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.

Promises. Promises.

Filling up the gas tank is getting more excruciating day by day. The $3.50 we are paying right now is actually based on the $100 barrel of oil we saw a few months ago. We won't see the prices of $120 oil at the gas tank until June or July. In light of all this, let's take a look at what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thought should be done about gas prices. On April 18th, 2006 she released this statement.

“As Americans pay almost 90 percent more to fill their gas tanks since President Bush took office, oil companies continue to reap gigantic profits and oil executives receive astronomical compensation. Record prices, record retirement packages, and record profits are just the latest example of the wealthy few benefiting at the expense of hard-working Americans under the Bush Administration.

“The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress has passed two energy bills, costing taxpayers $12 billion for giveaways to big oil companies. But the Republican bills clearly have done nothing to lower gas prices, as the price of a barrel of oil has settled above $70 a barrel – the highest price in our history. Even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve agrees that gas prices are decreasing the purchasing power of American families and depressing the U.S. economy.

“Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices, taking America in a new direction that works for everyone, not just the few. Our plan would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices, increase production of alternative fuels, and rescind the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks, and royalty relief given to big oil and gas companies."


It's hard to believe that we were only at $70 two years ago. Some economists believe it is possible to see $200 in relatively near future. Now I'm not going to point the finger at the Democrats as the reason for the oil prices, but what is laughable is the bundle of promises that are made and never followed up on. In 2006, the Democrats got into office by promising the end the war, immigration reform, stop the outsourcing of jobs, and by lowering gas prices. All we had to do was elect them to find out how they were going to accomplish these feats. What they've done, instead, is:

-accomplished nothing on the war, except insult our soldiers and commanders.

-do nothing about the corporate tax rates they've talked about for so long, and instead put it as part of their platform for the 2008 election.

-increased the taxes on big oil which, in turn, logically placed that burden on the consumer's backs.

-done nothing about illegal immigration and have only encouraged it by offering more handouts.

-pushed for the increased production of alternative fuels which have increased food prices around the world, increased the price of oil, and actually contribute more CO2 than traditional fuels. Here is just one example of the increasing number of articles written that call the Congressional food-fuel mandates into question.

Do you recall all of the media attention that was given to the "new congress" and their dedication to work a staggering 5 days a week? Oh, the humanity! The only thing that this congress can claim to have accomplished is increase the minimum wage. An unintended consequesce of the increase is the downward pressure on restaurants. The combination of increased food prices, increased minimum wage, and people's shrinking wallets have left restaurateurs in a very precarious position. Just this morning there was an article in the the Denver Post about Village Inn filing for bankruptcy.

I am not the only one who has noticed how un-accomplished this congress has been. Republican leaders recently sent a letter to the ambitious failure, Nancy Pelosi. Here is an excerpt from the letter.

“Two years ago this week, you stated that House Democrats had a ‘commonsense plan’ to ‘lower gas prices,’ ” the letter said. “In light of the skyrocketing gasoline prices affecting working families and every sector of our struggling economy, we are writing today to respectfully request that you reveal this ‘commonsense plan’ so we can begin work on responsible solutions to help ease this strain.”

“Once a nightmare scenario, $4 gasoline is now a very real possibility of becoming a summer staple,” the letter stated. “In some cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, it is already a startling reality.”

While I'm waiting to hear their plan I'll be busy hunkering down for the storm we can all see coming on the horizon.



Thanks to roadsidepictures (gas pump) and hrtmnstrfr (thirsty for oil) for the photos on flickr.