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I rounded the north corner of the field when I spotted farmer Jacob on his new, green John Deere. I slowed my van up to almost a walking pace and eased it to the side of the road. I waiting for Farmer Jacob to arrive so I could inquire what my friend had just been planting.

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Energy Tags: battery technology, wind power

LUSAKA, Zambia - It is not that Jacob Male minds irrigating the 11 acres of land he plows just east of Lusaka, Zambia's resources. It is irrigating his 11 acres in the flat of night that angers him. Force failures are shared in Lusaka and greatly of southern Africa.

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The recent State of the Union address by Pres. Bush has sparked much debate about the production and use of ethanol in the US to help in the effort to reduce our foreign oil importation. It would seem thought that many analysts think there is no way we can produce the amounts of biofuel that the President calls for in his speech.

Specifically, the President’s call to increase the supply of alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons by 2017, has drawn the most reaction. 'We heard a huge number from the President, and the first reaction is no way is that possible,' at least under current circumstances, said Jacob Golbitz of HighQuest Partners in a recent UPI report. He added that even in a best-case scenario the U.S. would only be able to produce 16 billion gallons of biofuel per year by 2015, assuming that most of the biofuel would be corn-based ethanol. A recent Bloomberg report said Exxon Mobil Corp. considers ethanol "irrelevant" as a solution to an addiction that forces the U.S. to import two-thirds of its oil. No "viable, meaningful business proposition" exists for Exxon in ethanol, according to Stuart McGill, Exxon’s senior vice president.

There is strong indication that the bloom is off on ethanol plant production and that even for plants that are on the board and ready to be built there will not be profitability in them and thus the market will suffer. Last year the feeling was that anyone could make money producing ethanol but no so now.

The supply and price of corn may play a prominent role in the future of U.S. ethanol production. U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture Thomas Dorr said at a clean fuels finance conference in London reported by Bloomberg, "There's clearly a terrific demand on corn right now. There is no question that the next couple of years are going to be painful."

What do you think about ethanol? We want to hear from you. Drop a comment on this blog and share your opinion.

Source: Ethanol

Audi won at Le Mans with its diesel fueled engines and now it wants to return and win again only this time running its race cars on biodiesel.

From the Audi site:

On the test day at Le Mans, the V12 TDI engine of the Audi R10 used latest-generation Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel for the first time. The fuel, which is produced from biological waste materials, will make its worldwide racing début at the 24 Hours of Le Mans two weeks from now. For Audi Sport Team Joest, the race week at Le Mans will start as early as on Tuesday with Technical Scrutineering at the Place de Jacobins. After the two qualifying sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, the 76th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will start at 3 p.m. on 14 June.

Energy Tags: hybrid cars, alternative energy