Posted on 07/29/2011 9:00:47 AM PDT by bananaman22
Slowly but surely, an extraordinarily important new industry is slowly taking shape, with the potential to transform the global economy.
After years of existing largely as an environmentalist's fantasy, commercial production of biofuels for the world civil aviation industry is slowly becoming a fact, with production starting up across three continents.
The leading contenders for biofuel feedstocks are jatropha and camelina, both of which have their fervent supporters. While currently neither is capable of production at a price approaching that of Jet A1 civil aviation fuel derived from hydrocarbons, research and extensive investment are nevertheless investigating the possibilities.
While little is certain in the emerging picture, it is increasingly clear that despite the United States being one of the leading producers currently of renewable energy in the form of ethanol, that the United States nevertheless will be an also-ran in these developments.
In January 2010 Qatar Airways revealed plans to work with Airbus and other Qatari state entities to draw up "a detailed engineering and implementation plan for economically viable and sustainable biofuel production." At an event marking the launch of the Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform consortium, airline chief Akbar al Baker hailed its European project partner as "more proactive than Boeing in experimenting with alternative fuels."
Fast forward to this March, when a European consortium of Airbus, Romanian state-owned airline Tarom, Honeywell’s UOP and CCE (Camelina Company España) announced plans to establish a bio-fuel production center in Romania to manufacture civil aviation fuel, using camelina as a feedstock.
Farther east, last month China National Petroleum Corp. announced that it had delivered 15 tons of jatropha oil to help Air China operate the country's maiden biofuel-powered test flight, tentatively scheduled for later this year. According to a posting on its website, CNPC, Asia's largest oil producer, is proving that it has the ability to produce biofuel from non-grain feedstocks to clean up the environment.
On Monday, Mozambique's Agencia Informacao Mocambique news agency announced that Sun Biofuels Mozambique, a subsidiary of U.K.-based Sun Biofuels, has exported the first batch of 30 tons of jatropha oil produced from its fields in the central Mozambican province of Manica to Germany’s Lufthansa airline. Full article at: Biofuels Potential to Transform the Global Economy
Biofuels Potential to Transform the Global Economy...into 3rd world status.
Rising food prices are transformative change.
Step #2 Convert agricultural lands for food production over to fuel production.
Step #3 Food prices go to a 1000% price rise as a result of the prior two steps.
Step #4 Starvation and riots on a mass global scale.
Step #5 The 30% of the population surviving form nomadic hunting and gathering groups and compete with each other in deadly clashes to keep the population in check.
Like wind, an entirely fake industry, propped up with gov’t subsidies paid with forced exactions from taxpayers.
Jatropha Curcas is a small shrub/tree... the beans are not edible... The shrub grows on marginal land with modest water use. Often the land where it grows will not support food crops... So - this is a better situation than with corn or other oil feedstocks... Jatropha has potential - but will only grow in tropical or semitropical areas. In short Jatropha Curcas farming does not have to compete with food production. The oil from Jatropha is used to make biodiesel - not ethanol.
Surely you are aware that camelina and jatropha are inedible.
Or isn’t that in the talking points?
I’d be up for this were they using an algae of some sort but so long as they’re using land to produce bio-fuels - everyone involved in its production is a son of a b....
Did you not read the list? Step #2.
Gosh, where are Obammy’s windmills?
“The shrub grows on marginal land with modest water use.”
So do the plants that food animals graze, and browse.
And for all you Sigma six and Lean manufacturing zealots out there, inventory is not waste. Producing to meet only an order is not efficient. Increased transportation costs and not being able to procure raw materials based on commodity windows of opportunity is how to wither on the vine.
Purchasing patterns of the masses is going to shift to what they can reliably buy from inventories or stocks that are consistant.
Not necessarily in the countries where Jatropha grows...
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