Free Republic

In Greece earlier this month, Al Gore made a startling admission: "First-generation ethanol, I think, was a mistake." Unfortunately, Americans have Gore to thank for ethanol subsidies. In 1994, then-Vice President Al Gore ended a 50-50 tie in the Senate by voting in favor of an ethanol tax credit that added almost $5 billion to the federal deficit last year. And that number doesn't factor the many ways in which corn-based ethanol mandates drive up the price of food and livestock feed. Sure, he meant well, but as Reuters reported, Gore also said, "One of the reasons I made that...

Back in the 1950´s RC Briant, a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, worked to develop a long range nuclear powered plane to carry atomic bombs and first proposed reactor fuel be dissolved in liquid fluoride salts. A test reactor proved Briant´s idea both feasible and advantageous. Later Alvin Weinberg, Director of Oak Ridge saw that molten fluoride salt could harness thorium-an abundant if slightly radioactive substance-and a 2nd reactor -the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment was built and operated for several years. It proved control rods were unnecessary and a liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) could be safe and serve...

Developing a way to create hydrogen fuel from water is a "Holy Grail" of alternate fuel development. Many consider Hydrogen fuel sells the perfect pollution-free alternative to fuel automobiles. In these cells Hydrogen is consumed by a pollution-free chemical reaction, not combustion. So the fuel cell simply combines hydrogen and oxygen chemically to produce electricity, water, and waste heat. Nothing else. hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it would take millenniums to run out. Up until now the major problem with creating hydrogen fuel cells is the chemical process needed to seperate the hydrogen and the oxygen...

Crew member Torsten Sandmark walks a across a wooden plank to exit the 78 foot long wavepiercing trimaran named Earthrace docked at the Oceanside Harbor on Tuesday. The powerboat, which runs on biodiesel fuel, is going to attempt to break a non-stop around the globe world record using only renewable fuels next year. HAYNE PALMOUR IV Staff Photographer

On the search for alternative fuels, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vinod Khosla says the answer is clear as gin. Delivering the keynote address at a Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research forum, titled "Prosperity Despite Expensive Oil: Energy Solutions for California, America and the World," on April 21, Khosla endorsed ethanol technologies, which produce "biofuels" out of switchgrass, wood chips, corn and recycled fast food oil. "Within the next five years, we can be irreversibly down a trajectory that doesn't need any petroleum in this country," Khosla said. "We can do this in all of the United States for less than...

San Juan Biodiesel Cooperative tests alternate-fuel supply The San Juan Biodiesel Cooperative wants to know if anyone is interested in a biodiesel facility in the Four Corners. SJBC mailed surveys to farmers and crop growers in hopes of garnering more enthusiasm for a facility. “Questions are geared toward determining growers’ interest in raising sunflower and canola,”... other queries from the survey include whether assistance would be needed for crop storage, anticipated yields of individual farms, and whether farmers would be interested in becoming part owners of a potential biodiesel facility ... Biodiesel is a nonpetroleum fuel made from refined vegetable...

HOUSTON - After only a year at CenterPoint Energy, Shelley Daniel has big plans for her career. In 20 years, she sees herself in the company's executive management ranks; by the time she retires, CEO. This recent college grad, in other words, is exactly what the energy industry is looking for - not just because she's highly motivated, but because she wants to remain in the business. For years, energy analysts have been warning that their industry will run out of employees faster than it runs out of oil or gas. By some estimates, half the workforce will retire in...