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<title>Haaze.com / Deborah659 / All</title>
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<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:11:08 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Study: 'Jet-fuel' crop success hinges on sites, seeds]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-jet-fuel-crop-success-hinges-on-sites-seeds</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-jet-fuel-crop-success-hinges-on-sites-seeds</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:11:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Deborah659</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-jet-fuel-crop-success-hinges-on-sites-seeds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Robert Bailis(Credit:Yale University)Boeing's two-year study of jatropha-curcas agriculture in Brazil has found that location choice and strong seeds are the key to maximizing the crop's benefits, the company said today.The jatropha-curcas plant has been under close scrutiny in recent years by scientists and companies because its olives yield an oil that can be made into an alternative jet fuel. The weedy plant can grow in adverse soil conditions. And in addition to yielding oil, it provides, like most plants, the secondary benefit of removing carbon from the atmosphere. Many have been trying to compare the carbon footprint of producing petroleum-based jet fuel vs. producing jatropha-based jet fuel, which includes both the farming and processing.Robert Bailis, an assistant professor, and Jennifer Baka, a doctoral student, of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies led the research. They concentrated on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that were reduced in a given area as a result of jatropha farming and fuel production. The also looked at the socioeconomic impact of producing the crop and its fuel. Jennifer Baka(Credit:Yale University)Theirs was a real-world study that collected data from jatropha farms and processing plants in Brazil, and included interviews with the farmers and processors. The farms ranged in size from 10 hectares to thousands of hectares.&quot;This analysis presents a comparison of life-cycle [greenhouse gas] emissions from synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) produced as jet fuel substitute from jatropha curcas feedstock cultivated in Brazil against a reference scenario of conventional jet fuel,&quot; the report stated.Bailis and Baka found that the type of land on which the jatropha plant grew had a direct correlation to its carbon footprint in comparison with petroleum-based jet fuel.When planted on lands that were already fallow or degraded by use, the jatropha crop reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 60 percent of the area's baseline levels when compared against production of petroleum-based jet fuel. However, in woodland areas that had been home to trees and shrubs and were cleared for the sole purpose of cultivating and processing jatropha, the emissions ratio actually increased.Bailis and Baka also found that some farmers struggled due to poor resources.&quot;A second important finding is that early jatropha projects suffered from a lack of developed seed strains, which led to poor crop yields,&quot; the report said.The results pointing to the importance of careful choice of land and seed may seem obvious. But this is one of the first studies conducted in Latin America that uses hard data and interviews, as opposed to estimates and computer modeling, and applies it to the sustainability criteria developed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, according to Boeing.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Ocean Power Tech readies energy-harvesting buoy]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ocean-power-tech-readies-energy-harvesting-buoy</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ocean-power-tech-readies-energy-harvesting-buoy</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Feb 2011 08:10:56 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Deborah659</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ocean-power-tech-readies-energy-harvesting-buoy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ocean Power Technologies&amp;39' new energy-harvesting buoy. Once in the water, it will be in a vertical position with the foundation on left at the bottom. Note the man with yellow jacket standing at right for scale.(Credit:Ocean Power Technologies)Ocean Power Technologies today said it has completed construction of a &quot;workhorse&quot; buoy designed to generate electricity from wave motion for utility-scale projects.The company's PB150 PowerBuoy is about 150 feet from top to bottom, although most of the structure is underwater. It can generate a peak of 150 kilowatts of power and feed the grid in waves between 4.9 feet and 22.9 feet.The plan is to deploy the PB150 later this year about 33 miles off the coast of Scotland, where the device was manufactured and has been tested in the European Marine Energy Research Center.The same buoy is planned for a 1.5 megawatt wave energy farm off the coast of Oregon as well. Ocean Power Technologies expects the buoys, which are moored to the ocean floor and connected to land by a cable, to be in arrays of two or three to minimize the footprint.Ocean power dips its toes in water (photos) Siting renewable energy products in the ocean is one of the most difficult challenges facing wave and tidal power because the environmental impacts on local ecosystems are not fully understood.Compared to other devices such as underwater turbines, Ocean Power Technologies says that the buoy design has a small environmental footprint.The U.S. Navy has been testing a smaller version of the PowerBuoy in Oahu, Hawaii which is connected to the grid. The company said that an environmental assessment since December 2009 found no significant impact.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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