Ten Eco-Friendly Companies

Newsweek ^ | 11/21/2005

[Angry Republican]

Alternative-energy projects used to be the stuff of high-school science fairs. But pricey oil has changed the game, and the stories of these firms show that new technologies are winning over investors and customers, and saving the environment.

1 Farming New Fuels Seattle Biodiesel: It makes an alternative fuel derived from vegetable oil that burns clean

John Plaza experienced his alternative-energy epiphany 37,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean. The commercial pilot, flying freight from Anchorage, Alaska, to Tokyo several years ago, had time for some back-of-the-envelope calculations about his 747's fuel consumption. He figured his jet was burning enough fuel to power an average car for 42 years. The revelation disturbed him. "I came to the conclusion that I needed to do something different with my life," he says.

So two years ago Plaza started Seattle Biodiesel, which makes an alternative automobile fuel that many experts think could finally ease the nation's addiction to oil. Derived from vegetable oil, biodiesel can be blended with regular diesel or poured by itself into any conventional diesel car or truck. It produces relatively clean, almost sweet-smelling emissions. Biodiesel's obstacles have been its high price and the absence of a nationwide infrastructure to crush and refine oil-rich crops into usable fuel. Biofanatics usually have to drive to the back of a restaurant and beg for free waste oil to fill up their green machines. But Plaza and his partner, multimillionaire dot-com veteran Martin Tobias, plan to turn biodiesel into a viable national alternative. "Our mission is to make a gas that is so cheap and plentiful that consumers don't even have to know it's not made from fossil fuels," says Tobias, who invested his own money and has recruited investors such as Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen.

[Angry Republican]

Please note that this is a very long article.

[gondramB]

Rudolph Diesel's original engines ran on peanut oil.

[Salo]

I have a VW with a diesel engine and know of people who have modified their cars to run off of used frier oil from restaurants. Unfortunately, this voids the warranty on the car, or I would consider it. I'd love for clean biodiesel to be available at a pump and would even pay a little extra for it: it tends to have a higher cetane ratings and it tends to burn cleaner.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Diesels could also run on finely powered coal (with a little oil for lubrication). Apparently, they well run efficiently on anything that will burn that you can get into the combustion chamber.

[taxesareforever]

"Our mission is to make a gas that is so cheap and plentiful that consumers don't even have to know it's not made from fossil fuels," says Tobias

Then bend off and let loose. That is the ONLY gas that will ever be considered cheap. Any other idea that says gas will be cheap is counting on the Uncle Sam to pay for most of it.

[omega4412]

Questions for Seattle Biodiesel:

What is the energy cost of growing the crop, harvesting it, processing it, and distributing the oil? That is, is biodiesel mainly solar fuel, or is it fossil fuel laundered through a farm?

How much water is required to produce a gallon of biodiesel? Water use may be a major limit on biofuel production.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"I came to the conclusion that I needed to do something different with my life," he says."

Now another pilot is flying freight from Anchorage, Alaska, to Tokyo whilst burning enough fuel to power an average car for 42 years in his place. It is not as though he has changed anything.

Time is money.

[pollyannaish]

Thank you.

The energy used in production/collection/processing is so often overlooked it has become embarrassing.

Envirowhackos consistently act as if it is all so simple. As a result, they usually make the situation worse.

[birbear]

too long to keep my interest.

I guess I'll keep wiping out the environment, one day at a time.

[Balding_Eagle]

He figured his jet was burning enough fuel to power an average car for 42 years.

I've often wondered how much fuel it takes to fly the average passenger a mile (for example).