Saturday, November 7, 2009

Green Motor Oil? Green Earth Technologies and Motor Oil Made From Animal Fats

Here's a press release from Green Earth Technologies that recently caught my attention (disclosure, I bought a few shares of their company about a month ago). If their G-OIL product really works, why has their been so little attention paid to this? Why, when we continue to send soldiers to the Middle East to protect our oil interests there, do we not hear more about innovative products likes this?

Is it because Green Earth is too small to have the ability to market aggressively? Don't we realize that each time we fill our gas tanks, we are part of the problem of keeping oil producing nations hostile to us in business? I understand a worry about using a product like G-OIL. I have a German-made car. I would worry about how this oil would affect my engine. But, if it passes all of the ASTM tests, why should I worry? I should just do it because it's apparently better for the planet AND it gets me one tiny step away from people who would seek to kill us for few other reasons than they don't like our culture or our religion. Should be a simple decision to make on my part. And yet, it's not.

I need to call my car dealer. I need to have them ask their mechanics if it's ok to use the oil. I have to then try it out. If I notice even the smallest amount of performance decrease, then I will probably blame it on the G-OIL. But, should I?

It's all so damn complicated. Green Earth could help me out by publicizing which cars and models could take their new oil. They could be a lot more aggressive than simply sponsoring the American LeMans Series. Besides, how does sponsoring a decadent car race help promote the use of earth-friendly oil?

STAMFORD, Conn., Oct 28, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ --
Green Earth Technologies (Pink Sheets: GETG), a leading manufacturer
and marketer of "green" environmentally safe consumer packaged goods
and products, announced today their third consecutive showcase at The
AAPEX Show at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, November 4-6. In the
previous two years, Green Earth Technologies has previewed G-OIL(R)
Ultimate Biodegradable green motor oils and other environmentally
friendly automotive products at AAPEX, the world's largest business-to-
business event for the Automotive Aftermarket industry. Third time is
a charm, as G-OIL SAE 5W-30 is now available nationally, passing all
the engine test criteria for The American Petroleum Institute (API) SM
Certification and being granted the API "Donut," becoming the first
and only bio-based motor oil to receive such distinguished honors.

G-OIL is the world's lowest petroleum, "eco-friendly," ultimate
biodegradable motor oil priced comparatively to synthetics and
similarly performing products. Unlike traditional petrochemical-based
motor oils from leading manufacturers, Green Earth Technologies' G-OIL
is made with American-grown renewable animal fats. These saturated
fats, whose molecular single-bond carbon chains are similar to common
petroleum oils, have no harsh effects on the environment, and
drastically cut our dependence on foreign oil. In the past year, G-OIL
also became the official motor oil of The American Le Mans series.

In addition to G-OIL Green Motor Oil, Green Earth Technologies will be
previewing two new products: G-OIL Marine Oil, which will begin
shipping in 2010 and the GREEN MACHINE(TM), a new product in the
appearance chemical category with TTI. The GREEN MACHINE is a portable
1400 PSI pressure washer designed for cars and trucks specially
equipped with the G-CLEAN High Pressure Detergent Injector to
accommodate environmentally friendly washing using GET's ultimate
biodegradable dissolvable detergent pouches, made with American-grown
plant base oils. The dissolvable detergents go through the pump and
clean at high pressure while conditioning and lubricating the pump, so
no reclamation necessary while cleaning on the road.

"The AAPEX community has truly supported environmentally conscious
brands with increased fervor over the years for 'green' alternatives,"
said Jeffrey Loch, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Green Earth
Technologies. "We are very excited to showcase for our third year in a
row, as we now have G-OIL available for shipment in bulk and bottles
nationally, a true achievement for our company."

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Is it even possible to win a war in Afghanistan? Not today.

And here's why...

Follow this link. It will take you to a full description of Forward Operating Base Keating , the same FOB that was attacked this past weekend by 400 Taliban-led troops resulting in the deaths of 8 American soldiers.

What's most amazing to me is how much information the link above provides to our enemies. Wow. Why don't we just put every soldier's Facebook account, street address and photo on these Websites and allow our enemies to just kill them that much more quickly?

Children, we cannot ever "win" in Afghanistan. We can only retreat and allow the Taliban to keep their scrubby piece of mountainous dirt. And why should we care anyway? We have so many things to clean up in our own country.

So, why are we bothering there?

To keep radical Islam from proliferating? Hmmm. That's not working too well. Just ask the British and the Europeans. They can't even contain radical Islam in their own cities.

To control Afghan heroin-producing poppy fields? Does anyone else see the irony in trying to stem supply when Americans have consistently proven that they want heroin and as much as they can shoot? Hey, this drug is now killing more people than auto accidents. Will stemming supply cut that statistic? Doubtful. Americans like to get high. So, they'll just switch to something else. When are we going to learn that the demand side of this equation is where the solution lies?

To win Afghan hearts and minds and make the country safe for democracy? If that's the goal, then maybe the effort is worth it. But, it will take hundreds of years before we see any real change in that direction. The people have to want it. And thus far they don't seem to be too interested in it. If the Taliban can scrape together 400 farmers to take on a fully armed Marine garrison, then I don't think democracy is really on their minds.

Oh, wait, I know what it is. We need a place to use all of the weapons we are producing in order to keep our massive munitions manufacturing industry firing on all pistons. Politicians call it "job creation."

No, I don't want to see us retreat. I want to see us kill every single murdering Taliban member we can find. But, we need to find a different word than retreat to describe the need to get our young soldiers the hell out of there. Time for the Afghans to take care of their own country. Let's use our young soldiers to protect us in more important places like, ahem, San Diego, where are recent shoot out between armed smugglers and U.S. Border Patrol made Quentin Tarantino blush.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Martin Scorsese. Harvey Weinstein. Debra Winger. Michael Mann. Woody Allen. Mike Nichols, Debra Winger, etc. Please move to France.

Dear Hollywood and the French Government (notably Mr. Mitterand):

Wake up! If you can.

Roman Polanski is a convicted child sexual predator. It's as simple as that. He needs help, not more enabling. Your defense of Mr. Polanski is not just anti-American, it's frustratingly ignorant. It's frustrating because some lunatic editor has given you space to share your morally and legally-bankrupt views. Do any of you have a real sense of what's just and correct in this world or are you so jaded by your own fame and reflections that you've simply lost your minds?

Mr. Polanski raped, sodomized and sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl. Who cares if he did it 30 years or 30 minutes ago? It's all the same. This is what someone with a mental illness does. He does not need your protection, he needs your demand that he be sent to a place where he can't do it again. Who cares how talented he is? There will always be plenty of talented people in the movie industry. Personally, I could have lived without seeing Rosemary's Baby.

Your defense that his talent and life tragedies outweigh his crimes is illogical. He should've been jailed and provided with a significant dose of psycho therapy. After all, he is and will remain, a child sexual predator. There are teens who rape other teens and they are given the mark of a sexual predator for the rest of their lives, having to register and be marked on the Internet in perpetuity. Why not Mr. Polanski? What's so special about him?

Further, your excuse-laden defense that he survived the Holocaust and lived through the horrible murder of his beloved wife and unborn child at the hands of the Manson Family, pays no honor to either the Holocaust or to Sharon Tate.

Shame on you. Mr. Polanski deserves better friends. And we, as Americans, deserve better actors. I'll be boycotting all of your next projects until you find the wisdom to understand how sad your defense of Mr. Polanski truly is.

If your 13 year old had been raped, you'd want to make sure -- at the very least -- that it did not happen to another child. You'd demand the perpetrator be locked up for a long time and we'd all agree. Revenge is not what's being sought here. It's simple community protection from a sexual predator and others like him who might think they too can get a free pass for their behavior.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Rob Cornilles For Congress

I met Alison and Rob Cornilles today. They are running for Congress. Yes, I say "they" as a spouse is as much a part of this type of effort as the name candidate. No, it's not like a pregnancy. It annoys the hell out of me when men say "we're having a baby." I've seen my wife having three of them and I can guarantee there was no "we" at the critical moment of delivery. But, I digress.

Here's why I think you should consider Mr. Cornilles more closely in the primary match up in May against incumbent Congressman, David Wu:

1. Rob seems motivated to win. You can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He wants to replace Rep. Wu and believes that he can do that. He knows that to win he's going to have to put up with a certain depth of bullshit that may find him holding his nose. But, his skin is apparently thick enough. David's a lawyer and is masterful with the king's english. David's a marketing guy and a CEO. So, it will be interesting to see these two debate.

2. He seems like a really nice fella. No, really. Just a nice guy. He's direct. Looks you right in the eye. Shakes your hand firmly. And, he knows how to control a room full of overfed, overpaid, over-educated white guys. Those are the guys who write big checks. Alison is equally charming, but in a more pragmatic way. She seems hesitant about this new journey, but you can see the resolve in her eyes.

3. He admits he's learning and has a lot to learn. Self-deprecation comes easy to him. There is a humility to Rob that reveals itself in his smile when you first meet him. I found myself looking for reasons not to like his views. Couldn't find any. Not yet at least. I do think he, like a lot of politicians, either misunderstands the difference between debt and spending or they use them interchangeably to confuse the voters. Either way, it's wrong. I'd like to see him bone up on these distinctly different notions.

4. He seems to know that this is not going to easy. Alison seems to know that even better. She has to be the one, after all, who sits for uncounted hours listening to the same speech over and over and over again. She will need to be mistress of the living room, dutifully sitting, hands folded in her lap with a pasted on smile no matter what she's feeling from one moment to the next. I think the job of a political spouse has to be one of the worst jobs in the world. Yet, she seems to have an athletes' focus for it. Watch her closely, she's Rob's ace in the hole.

5. Finally, Rob will bring something Oregon SORELY needs to Congress. A self-made business person. Oregon's representation in Washington is far too unbalanced toward gentlemen who have had no experience running small businesses -- or any businesses for that matter. There is something uniquely useful about a small business man who has, as Rob says, "signed the front of a paycheck." Career politicians and lawyers like David Wu can never understand what that simple little notion really means no matter how hard they try.

I don't have a dog in this fight, really. I don't live in his district. Besides, politics makes me sick -- literally. The last time I had my own ass handed to me in politics, I threw up and could not get out of bed for days. And I worked for Marion Barry! You'd think I'd have an iron stomach. So, I hung up any notion of being a part of anything political four years ago. I've been a lot happier since. I do, however, still marvel at people's desire to enter the arena. Getting to know them is a little like knowing a death row inmate. There's something fascinating about them as they prepare to take that long walk. They are, for a short moment, at the mercy of fate. And I can't seem to turn away from what could happen.

Good luck, Rob and Alison. Hope your last meal is a good one.

Portland, Oregon

Will the U.S. Residential Construction Industry Embrace Energy Efficieny Before It's Too Late?

Since January of this year, I have been helping a Canadian-based structural concrete wall panel manufacturer get its second North American factory up and running in Alberta. We have pushed very hard to secure the financing and, thus far, have successfully met many challenging milestones. But, we are not done yet. It is my expectation that the Canadian manufacturer will have an Alberta-based plant operational by sometime in Spring 2010.

Each plant costs about $30M to launch, so it's a pretty massive undertaking. My role has been helping the licensees in Alberta work through the relationship with the manufacturer. Part negotiator. Part facilitator. Part strategist. With a little bit of pyscho-analyst thrown in for good measure. I have also been the go-to person for questions from investors, insurers, builders, government officials, etc.

My focus has, and will continue to be, on developing technologies and techniques that allow communities to build durable, sustainable, modestly-priced homes for average income earners worldwide, not just in the U.S. To that end, I am currently working on a project that will allow for the construction of structural wall panel plants in Iraq. A long story, but an important one. They need 3 million units of housing. In the past 25 years, they've only managed to get less than 20,000 units constructed, according to the United Nations. Lack of adequate housing fuels the cycle of poverty and the resulting after-affects which includes terrorism. A story not being told by the mainstream media.

I have a team of experts now assembled who can rapidly build thousands of units of housing per year anywhere in the world. A welcome, though unintended, consequence of the work we've done over the past three years. If you need housing for your country, call us. :-)

Another part of my work has found me helping raise money for two home builders in modestly-priced residential housing markets in the U.S. and Canada. Since May, I have helped to raise over $6M in construction loans. It's not been easy, but we've done it. Over 50 modestly-priced homes are being built in the these markets this year as a result.

What's frustrating, though, is that I am struggling to get anyone to pay much attention to me on the energy efficiency issue. The many builders I am working with see no compelling reason to change what they are doing. From Nova Scotia, to Alberta to Louisiana, Virginia, Oregon and beyond, there is simply no driving imperative to do anything different. For all of the talk of a green revolution in this critical industry, the realities are FAR from close to what organizations like the USGBC desires. In fact, I'd argue that it will take another 20+ years or more to see any noticeable change in how homes are built.

Yet, I am determined to get through to the people I work with. These are smart, motivated people. But right now they need to make money. Everyone is suffering in one form or another. I wonder if there is not a small baby step anyone could recommend these folks take to bring home building into a more modern era? What's the one simple thing you'd advise on the issue of increasing the energy efficiency of a modestly-priced home?

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Stun Gun Darts and the Potential for Needlestick-like Injuries to Emergency Responders

Did you know...

Stun Gun devices, while reportedly responsible for improving public safety and the safety of police officers in the past several years, have a largely under-reported safety flaw which puts emergency medical workers at increasing risk of life-threatening injuries occurring during the removal of expended darts.

Prior to the development of the D.A.R.T. Pro tool and X-TRACTOR Tips, there were no tools on the market specifically designed to prevent needlestick-type injuries incurred when police officers or medical personnel handle stun-gun darts. Often workers must pull the darts out by hand or use pliers or forceps to remove them from unruly subjects, heightening the risk of a blood infection to the workers. The darts have been sometimes stored in a plastic bag, again putting handlers at risk.

The cost to public agencies to test and treat personnel who may have been infected by bloodborne pathogens could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The use of the D.A.R.T. Pro with the attached X-TRACTOR Tip eliminates the risk.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) bloodborne pathogens standard specifies the engineering controls, such as safer medical devices, which must be used to reduce or eliminate worker exposure.

A recent revision includes new requirements regarding an employer's Exposure Control Plan, including an annual review and update to reflect changes in technology that eliminate or reduce exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

The employer must:

1. take into account innovations in medical procedure and technological developments that reduce the risk of exposure (e.g., newly available medical devices designed to reduce needlesticks) and

2. document consideration and use of appropriate, commercially-available, and effective safer devices (e.g., describe the devices identified as candidates for use, the method(s) used to evaluate those devices, and justification for the eventual selection

No one medical device is considered appropriate or effective for all circumstances. Employers must select devices that, based on reasonable judgment will not jeopardize patient or employee safety or be medically inadvisable, and will make an exposure incident involving a contaminated sharp less likely to occur.

Employers must solicit input from non-managerial employees responsible for direct patient care regarding the identification, evaluation, and selection of effective engineering controls, including safer medical devices. Employees selected should represent the range of exposure situations encountered in the workplace, such as those in geriatric, pediatric, or nuclear medicine, and others involved in direct care of patients.

OSHA will check for compliance with this provision during inspections by questioning a representative number of employees to determine if and how their input was requested.

Employers are required to document, in the Exposure Control Plan, how they received input from employees. This obligation can be met by listing the employees involved and describing the process by which input was requested or presenting other documentation, including references to the minutes of meetings, copies of documents used to request employee participation, or records of responses received from employees.

Employers who have employees who are occupationally exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials, and who are required to maintain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses under existing recordkeeping rules, must also maintain a sharps injury log. That log will be maintained in a manner that protects the privacy of employees. At a minimum, the log will contain the following: the type and brand of device involved in the incident, location of the incident (e.g., department or work area), and description of the incident. The sharps injury log may include additional information as long as an employee's privacy is protected. The format of the log can be determined by the employer.

 At any given time, almost 10 percent of the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in the United States miss work because of injuries and illnesses they suffered on the job.

 In one year, an estimated 8.1 of every 100 emergency responders will suffer an injury or illness forcing them to miss work. Compared to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of injuries requiring work absence among these first responders far exceeds the national average of 1.3 per 100 lost-work injury cases reported in 2006.

 About 900,000 certified emergency medical services professionals responded to more than 17 million calls in 2005. The most common injuries these professionals suffer are exposure to blood-borne pathogens from needle sticks

 It is estimated a thousand health care professionals are injured each day as the result of hospital accidents involving needles or other sharp objects, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Source: American Nurses Association.

 Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of U.S. nurses say needlestick injuries and blood borne infections remain major concerns.

 Sixty-four percent of nurses report being accidentally stuck by a needle while working.

 Among those nurses reporting needlestick injuries, a staggering 74 percent have been stuck by a contaminated needle while working. In 2008, more than one-third (35 percent) reported two or more contaminated needlesticks over the course of their career.

 While the overwhelming majority of nurses (91 percent) are familiar with their workplace’s protocol regarding needlestick injuries, 79 percent of those accidentally stuck by a needle while working say they reported the incident, compared to 83 percent in 2006.

 Nearly half (46 percent) of those who have been stuck say, during their most recent needlestick injury, they received an evaluation or were treated within one to two hours; yet more than one- third (39 percent) state they were not evaluated or treated at all.

 Ninety-five percent of nurses report taking a Hepatitis B vaccine to protect them from Hepatitis B infection due to occupational exposure.

Only the D.A.R.T. Pro complies with OSHA regulations promulgated to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries. According to OSHA, devices designed to reduce needlestick injuries must have …
• A fixed safety feature to provide a barrier between the hands and the needle after use; the feature should allow or require the worker's hands to remain behind the needle at all times.
• The safety feature as an integral part of the device, and not an accessory.
• The safety feature in effect before disassembly and remaining in effect after disposal, to protect users and trash handlers, and for environmental safety.
• The safety feature as simple as possible, and requiring little or no training to use effectively.
For more information, please contact nathanielclevenger@gmail.com, 503.753.2120. Provided by Global Pathogen Solutions. All Rights Reserved. www.globalpathogensolutions.com.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Good Friend, John Barrows, Shares His Thoughts on Cooking

My good buddy, friend and mentor, John Barrows, was interviewed recently in a local newspapaper here in Oregon. Here's the link.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Why we must re-focus our efforts in Afghanistan. Or, why bother with protecting voters in small far-flung villages?

If widespread media reports are even marginally accurate, U.S. efforts to root out terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan are apparently not working well. More ominous, these efforts are not likely to end well for our soldiers unless we gain some focus - and fast. Protecting handfuls of voters in far flung provincial villages seems like an enormous waste of money and time. Our young soldiers deserve better than to lose their lives in places that are not even on maps.

Our stated government policy is focused on activities designed to disrupt or destroy terrorist activity. Yet, we don't have enough resources to achieve that ambitious goal. Hell, we can't even control the Mexican drug trade in our own country, so how do we think we can control the same kinds of activities in a country half a planet away? Mexican drug lords are simply trying to get and keep us all high. Afghan drug lords on the other hand, protected by their terrorist brethren, are trying to get and keep us high AND kill us at the same time.

If Mexican drug cartels wanted to support democratic rights in territories under their control, would we soften our position to them? No chance. Not so in Afghanistan where we are seeking to join hands with "moderates" in the Taliban political structure. People. Please. We have lost our minds. And soon, if we don't get some common sense working here, we are going to find the rest of our bodies in plastic travel bags.

For example...

I'd like to believe that we can use a few thousand Marines to win the hearts and minds of people living in deserts. But, that's naive. More than that, it's stupid and arrogant to think we can change them. People who live in deserts don't apparently want our assistance -- or anyone's assistance for that matter. If they wanted a better life, they would not be living in a desert. What the hell are we doing trying to help people who believe cultural destitution is their birthright? And yet, we literally "soldier on" in a half-baked and dangerous mission to protect their right to vote?

They've already voted -- with their feet! They don't apparently want to be part of the solution. They don't want to be part of the problem either. In short, they just don't want to be a part of anything. So, let's move on. Let's focus on getting the really bad guys and leave people in the nether regions of Helmand Province, etc., the hell alone (or alone in hell?)

This past week I drove from Edmonton, Alberta, through to Portland, Oregon. It was a long drive. About 1,000 miles. Along the way I passed through many small towns hanging on to the bitter edge of far away economic centers like Edmonton. I stopped for gas and food in several of these places and while no one struck me as a facile student of quantum physics, they seemed happy. And that's my point. They are happy living away from what the rest of the world considers civilization. They enjoy being left alone and I can damn near guarantee you if you asked them if they liked government -- in any form - the answer would be an emphatic, Hell no!

Should we think it any different in Afghanistan or Northern Pakistan? Imagine a group of armed Marines rolling in to your small burg, setting up check points, pointing dangerous weapons at your cars and explaining all the while that they were there to protect your right to vote. It's laughable in the extreme. In fact, I simply can't go on.

We must get back to focus on killing as many at the Taliban and their Al Qaeda friends as possible and stop this folly that we can convert vast amounts of nothingness into an Americanized somethingness. Otherwise, we will be sent packing just like the Turks, the Brits, the Persians, the Greeks and the other powers before us. Maybe we should take a vote first.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

What if healthcare workers made more house calls?

Would we be healthier if professional health care workers made more housecalls?

Why is that all other while collar professionals (lawyers, CPA's, bankers, etc.) are perfectly willing to leave their offices and come to their client's homes or places of business, but we are forced to meet our doctors, physician assistants and the like mostly in their offices alone?

How can the medical professional truly treat the "whole" person without seeing the very day-to-day environments in which they live? It's a fair question, I believe.

Imagine if your doctor could see that what is continuously making you sick is the fact that your home has not been dusted for ten years? Or, he can see that you live next door to a factory spewing out high levels of potentially cacrinogenic particulates. Or, the visiting nurse notices that you have 100 cats living in your house and that may be contributing to your kids' asthma. The list is endless.

Our healthcare system is geared to looking at tactical causes and effects and then presecribing tactical -- read "pharmaceutical" -- solutions to a specific problem. It is not particularly clever at looking at the whole picture of human health and wellness because it only sees its "customers" in a clinical setting. In short, it can not treat the whole person unless it understands the whole picture. But there is a simple answer. And, it won't cost that much. In fact, in the end it will save our healthcare system billions as we should all be that much healthier. Even if the end result is a 10 percent reduction in healthcare cost, the savings would be significant.

Part of pro-active, preventive treatment efforts should include physician assistants, nurses and the like -- if not physicians themselves -- making annual home visits. I don't know one person who likes visiting the doctor's office. It's inconvenient. It's often a cattle call. We wait endlessly and are given 15 minutes or less to visit with someone who is supposed to quickly ascertain our health or lack thereof. It's ridiculous. How much healthier might our society be if the medical profession brought healthcare to the people versus the other way around.

Sure, you'd still need to go to the doctor's office for obvious reasons. But, if you could choose to have a health care worker come to you for routine "maintenance" of your health care, what might the end result be?

Like most Americans I think that we need more common sense approaches to solving our health care system. Throwing more money at it has not reduced the numbers of uninsured. My senior thesis is colleage in the late 80s focused on ideas for insuring the nation's 30 million uninsured at that time. 20+ years later, 50 million are uninsured. So, we've had plenty of time to consider this issue and make creative changes. Yet, here we are -- no better than where we were two decades ago.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

INITIAL ANALYSIS OF BIODIESEL PLANT PRACTICALITY FOR OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON. JULY 2009.

I believe that there is and will be a healthy market for biodiesel in the Pacific Northwest. It’s all about mastering the fundamentals, which includes tax incentives, segmenting market demand, understanding distribution infrastructure, and exploiting Big Oil’s built-in limitations. Oh, and of course, tapping in to the desire of consumers to replace foreign oil with domestic energy sources that help Americans and the planet. Americans seem to understand now that sending our manufacturing jobs overseas has not provided a long-term positive for our own economy and so the pendulum for wanting to keep jobs at home is swinging back. The power of that paradigm shift cannot be overstated.

"For the first time in a long time there are some financial incentives to attract manufacturing in the U.S.," Source: Roger Efird, president of Suntech America, a subsidiary of the world's largest solar power company, based in China.

And while developing a small footprint (sub 2MMgy) biodiesel processing plant may be counter to conventional wisdom, what follows are my arguments for why an opportunity is revealing itself now to create a long-term, sustainable business in biodiesel processing through plants that have annual production capacity of less than two million gallons.

In recent years, several new Federal laws designed to increase the production and consumption of domestic biofuels have been enacted. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandated that transportation fuels sold in the United States contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels, the level of which increases yearly until 2022. In December 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 increased the mandatory levels of renewable fuel blending credits to a total of 36 billion gallons by 2022, including 16 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels. By comparison, in 2007, the United States consumed 6.8 billion gallons of ethanol and 491 million gallons of biodiesel.

Biodiesel consumption is predicted to increase to 1.2 billion gallons by 2030, or approximately only 1.5% of total diesel consumption. Consumption of renewable diesel, made from cellulosic materials, is expected to substantially exceed biodiesel consumption by 2030.

But this is only part of the story. The big trend is this: Petroleum refining capacity in the United States has been declining since the late 1960s. Petroleum demand has been increasing. So, a massive gap between the decreasing supply of refined oil and the increasing demand has been created. Domestic supplies, then, have been made up by foreign imports of refined oil products. Americans love the oil, they’ve just lost their appetite for foreign oil.

There are only two choices: add more refining capability, which we likely won’t do as no one wants a new refinery in their backyard, or build smaller refineries using domestic oil stocks. If we are going to build refining capacity, we might as well refine our own feedstocks rather than buy them from governments in the Middle East and South America.

Note: Any American who believes that our energy needs are being appropriately provided by the status quo – especially with regard to petroleum – is either naïve or purposely acting counter to our national interests. The fact is, petroleum is not the answer to our long-term energy needs. We must develop more local, closed-loop energy solutions that remove the myriad threats posed by our continued reliance on petroleum and its byproducts.

The arguments for and against biodiesel in particular and biofuels in general are many and complex. The arguments in favor of biodiesel are simple. Here are just a few…

1. BOTH CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES ARE INVESTING IN BIOFUEL INNOVATIONS AT PARADIGM-SHIFTING RATES. Paralleling efforts in the U.S. to expand the use of biodiesel, the Canadian Parliament last year passed a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requiring biodiesel sold in Canada to contain an average of 2% renewable content, in the diesel supply. Four years ago, there was no significant market for biodiesel in North America, now both nations are aggressively trying to stimulate the growth of biodiesel production.

According to the National Biodiesel Board, there has been a nationwide explosion of biodiesel production in the past few years. The National Biodiesel Board, an industry trade group, estimates the 176 refineries that were functioning in 2008 produced 700 million gallons of biodiesel -- a 1,300 percent increase over 1999 production. That trend is expected to slow, but there will be continued growth, with at least 39 plants under construction and biofuel regulations either existing or proposed in nearly every state. But biodiesel's long-term future is clouded by, among other things, the availability of raw material for the alternative fuel.

The reasons why governments in Canada and the U.S. and Canada are doing this are simple. In biodiesel, everyone wins. The farmers. The entrepreneurs. The consumers. And, most importantly, the politicians who want to keep their jobs. There is simply no real political or economic downside. It could be argued (and it is by many) that the current price of petro-diesel, which is higher by several cents than gasoline, means that biodiesel is going to be unattractive to consumers for a good while longer. But, that is only a small part of the picture. It ignores the fact that the vast majority of petro-diesel is consumed by businesses like truck fleets, river and ocean shipping, Over the long-term, biodiesel production will provide a wide variety of economic and environmental benefits that cannot be ignored.

2. THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS ABOUT ONE THING: JOB CREATION. Renewable fuels provide a major source of economic opportunity. New green jobs are already being created. Expanded production will equal increased industrial and commercial development. Perhaps most excitingly, renewable fuels will spark economic expansion for farm families and the forestry sector - which will provide the feedstocks for new fuels that we harvest, rather than extract. Re-creating jobs in the forestry and agriculatural sectors in the Pacific Northwest is politically attractive.

The Portland Development Commission (PDC) commissioned a study two years ago to evaluate crops that have the highest potential as a biodiesel feedstock and where they may be grown in Oregon. The PDC did this, in part, to demonstrate to the majority of the state – which is rural – that it could be a partner in providing win-win economic solutions for not just city dwellers, but rural as well. The report examined the viability of a Portland-based biodiesel refinery with a capacity of one half million gallons annually as a starting point. Canola was the feedstock focal point because of its hardiness as a seed oil crop in many parts of Oregon.

3. THERE IS A LOT OF MONEY BEING PUT INTO THE “GREEN ECONOMY.” The U.S. plans to spend $50-$100 billion in economic stimulus funds for extended renewable energy tax credits, building efficiency retrofits, subway and light rail projects, and environmental restoration programs. Many of these programs intersect with the business of biodiesel. In particular, the U.S. Department of Energy is providing loan guarantees up to 80% of the project costs. States are also providing incentives. A list of some of those incentives is attached.

4. OUR BIGGEST LONG-TERM COMPETITOR, BIG OIL, IS ALSO LIKELY OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM PARTNER PROVIDING A CLEAR POSSIBLE EXIT OPPORTUNITY. Large petroleum processors like ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil and ConcocoPhillips have a right to be concerned about the proliferation of biofuels processing in the United States. It’s only my opinion, but It could be argued that a conspiracy is being led by Big Oil to kill the budding biofuels industry by, among other things, stifling production of petroleum in the near-term. They are also trying to drive up prices for their own products, but if it harms the nascent biofuels market that can’t be bad for them either.

Big Oil’s greatest threat is our greatest asset and that is this. Big Oil has a finite amount of refining capacity for at least the next ten years. No new refineries have been developed in the United States since 1976 and it can take a decade or more to build a new one. In early 2009, many larger refineries cut capital investments by billions of dollars, so capacity will not be able to come online quickly once the economy inevitably turns around.

Even in the worst-case scenario where the economy does not start growing again for another five years, petroleum refinery capacity will not be much different from what it is now. This means that prices for petroleum will inevitably rise which leads to more dependence on foreign stocks ultimately. That is not a sustainable model for the United States in the long-run.

5. SMALL BIOFUEL REFINERIES THAT ARE CLOSE TO THEIR FEEDSTOCKS SIMPLY MAKE SENSE. In a late November 2008 report, widely cited by media around the world, Merrill Lynch analysts shared a belief that energy markets today are mostly centralized, thus decentralized energy generation is evolving toward a horizontal, distributed industry. That’s a fancy way of saying that “small is beautiful.” In Oregon, small biodiesel refineries can create local markets for farmers. They can create local jobs, which is attractive to local governments. They also reduce the costs of fuel eventually because one of the biggest costs for petroleum is in transportation.

Recent yield trials in the Willamette Valley have shown that available winter canola varieties can produce in excess of 4,000 lbs. of seed per acre. Other production regions under consideration are the Columbia Basin (dryland and irrigated), Central Oregon near Madras, and Northeast Oregon in the LaGrande area. Even though yields may be lower (2,000 to 3,000 lbs. per acre) outside the Willamette Valley, canola may serve as a valuable rotation crop in these areas.

In spite of recent media reports suggesting that biodiesel crops may be restricted from expanding in Oregon, growing demand is likely to ensure that just the opposite will occur. We can be a part of ensuring that Oregon continues to expand production limits which are due for reconsideration by Oregon Department of Agriculture crop regulators in September. There is a more technical reason, though, why Oregon is likely to expand canola crop expansion. Using canola in a crop rotation with grass seed and wheat benefits Oregon growers.

Canola plants have strong taproots that penetrate compacted soil layers that fibrous roots of grass seed and cereal crops cannot. Growing canola can significantly improve soil tilth and increase water infiltration rates in compacted soils, reducing tillage costs and improving performance of following crops. Including canola in the crop rotation will also help growers control grass weeds, which are becoming greater problems in both grass seed and wheat production. This is particularly important in the Willamette Valley where grass weeds have become a major problem in grass seed production fields, and growers have few non-grass crop rotation options.

6. ANOTHER SUPPORTING COROLLARY TO THE “SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL” SCENARIO INVOLVES THE DISTRIBUTED GROWTH OF SEED CRUSHING OPERATIONS. The use of small, decentralized mechanical oilseed crushers that extract vegetable oil without the use of solvents is a growing phenomenon. This concept has been used very successfully in Europe and Asia for local production of cooking oil, biodiesel, and oilseed meal for animal feed for decades. This technology allows extraction of oil on-farm or by small local enterprises, virtually eliminating transportation costs. Filtered, virgin oil is sold for edible or industrial use, and the meal is usually consumed by animals on-farm or sold to local dairies.

Advantages of On-Farm Oilseed Processing Facilities:
Low capital cost ($100,000 – $250,000)
No waste products
Minimal siting issues – on-farm or industrial sites will work
Small footprint and low power usage
Low raw material transportation and storage costs
Create rural jobs and value-added opportunity

There are, of course, some disadvantages to on-farm oilseed processing. These include, low throughput, possible quality control issues (no on-site lab) and high residual oil content ( 8-12%) remaining in the meal. But, mobile oilseed crushing units are already being considered as a potential solution to the problem. These mobile crushers would likely be able to quickly increase their capacity from about 200 gallons of oil per day to as much as 400 or more, thus making them economically-viable. Indeed, there may be another profitable business in this sector focused on bringing the crusher to the farm, rather than the seeds to the crusher.

7. OREGON’S BIGGEST INDUSTRY IS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. WHY? BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF LAND. According to state agricultural resources, Oregon can suitably grow as many as 300,000 acres of canola in the next few years on an annual basis. This represents a 100X increase in production from the current 3,000 acres. Our calculations show that for every 1MMgy of production, you’d need about 30,000 acres of canola in rotation. That can likely be cut by a significant amount if yields can be properly managed. As we do have such a large agricultural product base, we have a significant volume of relevant infrastructure for moving agricultural products to markets. These include strong networks of roads and rail transport, as well as the infrastructure that supports river movement of products along the Columbia – the fifth largest river in the world.

END NOTES
http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/energy-resources/variable-817.html
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxincentive/

Friday, July 3, 2009

California Drivin'



I drove to San Diego, California this past week from Portland, OR. I could talk about Oregon all day. It's a beautiful state and I have a new appreciation for it having driven the entire length of California. The Golden state could generally be divided in to 4 sections along I-5.

Section 1: NoCal
. Mount Shasta. Green trees. Mountains. Kind of like West Virginia only with a lot more brown coloring. The water was very low in the lakes. Guess it's not snowing or raining enough in the Shasta watershed? Either way, one can't help but be impressed with the natural beauty of this part of the state. It's a postcard around every corner.

Section 2: The Valley. Hot. Dry. Lots of aqueducts, fruit trees, almond trees, and a helluvalot of dust. This part takes up about 1/3 of the state. As you whisk along at 70 MPH, you get the sense the state flower is the retread tire scrap. Pieces of retread line I-5 for hundreds of miles. Someone could make a lot of money just picking these up and recycling them. Hey Governor Schwarzenegger! Maybe you could spare some convicts to do a little road work? This section really does not end until you hit the outer northern suburbs of Los Angeles. It has its own beauty, I suppose. But, mostly it's just miles and miles of agriculture. And, clearly, they are having a water problem. There were signs everywhere complaining of the "Congress Made Dust Bowl."

Section 3: Los Angeles. Los Angeles has to be one of the ugliest cities in the world. What's really criminal is that it does not have to be that way. It has so much potential, so much energy, so many rich and smart people. It's pathetic. All that creativity and no one smart enough to simply pick up the garbage. Cruising along I-5 gives one the impression that the city is just fine with that. There is an unbelievable amount of debris and detritus of daily life along the freeway and under passes. It's astonishing. You'd think with all of L.A.s' problems, someone would at least take out the trash. I know I sound a little like my grandmother here scolding my aunt for keeping an untidy home; dishes in the sink, garbage overflowing, bathrooms that would make a fraternity house look like a Level One clean room, etc. I think Antonio Villaraigosa should be ashamed of what he is presiding over. Hey Mayor Villaraigosa! Some advice: be the change you want to see in (your) world. You could start by doing a little roadside clean up.

Section 4: Carlsbad.
An oasis of pure California dreamin' bliss. Beaches. Sand. Surf. Clean taco stands with friendly gold-toothed cashiers. Even the bathrooms in these little dives are clean. It's Boca Raton with hills. Lots of neat little malls and shops for the well-heeled, botoxed and SUV-loving face painters tanned to perfection. We stayed at the sterile, but perfectly adequate, Grand Pacific Palisades Hotel and Resort. It was impeccably clean, but devoid of personality. I felt like I'd landed in a Logan's Run set piece.

California is a little like a middle aged man whose athletic glory days are fading fast. His middle is a real problem, but he's still got the shoulders and legs of his old form; his top and bottom show what he could be again. But, he needs to do some sit ups, lay off the carbs and get a plan for the next phase of his life. My advice if you are planning to drive the length of the Bear State: taake a nap once you hit Weed and stay asleep until you hit Miramar. You won't miss much.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

A.I.G. is At It (A) 'Gin. $100 Million in Bonuses! Please wake me when this is over.

My fellow suckers, er, I mean, Americans:

Wall Street does not need another bail out. It needs a massive rout out by the Orkin Man. Sadly, I am not sure if there is enough rat poison on the planet to get rid of the infestation of vermin that so determinedly resides there. Rats hate bright lights, so everyone grab a torch or flashlight. We can hunt them together.

Damnit.

The news a few hours ago is that A.I.G.'s government-appointed chairman, Mr. Edward Liddy (who can't seem to keep a lid-dy on the money pot) has been cowed by, and I am not making this up, a bunch of lawyers who have apparently told him that $100 million in bonuses must be paid to the very people who brought A.I.G., and part of our economy, to its very knees.

Here's the kicker.

Just a moment, though, it's more than a kicker, it's the umpteenth sucker punch.

Mr. Liddy tells us, woefully, that he must pay these bonuses in order to retain these people; people who might otherwise leave.

Memo to Mr. Liddy.

1. Planet Earth is calling. Wake the f*%$#k up!

2. Fire the lawyers. They, as usual, don't know J-A-C-K. Looks like they know Bill, though, as in Bill-by-the-hour (in six minute increments, of course).

3. Fire the people who got us in to this mess! Why, in the Lord's Holy Name, are these people still working at A.I.G.?

4. I want my country back. Please leave the keys under the mat.

We must get our heads screwed on correctly here, people. I wish no personal harm to the people at A.I.G. Many of them were likely following orders from some unknown lever puller who is likely enjoying Spring Break in Gstaad. Even so, they need to go take their talents elsewhere - and with haste.

I am sorry, but I simply don't believe that there are not enough brains in America to fix an insurance company. Hello! It's an insurance company! It's not a neuro surgery practice.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to calmly assemble along West Side Drive and proceed, heads down in shame, to the southern tip of Manhattan, for a sit in. We might as well get used to sleeping outside, no need to delay. Please bring your own torch.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Dear Children: Make No Mistake. Rush Limbaugh is a Crypto-Fascist

Kids,

This past week in American history, a failed ballroom dancer and college drop out has become the de facto dictator of the Party of Lincoln in our nation. He's the kind of person who has an answer for everything, but understands the meaning of little.

In time he is either going to become an American Dictator (in some ways he already is) or he's going to fade into obscurity. In the mean time, he is dangerous and I hope as you read this you will not be victimized by his ideas or his comrades who are quite literally in arms.

The fact is, he is on record for expressing a hope that our popularly elected president, Barak Obama, fails as president. I should note that your father generally votes "conservative." So, he is no Obama agenda accolyte. President Obama has been in office less than two months and already Mr. Limbaugh is praying that his administration finds no solution to our nations problems - which are extremely difficult at this time. Mr Limbaugh's speech is not just wrong. It is morally bankrupt or worse.

For example, here's what he said to Sean Hannity in a recent interview on CNN:

"I said earlier I don't know about this guy (Obama). I really don't. I've got my — I've got my suspicions, and they're pretty close to convictions, but we're going to have to wait to see what he does." But you aren't "waiting," are you? You are simply increasing your own ratings and, byt extension, lining your own pockets, by attacking a man you admit you don't even know.

Oh, and here's the kicker. You say that the American public
"think(s) he's an intellectual because of the way he speaks. And it's all about how he speaks. And I look at some of the facial expressions of people when they're watching the guy, and it's frightening."

Gosh, Rush, are you talking about President Obama or about yourself?

Mr. Limbaugh believes that "more government" involvement in our lives is the problem, not the solution, to society's many ills. On the surface that would seem correct and few people would disagree. But, what is "more government?" Or, "big government?"

When the citizenry is involved in government to the extent that they were in this last round of elections, then what's bad about that? The electorate has been stirred to act mostly in reaction to the failed policies of the former administration. Anyone who thinks that the last eight years were better than the previous sixteen, then please stand up -- and check yourself in to a mental clinic.

Change may not be pefect, but it's needed and more government is what's needed now, not less, as long as the people remain as actively involved. Besides, the tree of liberty must be pruned occasionally. That's pruned, not chopped. Mr. Limbaugh seeks to chop the tree down in order to save it.

Democratically-elected governments are comprised of people, not automatons. Government management of issues is messy sometimes. Businesses suffer the same failings. But, it's not because governments - or businesses -- are inherently bad. They fail because the people involved in them failied for one reason or another, sometimes through no fault of their own.

In our country, the people make the laws. In Rush Limabaugh's bizarro world, he makes the laws. He is the only decider of what's right or wrong or correct or incorrect. And only he dictates how the entire Republican Party will act. He has is so feared by the current elected Republican Party leadership that they cannot publicly counter his arguments without fear of reprisal. Indeed, they make public apologies whenever he feels they have wronged him which when you think about is as funny as it is pathetic. I mean, you have Ivy League-educated leaders kissing the ass of a man who could not finish one full year of secondary education. His intellectual curiousity could be measured within the length of the pages in Mein Kampf. I'd go on, but I don't want to stray too far from my point.

This week, the chairman of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, dared to suggest that Mr. Limbaugh was little more than an entertainer. For this, Mr. Steele was savagely attacked by Mr. Limbaugh on his nationally-syndicated radio program. Mr. Limbaugh has enough empathy to fill a sub atomic particle.

A side note: People who lack empathy are ultimately dangerous and you should resist their twisted logic always or our democracy is doomed. Mr. Limbaugh has achieved a special place in American society. He has chosen to use that high place as a pulpit to spout hatred, negativity and -- frankly -- stupidity. He is neither smart nor particularly talented. You must see him for what he is: a morally corrupt voice pretending to a throne of his design.

More technically, Mr. Limbaugh is a crypto-fascist, but that's a high-falutin term. He tries to obfuscate his true desires in language that makes most Americans feel comfortable. But, they should not be fooled. Rush is not interested in what's best for them, their fellow Americans -- or the world. He's interested in what's best for Rush. He's interested in his own power. And he has little fear in attacking savagely those who oppose him. Besides, what does he have to fear? When real leaders like Mr. Steele seek to bring him down to earth, he villifies them and uses hysterical rhetoric to rally his ill-informed legions.

Kids, I have practiced negative rhetoric on a small scale. It's distatesful and ultimately self-destructive. By the time you are old enough to understand this I hope that Rush is long-forgotten by the public. Having said that, I wish him personal comfort and peace. I also wish his followers the same. But, I also pray for their eventual salvation from his negativity, reclacitrance and poorly-considered brand of rhetoric. We need real leaders, not narcisssistic mouthpieces who would not know a days hard work if it hit them with a shovel.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Oh You Pretty Things

Dear Children,

I am sitting here this morning listening to the news tell me that unemployment has now hit a 34 year high (last week it was reported to be a 28 year high; we are heading in the wrong direction apparently).

So, as I sip ethiopian coffee on a danish table clacking this out on a chinese-made computer I am listening to a british singer belt out this tune. It seems to suit the mood of the morning.

Wake up you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
Ive made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay

What are we coming to
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we were here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay

Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the homo superior

Look at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Dont kid yourself they belong to you
Theyre the start of a coming race
The earth is a bitch
Weve finished our news
Homo sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though theyre here to stay

Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Dont you know youre driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the homo superior

So, children, as the day begins I flip to Eric Clapton's "Let it Grow." A happier note to leave you on and begin my work...

Im standin at the crossroads
Tryin to read the signs
To tell me which way I should
Go to find the answer
And all the time I know
Let your love and let it grow.

Let it grow, let it grow,
Let it blossom, let it flow.
In the sun and in the snow
Love is lovely, let it grow.

Lookin for a reason
To check out on my mind.
Its so hard to find a
Friend that I can count on.
Theres nothin left to show,
Plant your love and let it grow.

Let it grow...

Time is gettin shorter
And theres much for you to do,
Only askn you will get what you are needin,
The rest is up to you.
Plant your love and let it grow.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

D is for Dodd, Daschle, Dumb and Dumber

Dear Senator Dodd,

You were treated as a VIP by Countrywide when you were also charged with overseeing them. You should acknowledge that your behavior in securing a loan through them does not pass the smell test at the very least.

You claim your wife provided the loan documents? Please. When -- for God's sake -- are any of you so-called leaders going to simply say "I am sorry. I recognize that this could have been handled differently. I will seek to do better. Please forgive me."

Is that too much to ask?

The American public has proven over and over that it can be forgiving and patient. Why bury us in legal briefs and third-party verifications after the fact? Why not just pledge to act transparently from the beginning?

Perhaps you've been in the Senate too long.

As for you, Senator Daschle...

I applaud you for stepping aside and for recognizing, ultimately, that you made some poor decisions. Good for you.

Why you needed to go through the process of trying to move your appointment to HHS along as far as you did is troubling. You did not pay your taxes. There is no way that you could not have known, from my view, that using a car and driver as often as you did was not taxable. If that is your excuse, then you are naive at best.

Drive your own car from now on. Simple.

To all Members of Congress:

We the people want you to lead us and we want you to succeed. We want to celebrate your talents and your hard work to reach such a position of responsibility. We want you to protect us and serve the greater good. We want you to believe that by working with other smart people you can solve the problems of the world. We elected you to a place we hold dear under a flag that many before you have died for -- many under horrendous conditions. Each time you make decision that is designed at its base to enrich yourself or your friends over the needs and necessities of the greater good, you spit in the face of the dead who helped build our democracy.

So, ask yourself:

Am I in Congress to serve the people, or myself? Be honest. It's a simple question. If you can't answer this question correcly, then what are you doing there? It is unethical and immoral for you to run for public office if your driving motivation is to serve your own ego. Illinois' disgraced former governor, Mr. Blagojevich may not have done anything illegal, but he made clear in plain language that he held the democratic process in contempt.

Am I in Congress to be a participant in a great democracy or a player in a small autocracy?

If you achieve a leadership position among leaders in the Congress, will you use your power to help people or to punish those who do not believe in your ideology?

Am I in Congress to practice the art of compromise or are you there to defend the dogma of the day served up by talk radio critics far from the "sausage factory" every day?

Finally, your legacy will depend on the small actions and kindnesses you take each day, not by large leaps of legislative action. You are the sum of your decisions, not your individual decisions no matter what cynical media pundits might suggest.