One Possible Future for the RV February 8, 2009

Future efficient RV ??

With the price of gas, it’s tough to imagine the migrant RV lifestyle as being sustainable through retirement or even just a reprise of MTV’s classic Road Rules. Here is the RV of tomorrow.

Well, it’s the RV of tomorrow as designed by Christian Susana. With its injection molded design, the vehicle is essentially a Tupperware container on wheels. But what’s really clever about the design is its detachable cockpit—not so different from a semi or that prostitute’s space ship on Firefly—that can cruise around unencumbered when you’re not in need of a living room’s worth of furniture dragging at your butt.

[Tuvie via Jalopnik]

80 Buses in Oslo Will Be Powered by Raw Sewage February 8, 2009

Raw sewage-powered buses

This might be the most disgusting use of green technology I’ve ever seen, but yes, Norweigan fecal matter will keep their Buses up and running.

According to Worldchanging, the City of Oslo will convert the sewage to biomethane, then get that methane working as bus fuel. Two sewage plants in Oslo will be adapted to support the infrastructure and the 80 buses will require minor modifications.

The Oslo Sewage Bus trial is expected to begin in September, and if successful, all 400 Oslo buses will be converted.Putting aside initial costs, the biomethane is expected to be about €0.40 cheaper per litre, and each bus will save about 40 tons of carbon dioxide every year.

[Worldchanging via Earth First via Slashdot]

 

First Flight of Algae-fuelled Jet January 8, 2009

The biofuel's developers showcased its algal origins (AP)

A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae.

The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said.

One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.

Wednesday’s test is the latest in a series of demonstration flights by the aviation industry, which hopes to be using biofuels within five years.

The flight was the first by a US carrier to use an alternative fuel source, and the first in the world to use a twin-engine commercial aircraft (rather than a four-engine plane) to test a biofuel blend.

The flight from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport completed a circuit over the Gulf of Mexico, and pilots carried out a series of tests at 38,000ft (11.6km), including a mid-flight engine shutdown.

“The airplane performed perfectly,” test pilot Rich Jankowski told the Houston Chronicle newspaper.

“There were no problems. It was textbook.”

‘Drop-in fuel’

Continental Airlines chief executive Larry Kellner described the biofuel as a “drop-in fuel”, which meant that no modification to the aircraft or its engines was required.

The fuel is also understood to meet and exceed specifications necessary for jet fuel, including a flash point and a freezing point appropriate for use in aircraft.

“The challenge will be to produce it in an efficient way in the quantities we need,” Mr Kellner said.

The biofuel used in the demonstration flight was a blend of two different types of alternative oils – algae and jatropha.

Jatropha is a plant that can grow successfully in poor soils and marginal land, yet it yields four times more fuel per hectare than soybean.

However, algae is viewed by many as a key fuel for the future because it is fast growing, does not compete with food crops for arable land, and yields up to 30 times more fuel than standard energy crops.

But despite advances in the technology, biofuels derived from algae have yet to be proven as commercially competitive.

Clear sky thinking

Despite airlines continually improving the fuel efficiency of their aircraft over the past three decades, a growing number of aircraft making more flights has seen the sector’s global emissions rise sharply.

As a result, the aviation industry is keen to embrace the environmental benefits that biofuels can offer.

In February 2008, a Virgin 747 flew from London to Amsterdam partly using a fuel derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.

And at the end of December, one engine of a Air New Zealand 747 was powered by a 50/50 blend of jatropha plant oil and standard A1 jet fuel.

Source

Related Story: NZ Airline Flies Jetliner Partly Run on Veggie Oil

NZ Airline Flies Jetliner Partly Run on Veggie Oil December 30, 2008

Test Pilot , Captain Keith Pattie carries out pre-flight checks before their test of a Bio Fuel mixture in the left hand engine of Boeing 747 in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. Air New Zealand tested one engine of a Boeing 747-400 airplane powering it by a 50:50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and A1 jet fuel for the flight to test the fuel's viscosity.(AP Photo/NZ Herald, Paul Estcourt)

Dec 30, 8:11 AM (ET)

By RAY LILLEY

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – A passenger jet powered in part by vegetable oil successfully completed a two-hour flight Tuesday to test a biofuel that could lower airplane emissions and cut costs, Air New Zealand said.

One engine of a Boeing 747-400 airplane was powered by a 50-50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and standard A1 jet fuel.

This year has seen an unprecedented push for alternative fuels by airlines, which were slammed by skyrocketing oil prices earlier in 2008 and are now bracing for a falloff in air travel in the face of a global economic slowdown.

While Air New Zealand couldn’t say whether the blend would be cheaper than standard jet fuel since jatropha is not yet produced on a commercial scale, the company expects the blend to be “cost competitive,” according to company spokeswoman Tracy Mills.

Biofuels were once regarded as impractical for aviation because most freeze at the low temperatures encountered at cruising altitudes. But tests show jatropha, whose seeds yield an oil already used to produce fuels like biodiesel, has an even lower freezing point than jet fuel.Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe called the flight “a milestone for the airline and commercial aviation.”

“Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an important moment in aviation history,” he said shortly after the flight. The company’s goal is to become the world’s most environmentally sustainable airline.

The flight was the first to use jatropha as part of a biofuel mix.

In February, Boeing and Virgin Atlantic carried out a similar test flight that included a biofuel mixture of palm and coconut oil – but was dismissed as a publicity stunt by environmentalists who said the fuel could not be produced in the quantities needed for commercial aviation use.

Biofuels emit as much carbon as kerosene-based jet fuel, but jatropha – a Mexican plant that grows in warm climates – absorbs about half the carbon that jatropha-based fuels release. Air New Zealand’s proposed blend, for example, would mean a one-quarter reduction in the carbon footprint of standard jet fuel.

Many biofuels – like ethanol, which is produced from corn – have been blamed for raising the price of food by diverting it from kitchen tables to engines. While the link between biofuels and grain prices is debatable, Mills said that jatropha plants would not compete with food or other commercial crops since it can grow on land that would make poor farmland and needs little water.

“Ethanol is a first generation biofuel; jatropha a second generation biofuel that doesn’t compete for land with food production,” Mills said.

The test flight out of Auckland International Airport included a full-power takeoff and cruising to 35,000 feet (10,600 meters), where the crew manually set all four engine controls to check for identical performance readings among the biofuel-powered engine and those using jet fuel. Pilots also switched off the fuel pump for the biofuel engine at 25,000 feet (7,600 meters) “to test the lubricity of the fuel,” ensuring its friction in the pipe did not slow its flow to the engine.

Capt. David Morgan, the airline’s chief pilot who was on board the airplane, said results from the flight tests will provide the company and its partners with invaluable data to help jatropha become a certified aviation fuel.

The checks were “designed to test the biofuel to the fullest extent,” Morgan said.

While the airline heralded the flight as successful, Air New Zealand Group Manager Ed Sims cautioned that it will be at least 2013 before the company can ensure easy access to the large quantities of jatropha it would need to use the biofuel on all of its flights.

Test Pilot Captain Keith Pattie, right, Air New Zealand's Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan, left, pose with the company's CEO , Rob Fyfe before their test of a Bio Fuel mixture in the left hand engine of Boeing 747 in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. Air New Zealand tested one engine of a Boeing 747-400 airplane powering it by a 50:50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and A1 jet fuel for the flight to test the fuel's viscosity.(AP Photo/NZ Herald, Paul Estcourt)

“Clearly we are a long, long way from being able to source commercially quantifiable amounts of the fuel and then be able to move that amount of fuel around the world to be able to power the world’s airlines is still some years off,” Sims told New Zealand’s National Radio.

The company bought the seeds from plantations in East Africa and India that total 309,000 acres (125,000 hectares).

The company hopes that by 2013, 10 percent of its flights will be powered, at least in part, by biofuels, Mills said. Most of those using the blend would be short haul domestic services.

Simon Boxer, of environmental group Greenpeace New Zealand, said it was inevitable that airlines would show greater interest in sustainable biofuels as travelers become more aware of the harm that air travel causes the environment.

But he said it wasn’t clear whether jatropha was really sustainable. He questioned what the environmental impact would be if jatropha grew popular and more land and resources were needed to produce it on a commercial scale.

The flight was a joint venture by Air New Zealand, airplane maker Boeing, engine maker Rolls Royce and biofuel specialist, UOP Llc, a unit of Honeywell International.

The flight, initially scheduled for earlier this month, was postponed after an Air New Zealand A320 Airbus crashed off Perpignan on the south coast of France on Nov. 27, killing all seven on board.

Source

Related Story: First Flight of Algae-fuelled Jet

Fill ‘Er Up With Human Fat December 25, 2008

From the Really-Over-the-Top Department:

How a Beverly Hills doctor powered his SUV using his patients’ spare tires.

Human Fat Biofuel-powerd Lincoln Navigator

Liposuctioning unwanted blubber out of pampered Los Angelenos may not seem like a dream job, but it has its perks. Free fuel is one of them.

For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend’s Lincoln Navigator.

Love handles can power a car? Frighteningly, yes. Fat–whether animal or vegetable–contains triglycerides that can be extracted and turned into diesel. Poultry companies such as Tyson are looking into powering their trucks on chicken schmaltz, and biofuel start-ups such as Nova Biosource are mixing beef tallow and pig lard with more palatable sources such as soybean oil. Mike Shook of Agri Process Innovations, a builder of biodiesel plants, says this year’s batch of U.S. biodiesel was likely more than half animal-derived since the price of soybeans soared.

A gallon of grease will get you about a gallon of fuel, and drivers can get about the same amount of mileage from fat fuel as they do from regular diesel, according to Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board. Animal fats need to undergo an additional step to get rid of free fatty acids not present in vegetable oils, but otherwise, there’s no difference, she says.

Greenies like the fact that waste, such as coffee grounds and french-fry grease, can be turned into power. “The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel–and I have more fat than I can use,” Bittner wrote on lipodiesel.com. “Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth.” Bittner’s lipodiesel Web site is no longer online.

Using fat to fuel cars might be environmentally friendly, but it’s definitely illegal in California to use human medical waste to power vehicles, and Bittner is being investigated by the state’s public health department.

Although it’s unclear when Bittner started and stopped making fat fuel or how he made it, his activities came to light after recent lawsuits filed by patients that allege he allowed his assistant and his girlfriend to perform surgeries without a medical license.

Attorney Andrew Besser, who represents three patients, says the assistant and girlfriend removed too much fat from clients and left them disfigured. Dozens of other patients have complained to the state medical board, Besser says. The board is investigating Bittner but declined to comment.

The investigations, however, might go nowhere: Bittner closed his practice, Beverly Hills Liposculpture, in November and moved to South America to do volunteer work at a clinic, according to a note on his Web site. Besser says Bittner likely fled the country because of the investigations. Bittner’s lawyer didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Source