Revolutionary Fuel???

Last night on the radio I heard an interview with J. C. Bell, the founder of Bell Bio Energy Inc. You will probably be hearing more about this company in the future as he may have solved our energy problems.

Oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel are made up of hydrocarbons. Bell has found a way to produce hydrocarbons and capture them to be used as fuel. The process is inspired by the digestion of a cow. What is one of the main byproducts of a cow's digestion? Methane; CH4. Methane is the simplest of the hydrocarbons and it is produced by the bacteria in the cows' stomach after consumption of grass and other biomass. Mr. Bell found that different bacteria can produce different hydrocarbons. Bacteria from the gut of Amazonian catfish, for instance, can make oil. For every ton of biomass 2 barrels of oil can be produced.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there are 1.1 billion tons of biomass readily available every year, and they estimate that number can easily be doubled. I'd say that number could easily be tripled if there were programs for collecting grass clipping, banana peels, egg shells, etc.

He has already met with the government, has a contract with the military, and is in the process of setting up 5 plants throughout the United States. We should see some gas stations carrying this fuel in about a year. A fuel plant works like this... The biomass, (grass, wood, sawdust, any organic waste) is ground up into a sludge, water is added, it's put into a giant vat of hydrocarbon producing bacteria, the hydrocarbons are captured to be turned into fuel, and what is left over is compost which can then be sold to the public.

It will be interesting to see if this will be a viable solution to put a dent in our energy needs. I'm ready for it. I might have to get a new bumper sticker for my car though. This technology is going to ruin the joke.