BIODIESEL ON THE FARM WORKSHOPS

[nosmokes]

BIODIESEL ON THE FARM WORKSHOPS IN DECEMBER



Curious about using biodiesel on your farm or ranch, in your nursery operation or vineyard? Join us for a day-long workshop featuring experts from Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Learn about:



* production and processing of oilseed feedstock for biodiesel (including what to do with the processing by-products),

* small scale processing options for making biodiesel on-farm,

* biodiesel use in agricultural equipment,

* storage and handling of biodiesel, and

* federal and state financial incentives for using biodiesel in your agricultural operation.



This workshop will be held in two Oregon locations:



* 1 December 2005 at the CH2MHill Alumni Center on the OSU Campus, Corvallis

* 8 December 2005 at the Pendleton Conference Center, Pendleton



Workshops will run from 8 am to 4:30 pm, and lunch will be provided.



Admission is $25, and pre-registration is required.



To register or if you have questions, contact Kathy Hyzy, at [email protected] or 503.222.1963 x105



These workshops are hosted by the Oregon Environmental Council and are made possible through a generous grant from the Lamb Foundation.



Kathy Hyzy

Program Assistant

Oregon Environmental Council

222 NW Davis St Ste 309

503-222-1963 x 105

http://www.oeconline.org

http://www.biofuels4oregon.org

[PoiBoy]

1. Biodiesel on Maui

http://www.mauitime.com/story.aspx?story_id=892

<snip>
Rudolph Diesel designed his famous engine to run on refined peanut oil. As far back as the 1890s, Diesel saw the development of a biomass industry as the key to future transportation. He wanted to improve the efficiency of the steam engine as well as keep the world’s struggling agriculture industry alive in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. He believed developing a domestic fuel crop would help farmers stay on their land and allow nations to further a sustainable new industry.

Unfortunately, the oily hands of the petroleum tycoons strangled the life out of his idea. By the 1920s, diesel engines were altered to utilize lower viscosity fossil fuel residue rather than anything based on biomass.

This slick move all but wiped out any competitive threat biomass posed to the petroleum tycoons. Rudolph Diesel’s vision sank into a sea of light, sweet crude oil. The concept of using corn and food as a potential fuel fell into obscurity. Until now.
<end>


...it's good to see some major players here embracing alternative fuels sources... :hi:

[phantom power]

2. Thinking about Rudolph Diesel makes me wonder...

How would the last 100 years of technological progress, economics, population growth, etc, have unfolded differently if we hadn't latched onto fossil oil, gas, etc?

Would we have burned a lot more coal (until it was gone)? Would we have embraced nuclear power? Would we have even discovered nuclear power?

Generally speaking, could a high technology society arise without being kick-started with cheap fossil fuels? I believe it could, and would in fact develop as a somewhat healthier, more sustainable civilization by necessity. But opinions differ widely.

If our current civilization collapses, I suppose our decendents will do the experiment for us, since we've used up all the easily accessible fossil fuels.

[skids]

3. Even more drastically...

...what if thermopiles and electric motors had become the dominant technology? Back when they were invented, steam engines had the same conversion efficiency.

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/thermoelectric/thermoelectric.htm

The consequences would have been far-reaching -- we'd have had a much faster development of materials sciences in relation to mechanical engineering, as electromagnetic motors and actuators are more flexible design-wise, easing the pressure on mechanical coupling systems, and efficiency would have depended on advances in chemistry and metal crystal theory. Progress into nanotechnology might have come decades sooner as a result, while architecture and metalworking may have suffered. What a different world that would have been.