permaculture

[lbsaltzman@aol.com]

A well reasoned response!? Ethanol and biodiesel looks great until you 
calculate the long term cost.? I will grateful if we can locally produce 
enough biofuels to keep buses, and emergency vehicles running in the 
community where I live. That is where the focus should be - local and small 
scale. Every community should look at their local needs and prioritize.? 
Small scale biofuel production?may be possible for critical needs. Perhaps it 
can be done sustainably community by community. But it has to part of an 
integrated response to living sustainably on the land, not in the vain hope 
we can keep up our profligate ways with no penalty.? When it comes down to 
food or motoring at the local level, I hope we will begin thinking sanely.


-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Pittman <scott@permaculture.org>
To: 'permaculture' <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:59 am
Subject: Re: [permaculture] what about lubrication?



Before one accepts such hyperbole it is an easy matter to check out the
source and other sources.  

Blumes book has considerable hyperbole, and the statement that "Brazil
imports no oil what-so-ever" is another example of that tendency.

Brazil's imports of crude oil in 2008 averages 169,000 barrels per day, and
petroleum is 225,000 barrels per day according to the Energy Information
Administration a U.S. government tracking office.  While that is a
considerable reduction from the past it certainly isn't importing "no oil
what-so-ever". That's not to say that they don't use more oil than that but
the rest is from their off shore oil fields.

The cost to the ecology of Brazil is enormous as they slash and burn primary
rain forest to grow more ethanol.  Brazil now is the worlds largest exporter
of ethanol putting even more pressure on their forests.  Ethanol does not
seem to curb rapacious greed.

Nothing comes without cost and it is wistful thinking to presume that
ethanol is the magic bullet that lets us go our merry, two car family, way.
We are destroying the planet with our profligate use of oil products and we
will continue to do so with ethanol anyone who says otherwise is delusional.


Scott Pittman
Director
Permaculture Institute
www.permaculture.org

trevor william johnson wrote:
> i just saw david bloom speak on a youtube video and he said that  
> brazil imports no oil what so ever.  what about lubrication oil for  
> the engine?  how can we make this out of renewable resources?
> 

    There are a lot of synthetic oils on the market today, and, in fact,
if you love your engine, you should be using them rather than petro oils
as they are much superior, reducing friction and heat. That's not to say
they are made from all renewable sources, but it's a start.
    Also, biodiesel works great for two-stroke lubrication -- the gas
mix in chainsaws, etc. Canola oil works great for the bar/chain lube in
chainsaws, except when it gets too cold.




-- 
Harmon Seaver
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