permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Saor Stetler wrote:

>     Much Ado About Ethanol
>
> Last week, President Bush announced in his State of the Union address 
> that the United States is "addicted to oil." This realization comes not 
> a moment too soon, as a peak in global oil production may be on the 
> horizon, according to experts featured in this month's Peak Oil 
> <http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20060207/pubs/mag/2006/191/> issue of 
> World Watch magazine.
>
> Luckily, there are alternatives. Biofuels, particularly ethanol, may be 
> part of the answer. By fermenting plant material into ethanol, the U.S. 
> and other oil-guzzling nations could grow a much larger share of their 
> fuel domestically, offering them an opportunity to dramatically reduce 
> reliance on oil imports and mitigate the release of carbon into the 
> atmosphere. (See State of the World 2006, Chapter 4: Cultivating 
> Renewable Alternatives to Oil 
> <http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20060207/pubs/sow/2006/toc/4/>.) As 
> Worldwatch biofuels project manager Suzanne Hunt notes in a recent 
> Reuters article 
> <http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34844/story.htm>, 
> the biggest potential for large-scale production lies in cellulosic 
> ethanol technologies--ethanol made from agricultural, forestry, and 
> municipal wastes, not food crops.

Amen to this. I heard Bush speak about converting biomass into ethanol.

THINK OF THE REDUCTION IN POLLUTION TO BE HAD FROM ETHANOL BURNING VEHICLES
over conventional gasoline and diesel powered ones.

Tiny 2, 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles running on ethanol driven on safe roadways and paths encouraging more efficient travel 
strategies by consumers.

I thouight ethanol only came from grain whereas methanol comes from biomass or wood products. Methanol fumes, even in 
small quantities, especially in hot weather, are VERY toxic. Can someone post accurate info on this?

I haven't read all posts in this thread but I would submit that priorities 
should be established for
usage, i.e. recycling, of natural waste products destined for conversion to 
ethanol, methanol, methane or whatever else.

Municipal waste and livestock waste recycling should be addressed first and 
chains of recycling processes should be
prioritized.
1) municipal waste should be cleaned up at the source, i.e. no toxics into the toilet bowl (encouraging installation and 
use of composting toilets and constucted wetlands and reedbed biofiltration systems)
2) municipal waste should be predigested to get rid of pathogens and to extract methane to use as a fuel source to 
generate power to run plant facilities and equipment. The remaining solids, liquids and slurry should be directed to
farms growing various plant materials that can be used in many ways: lumber, flooring, fencing, etc. and as fertilizer 
and tilthing soil amendment for farms growing biomass crops to be harvested and processed into ethanol. All this can be 
done on one carefully-managed site.
3) livestock waste should be cleaned up at the source; no harmful or toxic 
substances added to feed stocks.
manures should be efficiently collected and predigested for extraction of 
methane for fuel and then distributed to farms
for use as fertilizer and tilthing soil amendment to grow food and fiber crops and possibly biomass crops for conversion 
to ethanol. Trucks running on ethanol or biodiesel could do the heavy haulage (36' dump trailers). Permaculture systems 
could be installed on every farm that would utilize plantings of biomass/ethanol crops to serve multiple purposes, 
wildife habitat and food, environmental buffer, edge zones, companion crops to host beneficial organisms for biocontrol 
strategies, erosion control and soil building. This would provide new and serious career opportunities for PC design
graduates looking for a good paying profession in the mainstream. Good opportunity for PC teachers and schools to gear 
up for a new class of permaculture professional.

LL