rare. The full report is here: Jefferies' Alternative Energy Conference Recap.pdf

Posted by Martin at 5:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 16, 2006

USDA projects biofuels demand on crops

the USDA is probably the best source of numbers for agricultural production because they actually talk to farmers: Planet Ark : Ethanol, Biodiesel Eats Into US Corn Stockpiles. Corn demand for Ethanol is expected to be up 34% this year but only 20% of the total crop. Prices of Corn are at a 10 year high, but then so is supply. Soy on the otherhand has a huge and growing carryover (crop from last year that was not sold). In soy while Biodiesel will consumer 3x what it did last year, it will still not affect the overall demand for the crop due to the small percentage overall. The crop (last year was a record) is expected to be another record at over 17 million tonnes (34,000,000,000 lbs) while demand for soy oil for biodiesel is expected to be 2.3 billion pounds (about 300m gallons) which I think is high. The real issue with biodiesel is that soy is a very ineffecient oil seed crop, yielding less than 14% oil. You can't grow it just for the oil. Most of the money is in the meal part. What demand for oil will do is promote expansion of more efficient oil crops. Although in the short term we may have some transition issues off soy.

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May 14, 2006

A story about "SIEGE: MALTA 1940-1943 (Pen & Sword Military Classics)"

SIEGE: MALTA 1940-1943 (Pen & Sword Military Classics)
by Ernle Bradford

Ever heard of Malta? No, not MaltoMeal the drink. Malta, the country in the middle of the landlocked ocean. Neither had I. But reading this it is clear how important it is and has been to world history. Especially european interests in Africa and the far east. And to oil. Malta has historically been the strategic epicenter of mediteranian security and commerce. And in large part the key to oil in the mid-east. That is why Germany wanted it so bad, for access to the oil and to expansion to russia. It all comes back to oil.

My father suggested the book as background to our current struggle for oil. I wouldn’t recommend the book for that. It is written by a british military historian and too full of ship names for me. The focus on battles and equipment takes away from the real intersting parts which were why bother? what was at stake. No I wouldn’t recommend reading this book to anyone. But I just was in Mexico for a week and it made for a nice break.


See more about SIEGE: MALTA 1940-1943 (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

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May 1, 2006

And Iowa makes three

The NBB today reported that Iowa passed the RFS out of both houses and it awaits the governor signature who says it will be signed. That makes three states biodiesel mandates. This one has some other tasty treats like a 3 cent per gallon incentive and a MUCH higher goal down the road. love it.

In 14 years, Iowa could be a quarter of the way to energy independence. In April, the Iowa House passed the Iowa Renewable Fuel Standard, a move that sends the bill to Governor Vilsack for final approval. The bill includes a biodiesel tax credit, ethanol tax credits and a renewable fuel goal of 25 percent by the year 2020. House File 2754, also approved on the Senate side, contains many provisions that benefit biodiesel, some of which include: a three cent-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit until 2012; a requirement of 50 percent or more of total diesel sales be biodiesel blended fuel (B2 or higher) for retailer eligibility; retroactive application of the biodiesel tax credit program to January 1, 2006; increases penalty for advertising or selling non-certified biodiesel blends; and a reporting system to track biodiesel sales in Iowa.

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Biodiesel price inversion (again)

As of last week, the retail price of dino diesel soared again above the price of biodiesel. In Seattle: Click here to buy biodiesel Biodiesel.org - Retail Fueling Sites you can buy B99 for $2.99 whild Dino Diesel is around $3.14-$3.19. This is well before the summer driving season and the huricanes. Last summer we had price inversion for 6 weeks this summer I expect over four months.

Another interesting note, University Volkswagen sold 20 TDI's in the last two days. Better go get yours now!

Posted by Martin at 12:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack