Deep Green Crystals: October 2006 Archives

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October 30, 2006

New report from economist warns of economic disaster from climate change

It is not just the lefties who are worried now. Warming 'may cause economic chaos' - CNN.com This guy is pals with Tony Blair!

Posted by Martin at 7:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 27, 2006

ground breaking at PGH today

There will be alot of press today. We are having the politicians and lots of dignitaries down at our Port of Gray's Harbor refinery to lay the cornerstone. Look for coverage on KOMO, NPR, ABC and NBC. Watch the time lapse here.

Posted by Martin at 9:23 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 25, 2006

Data centers finally a profitable business again

After a long nuclear winter, it looks like the data center may be turning profitable again: Cultivating Server Farms - New York Times. The major issue now? availability of reliable power. I have it on good authority that Google considered buying an old soviet nuclear aircraft carrier as a reliable power source for their data center. What is next? Biofuels for back up power I would guess.

Posted by Martin at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 16, 2006

Quake hits Hawaii, what do you think will happen to local gas prices?

Over the weekend a big quake hit near the Big Island. Even though very far from Oahu, the two refineries on the island were shut down. There is roughly two days of gas/diesel/jet fuel supply in storage in Hawaii. This is an excuse for the monopolists to raise margins. Look out Hawaii...

POWER RESTORED TO HAWAII REFINERY
Power has been restored to Tesoro's 94,000 b/d refinery in Kapolei, Hawaii, following a power outage related to an undersea earthquake Sunday morning.
The refinery is now undergoing a safety assessment, and it's expected that units could be returned to service over the next several days, Tesoro spokeswoman Sarah Simpson told OPIS. Initial assessments indicate that the refinery suffered no material damage, Simpson said.
Chevron Corp.'s 54,000 b/d refinery in Honolulu, Hawaii, also was shut as a result of the power outage, said a statement issued by the company. It is early morning in Hawaii, and Chevron's spokesman in Hawaii was not available to provide an update at presstime.
A good part of the output at Hawaii's refineries is jet fuel supplied to the U.S. military.
The quake hit shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday local time. It was estimated to have a magnitude of between 6.5 and 6.6, and it is the strongest earthquake to hit Hawaii in 20 years.
Brad Addington, baddington@opisnet.com

Posted by Martin at 1:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

AG Edwards notes purchasing power for gasoline at best level since 1981

Most analyst focus myopically on the retail price of gas or diesel. The other side of that is where wages are. The divisor of those two is the amount of gasoline the average hourly wage can buy. That is a much better measure of the actual impact of gas prices on workers than comparing the price of gasoline against some arbitrary basket of goods. That number hit bottom in July at 5.6 gallons of gasoline per hour of average wage (the worst it had been since 1981). Since then it has rallied significantly and currently stands at 7.2 gallons/hour. This increase, in part explains the improvement in consumer confidence. Things are on the rebound and going well. Read the complete analysis here.

Posted by Martin at 12:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 12, 2006

EPA issues RFS guidelines: good but there is a gotcha...

Definition of biodiesel good, definition of non-akyl ester diesel bad.
check it out:

Biodiesel is defined as a fuel substitute produced from nonpetroleum renewable resources meeting the registration requirements established by the EPA under 42 U.S.C. § 7545, including biodiesel derived from animal wastes, including poultry fats and poultry wastes, and other waste materials, or municipal solid waste and sludges and oils derived the treatment of wastewater. This includes both mono-alkyl esters meeting ASTM specification D-6751 and non-esters that are intended for use in engines designed to run on conventional, petroleum-derived diesel fuel and made from the above feedstocks. EPA proposes two separate categories: (1) biodiesel (mono-alkyl esters) and (2) non-ester renewable diesel (e.g., “renewable diesel” produced by the Neste process or diesel fuel produced by processing fats and oils through a refinery hydrotreating process). Any combination would qualify for credit.

The "Neste" process technically means that conventional oil refineries can throw raw veg oil into their existing refineries and get the $1/gallon credit even if the resulting fuel is 99% petroleum diesel. 100% veg oil biodiesel good. Petroleum refineries getting more subsidies: bad.

Posted by Martin at 9:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Northwest CleanTech conference

I spoke at it this week. John Cook over at the PI did a summary write-up: Clean tech revs up investors

Posted by Martin at 8:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The DOD knows Peak Oil is here and they are doing something about it...

Good article from: Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash on the DOD's use of oil and what they are doing about it (alot). Check out these stats:

"The U.S. government, as a whole, consumes not quite 2% of all the liquid fuel that the entire U.S. economy uses in a given year. That translates into about 440,000 barrels of oil per day, or slightly more than the entire output of the oil field at Prudhoe Bay, when the pipelines are not shut down due to corrosion. Multiply by 365 days per year, and the U.S. government burns up about 160 million barrels of oil per year, at a cost of something over $10 billion at recent price levels.

Of the total U.S. government liquid fuel use, about 97% of that is consumed by the Department of Defense, making that agency the world's single largest fuel-burning entity. "

Here is some of what the forces are doing:

"The U.S. Air Force is qualifying new types of fuel derived from both natural gas and coal. On Sept, 19, 2006, a B-52 bomber actually flew with one engine mount using a newly produced liquid fuel derived entirely from natural gas. Due to the nature of the manufacturing process, the fuel contains virtually no sulfur and hardly any heavy metals, as opposed to jet fuel derived from refined petroleum. In ground-based testing, the engines that burned this new type of fuel did not experience any measurable loss of performance and required less maintenance. Another virtue of this synthetic fuel is that it has a storage life that is orders of magnitude longer than petroleum-derived fuels."

"The U.S. Army is redesigning the ubiquitous Humvee. One of the key complaints about this versatile battlefield vehicle is that it consumes too much fuel. The Humvee has become an icon of the military services over the past two decades, since it replaced the World War II-era Jeep. But the Humvee gets as few as 4 miles per gallon in city driving and a paltry 8 miles per gallon on the highway. The Army wants to see a Humvee replacement that weighs 30-40% less and that uses proportionately less fuel."

Posted by Martin at 8:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The country's largest biodiesel refinery takes shape in Gray's Harbor, WA

A bit self-promoting, but here is a shot from Imperium Renewable's construction site in Gray's Harbor Washington. We are a bit ahead of schedule building this 100MGPY refinery, the largest in the country. Go biodiesel!

Posted by Martin at 2:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oil, smoke and Mirrors documentary on peak oil

An important new documentary now available on-line: Oil, Smoke and Mirrors - A new must see online video - see it here and NOW | MyPeakOil.org

Posted by Martin at 10:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Boon Pickens says don't rest on your laurels today with inexpensive oil, it is going to $100/brl

Boone Pickens says oil will reach $70 before 2007Billionaire Dallas hedge fund manager Boone Pickens said crude oil will reach $70 a barrel before the start of 2007. He said oil would reach $100 a barrel by July 2007, reiterating a forecast he made in a July 25 interview that oil would rise to $100 sometime within the next year. Pickens said it will take a geopolitical event to cause it to happen but he said "weve got a lot of opportunities for those.

Posted by Martin at 9:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 10, 2006

Neander gets TUV

The Neander diesel powerbike is about a year behind schedule, but apparently they passed a big hurdle in Sept. Getting the German TUV certificate. I hope they still have my deposit! Check out the update and new picture!

As you see, progress is being made!

All in all, reorganizing the Neander pre-series model is taking longer than planned – because, of course, the chassis should be as perfect as the motor. The particularly complex components (such as the swingarm, the twin telescoping forks, and the tail plate) have gobbled up more time than we had estimated.

The delay will push us into the 2007 season. This is not such a big deal, because it gives us more time to properly tighten the last screws and test drive the Neander until the asphalt knows each tread by name.

As part of our Rollout tour (at the beginning of the year, at the latest), we will offer test-drives, so that you can prove the power and elegance of the REAL NEANDER to yourselves.

Until then, you can look at what you're getting into in 360° on the
Internet: http://www.neander-motors.com/motorbike/en/index.php and then click the options "Motorcycle" and "3D View".

Autumn greetings from the coast,

Team Neander

Posted by Martin at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 6, 2006

The ultimate phone has arrived...

Blackberry 8800 Spotted, Spec List, Too - Gizmodo Now I just have to find one with a camera. I can't wait!

Posted by Martin at 9:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 2, 2006

John Plaza tells his story to PSBJ

Check out John Plaza's story, the founder of Seattle Biodiesel.

Posted by Martin at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Matt Simmons on the future of oil prices

Today matt Simmons has a good audio interview here.

Posted by Martin at 10:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

An important movie in development

There have been many press reports on the tragedy of oil development in the Nigerian delta. Now there is a documentary in the works: :: SWEET CRUDE :: A documentary on the people of the Niger Delta. By a seattle film maker. I look forward to this important working coming out.

Deep Green Crystals

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