Month: June 2005

So I was listening to NPR’s Science Friday last week, and they had NY Times columnist Tom Friedman on, talking about his new book The Earth is Flat, which is all about globalization and greening our transportation industry. (you can hear it on MP3 download here, for the time being — dunno how long the link will last — and it’s mighty good listening, about 45 minutes. Highly recommended.)

And then I read this Op-Ed piece (which originally ran in the NYT). He touched briefly on this topic on Science Friday, but this is an expansion of the idea.

I swear to God, it was wonderful hearing this guy. It was so wonderful to hear an expert — and a prominent NYT columnist, at that — say all the stuff I’ve been shouting about for the last year on this blog, and say it in a nonpartisan way. He was basically like, “look, this is not a partisan issue and we don’t have three years to spare. We need another “Moon Shot”-style push for technology now, right this minute, or the Indians and the Chinese are going to bury us so fast it’ll make our heads spin, and we won’t be able to react because they’ll have not only our purse strings, but all the brainpower.”

Go man go. Now if only people will listen to us hollering in the wilderness.

Now the railroad came generations ago

And the town grew up as the crops did grow

The crops grew well and the town did too

They say it’s dyin now and there ain’t a thing we can do

I don’t have to read the news

Or hear it on the radio

I see it in the faces of everyone I know

The cost goes up

What we made comes down

What’s gonna happen to our little town

The summer is full of thunder

The kids run and play

Momma got a new wrinkle

Poppa ain’t got much to say

Rust grows along the railroad track

The young folks leave

They don’t come back

And I don’t have to read the news

Or hear it on the radio

I see it in the faces of everyone I know

The boards go up

The signs come down

What’s gonna happen to our little town

Tom lost his farm

And we lost Tom

He left in the night

I don’t know where he’s gone

What he’d lost

He just couldn’t face

What we’re losin’ can’t be replaced

I don’t have to read the news

Or hear it on the radio

I see it in the faces of everyone I know

The reason we’re here

Is the farms around

So what’s gonna happen to our little town

We’ve seen hard times

Many times before

Maybe this whole thing is just one more

It never was perfect

Maybe no one’s to blame

To see it die like this

It’s a god damned shame

And I don’t have to read the news

Or hear it on the radio

I see it in the faces of everyone I know

The sun comes up

The sun goes down

But what’s gonna happen to our little town

— Greg Brown

I just watered the garden with fish emulsion, and now all the flies in the neighborhood are at my house, circling the plants, saying “Hey, baby — what’s that bewitching scent you’re wearing?”

A Landfill near Columbus is going to be used as a Methane-harvesting plant. On its way out, the methane will turn a microturbine, which will help heat and power the plant. Then it’ll be turned into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which can be used to power CNG cars in the city’s fleet. Later they hope to turn the methane into Methanol for use in Biodiesel production, and for hydrogen extraction.

Details here.

After six months of impatient waiting, I am now running my car on B99 — 1% petrol and 99% soy. Contrary to popular rumor, my tailpipe does not smell like french fries. It smells like slightly sour cooking oil.

However, I will say this: The car’s pickup seems extra-smooth and fast, and there’s no detectable, awful, cloudy diesel stank like there is with B20 or regular diesel, and that’s a hell of an improvement. The car smells *good* as opposed to like an eighteen-wheeler. And the jerrycans of B99 don’t smell *at all*, which is pleasant compared to B20, which still stinks thoroughly of petro-diesel.