Brianwilson

Any chance of a link to that telegraph item as I cannot seem to find it

renewablejohn- Sorry I tried to check it out to see if could find link but failed even tried using Author name.
It is a careers in energy supplement today with half page article headed Banking on a natural solution. One concern for me is it details another project for large plant to burn waste wood when timber waste source is dramatically reducing and it will likely divert feedstock from recycling/re-use e.g. panel manufacturers.
Rgds
Brian

Yes young joiner I was surprised but interesting points raised. " 2025 by then, demand for wood chips in the UK alone could almost equal the present size of the global wood-fibre biomass trade says report from the Confederation of Forest Industries" Tim Forest of Eon and Steven's Croft states " Biomass is treated the same way as coal- the skills we have built up over the past 50-60 yrs can be transferred to biomass technology quite easily". Details need for graduates including commercial graduates to deal with challenge of ensuring reliable fuel supply. Hope this gives flavour of article, wil not comment on bingo wings or lady in question as I am deep enough in the smelly material already and recognise the more I learn the less I understand in gender politics.

Broken link...

How can a report from the biomass energy centre be called unbiased?

renewablejohn- Tony is still correct there is basis for doubt when the reports are selected by vested interests.
Other State sponsored reports tend to give a less rose tinted view. Having read the reports you recommend I note the general conclusion is that current biomass combustion systems need rapid upgrading in order to reduce health impact and any future proposals should be positioned to avoid local air quality degradation.
The reports appear to confirm the use of biomass combustion requires much greater diligence than currently applied.

renewablejohn- must confess previously read a number of the reports listed over recent years. I have tried to update myself regularly particularly since UK.Gov report on comparitive emissions of coal,oil.biomass and gas published Sep 2006.

And it all slips by the media!

http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/01/03/qantas-solena-group-to-partner-in-aviation-biofuels-effort/

Promising, Brian. One never knows, if they scale the plants up beyond what's needed by the airline industry (although that demand alone is eye-watering), we might get a situation similar to the one where technical advances in Formula One trickle down to the rest of the motoring industry; where one man's self-indulgence works to another man's advantage. Crumbs off the rich man's table, and all that.

And if anyone fancies having a go themselves...

http://www.making-biodiesel-books.com/algae-biodiesel.html

The cost of the book is about a tank full of diesel for a large family saloon.

And for the cost of a reasonable bottle of wine...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Do-yourself-Guide-Biodiesel-Alternative/dp/1569756244/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296292324&sr=8-1-fkmr0

(The customer review for that last book is worth a read. I am not a language snob and don't pick up on the spelling of others - and a typo giggle isn't a criticism ST - but whoever wrote that review has a serious problem if English is their first language. No wonder they had a problem understanding the text of the book!)

High tax rates on products/services can be used to smooth out inflationary variability (part of the reason that the German economy seems so stable to us, but they grumble too). But there will come a time when when lost revenue becomes a problem and money has to be raised in other areas, why the community charge was introduced (oddly enough it was similar to the TEQ concept, we all get access to the same services for the same price).
If you accept the concept of taxation (some communities don't) then the question is what is the best way to raise money, directly or indirectly, and then should there be special exemptions and should borrowing against future taxation revenue be allowed.
And what is the cost of a tank of petrol (or diesel), varies greatly.

Will this become reality ?


http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/31012011/36/19p-litre-petrol-development-0.html

And a good over view of the different types...

http://www.greencarsite.co.uk/CONCEPTCARS/honda-hydrogen-fcx-concept.htm

Verrry, interesting.

Posted By: DamonHDHydrogen is a poor (density W/kg and W/l, efficiency of manufacture, safety, difficulty of containment) *store*, not in most cases a *fuel*.

Should that not be either J/kg or Wh/kg as it is storage really, well on planet Earth.

ST: Wh/kg and Wh/l sorry, ie energy stored per unit weight or unit volume.

Rgds

Damon

Posted By: DamonHDHydrogen is a poor (density W/kg and W/l, efficiency of manufacture, safety, difficulty of containment) *store*, not in most cases a *fuel*.

Actually, that's not right. Hydrogen does indeed have a poor energy density (energy per unit volume) but it has the highest specific energy (energy per unit mass) of chemical fuels. It's contrary to intuition but you have to remember that hydrogen is very light! That's part of the reason that it's a very effective rocket fuel.

Sadly, it's energy density that matters for land transport.