Biofuel Powered Rocket Reaches Speed of Sound

Biofuels for airplanes are desperately needed. Every time an airplane flies carbon dioxide is emitted. According to Greenpeace UK, flying is ten times worse than traveling by train in terms of impact to the environment. A "significant proportion" of a plane's carbon dioxide emissions is at altitude, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Air Transport Bureau.

A biofueled rocket launched this summer in the Mohave Desert reached 20,000 feet and Mach 1, the speed of sound. The biofuel that powered the rocket is Jet Propellant-8 (JP-8), developed and produced by a team of scientists from the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC). The fuel was made from canola and soybean oils. The rocket was built by Flometrics, Inc. of San Diego, California.

"This is a unique opportunity for the EERC's renewable fuel," said EERC director Gerald Groenwold.

Carsten Heide, associate director of the EERC said, "We demonstrated that this fuel is a flying fuel, and is 100% renewable and burns clean. It would open up the possibility to run 100% renewable, clean planes."

"The demonstration worked very well, and were are pleased with the fuel. In fact, it performed better than expected," said Steve Harrington, President of Flometrics.

Polish Health Clinic Becomes Energy Efficient

A health clinic in Poland enacts energy efficiency measures.

Small Island Nations Want Deeper Emissions Reductions

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) criticized reductions set by G8 and Major Economies Forum (developing countries) in Italy as too weak to protect small island nations from effects of climate change.

G8 nations and Major Economies Forum agreed to a 16 percent reduction by 2020, and to cap temperatures at 3.6 degrees Fahreinheit (two degrees Celsius) above 18^th century levels.

AOSIS nations want a 45 reduction by 2020, an 85 percent reduction by 2050, and temperatures capped at 2.7 degrees Fahreinheit (1.5 degrees Celsius).

“Two degrees of temperature rise is still unacceptable, because it exceeds safe thresholds necessary for the protection and survival of small islands,” according to Dessima Williams, Grenada’s U.N. ambassador and head of AOSIS.

“Given the decades-long time lags between accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and changes in average temperatures, a mere temperature goal is insufficient,” Williams said. “Targets need to be specific, measurable, quantifiable and defined by reference to the 1990 baseline emissions agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol.”

“It is a cruel irony that without adequate global commitments, the countries contributing least to global warming will be the ones most affected by its consequences,” Williams added.

Last September the representatives of four Pacific island nations (Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau) called on developed countries to take specific action on climate change. Kiribati’s President Anote Tong said his country had to create a “long-term merit-based relocation strategy,” because there is the real the possibility that all 100,000 people in Kiribati might have to be relocated.

“This strategy involves the upskilling of our people to make them competitive and marketable at international labour markets,” Tong said.

President Litokwa Tomeing of the Marshall Islands, said, “ If wars have been waged to protect the rights of people to live in freedom, and to safeguard their security, why will they not be waged to protect our right to survive from the onslaught of climate change?”

President Emanuel Mori of Micronesia said, “Already, many islands have experienced inundations of their taro patches and other food crops by saltwater, resulting in decreasing production and crop destruction.”

Vice President Elias Camsek Chin of Palau characterized climate change as a security issue “which has gone unaddressed.” “In the meantime, we cannot wait,” Chin said.

UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon criticized the two-degree target as “not sufficient.” “Much more needs to be done if governments are to seal the deal on a new climate agreement in December in Copenhagen.”

“The countries represented at L'Aquila are responsible for more than 80 per cent of global emissions, and that is why they bear special responsibility for finding a solution to the political impasse,” Ban said. “If they fail to act this year, they will have squandered a unique historical opportunity that may not come again.”

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Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Decreased Last Year

When it comes to the environment, any good news is welcomed. Thankfully, there is a bit of good news these days when it comes to sulfur dioxide emissions (SOx). During the first half of 2008, SOx emissions from U.S. power plants dropped c24 percent, according to Genscape, who attributes the reduction to the electricity industry preparing for stricter regulations next year. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions decreased five percent in May and eleven percent in June, mainly because of the recession.

"The industry is clearly going through a dress rehearsal for the implementation of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) in 2010, and judging by allowance prices as well as the fundamental data, it is a stellar performance," Genscape said. “Most of the decline in sulfur emissions is not due to the recession or even to the switch from high-sulfur coal to lower sulfur grades and to gas. It makes sense to start cutting emissions early if the equipment is in place… The challenge for producers is to maintain discipline even as the economy recovers.”

Industrial emissions elevate levels of sulfur dioxide, which are then absorbed into plants and soils, captured below and within clouds, and then cause acid rain. According to Greg Lawrence, a water scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey, acid rain and climate change are “closely associated.” Lawrence believes acid rain need to be studied with climate change.

“Even low concentrations of sulfur dioxide can harm plants and trees and reduce crop productivity. Higher levels, and especially the acidic deposits from acid rain, will adversely affect both land and water ecosystems,” according to Australia’s National Pollutant Inventory.