permaculture

[Claude William Genest <genest@together.net>]

Anne Wrote:

> In terms of air polution, modern cars are actually not as responsible as
> many people think.  The main culprits are those horrible engines in lawn
> mowers, leaf blowers, etc. and diesle engines.

Wow ! Would you have any numbers/sources for this Anne please ?
> 
> Also, something I think will interest everybody... There is now a way to
> turn compost garbage (and most other types of garbage) into oil, gassoline
> and minerals.  Check out:  http://www.discover.com/may_03/featoil.html If 
> this
takes off, it seems that the fossil fuel shortage has reached an
> end...  As well as foreign fuel dependency and so many other problems.

Ahhhh. Good old technology. Always sounds so perfect when it first comes
out. I remember reading a quote from an anti-incinerator activist who said :
" If incineration is the answer, we're asking the wrong queston"...
What becomes of all those pulverized specks of toxins that are created in
the burning of waste ? I would have the same question for this new
technology ( as admittedly exciting as it sounds)....

But the larger question, regarding cars, IMHO, is that regardless of their
fuel input, one fact remains: there is today not a city on earth that
doesn't have crippling, paralysing traffic jams....And it's only getting
worse.
 Cars, whatever they run on, are a plague upon the human scale liveability
of a city. Worse, they plum don't work. Alternative fuels deal with the
symptom, not the problem.

p.s. just read that Montreal will be the first city in North America to use
biodiesel to run a portion of its bus fleet...


Claude