NotPetroleum Blog

Present Day Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Tonight, I watched the Imax movie, Arabia, at the Fernbank Museum and enjoyed the history lesson in the Two Golden Ages of Arabia.  The first was led by the Nabataean culture and the natural resource that created their empire was frankincense and other spices.  The Roman Empire’s polytheistic worship drove the insatiable demand for the exotic spice trade dominated by the Nabataeans.

The second golden age was led by King Abdul Aziz who conquered vast land masses in the Arabian Peninsula and formed the nation of Saudi Arabia.  The natural resource that created their empire was oil and the Western World’s thirst to drive the machines of the 20th Century.  Saudi Arabia’s domination is now shared with Arab nations that have this natural resource in common, including Iran and Iraq.  Every year, the US transfers hundreds of billions of dollars of GDP to the Arab Peninsula to fund our addiction to petroleum.

The last segment described how Arab nations are using this vast wealth from oil as the catalyst for the third golden age of Arabia.

The next golden age needs to be led by the West and the natural resource should be clean energy.  The United States and other countries that support freedom for their people need to lead the charge toward clean sources of energy.  It is time for us to wean ourselves from our addiction to petroleum and create innovative alternatives to fossil fuels.

Roll up your sleeves and let’s get started.

An open letter to Erich Marx, Director of Marketing and Media for Nissan Motors

Dear Mr. Marx,

I would like to offer a suggestion for a new marketing program to help promote the upcoming Nissan Leaf electric vehicle this winter.  For each Nissan Leaf sold, offer to donate a percentage of the purchase price to the Gulf Oil Spill relief effort.  Give the purchaser the choice of either directing the donation to the cleanup effort or to the relief effort for the many people affected by this environmental catastrophe.  This program will not just promote a great new vehicle, it will give Leaf owners the opportunity to help those affected by our addiction to petroleum.

Just as we have done in catastrophes such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake, Americans want to help.  It’s called the “American Spirit.”  One of the best things we can do to help prevent future problems like this is to help Americans take steps toward freedom from an addiction to petroleum.  Buying a Nissan Leaf and demanding that local and state governments provide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is an important step forward.

I hope you will take my suggestions to heart and offer this program when you launch the Nissan Leaf this year.

Best Wishes,

Powell
NotPetroleum.com

Seagull Coated in Gulf Oil - Louisiana

As the toxic slur of oil and dispersants drift ashore across the American Gulf Coast, I wonder if this will be enough to make us change our ways?  Over the past hundred years, we’ve accomplished a lot.  We made the internal combustion engine the mainstream choice for transportation.  We’ve built roads and super-highways that link every state together in the United States.  We have a fueling infrastructure that has very few areas where you don’t have at least three or four choices of fuel stations.  We’ve developed advanced fertilizers and pesticides from petroleum that allows us to feed hundreds of millions of people.  We synthesize oil into olefins for making advanced polymers and plastics that allow us to carry disposable plastic water bottles wherever we go.

However, our voracious appetite for oil is polluting our environment and putting billions of dollars into the pockets of nations that undermine freedom, fund terrorism and have been linked to planting IEDs that kill our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Is it all worth it?

How many wars and Gulf oil spills will it take before we realize that we need to demand better alternatives?  Henry Ford mass-produced the first automobiles without any roads or fuel stations across the nation.  Americans fell in love with the automobile, purchased them and demanded roads and fuel stations.  We can do this again and it will be alot easier.

The Nissan Leaf electric vehicle will begin shipping in December of 2010.  They can be driven on the same roads and highways.  Electricity is available along every major road and highway in our nation.  If you believe we are a nation that can innovate and make the world a better place, trade in one of your cars for a Nissan Leaf and demand charging stations throughout your city or town.  Our grandparents did it and now it’s our turn.

One of my Biodiesel Jetta TDI's

This title is a little misleading if you have read my post on “Using Biodiesel in your Vehicle.”  In reality, I’m going to provide information on how you can prepare your VW TDI to run on biodiesel.

In general, there are two issues to overcome when running a vehicle on biodiesel:

1. Biodiesel degrades some soft fuel lines that are not rated for alcohol-type fuels like ethanol, methanol and biodiesel.  Any soft lines that are not compatible should be replaced to prevent premature degradation and fuel leaks.
2. Older diesel vehicles develop sludge and residue in the fuel tank from diesel fuel.  Biodiesel is a solvent and will dissolve the sludge sending it through the fuel system over a short period of time.  This will clog fuel filters rapidly until all of the sludge is dissolved and passes through the fuel system.

I have two ’99 VW Jetta Mk IV TDI cars.  Both of them have the VW 1.9 liter ALH A4 turbodiesel engine.  This engine was delivered in the Volkswagen Jetta and Golf from the second half of 1999 to the end of 2003.  It was also delivered in the New Beetle from 1998 to 2003.  This article describes how to resolve the two issues above specific to the MkIV ALH A4 diesel engine.

Replacing the non-compatible fuel lines.

On the Mk IV engine, the only fuel hoses that are not compatible with biodiesel are the fuel return lines that are located between the injectors and the return line on the injection pump.  They must be replaced with viton, fluoro-elastomer or fluoro-elastomer-lined hose.  The easiest way to do this is to buy a viton return hose kit for the VW TDI MkIV from Grease works in Corvallis, Oregon.  The full kit costs less than $20 and is easy to install.  The second option is to buy bulk hose in the correct size from an industrial supply company and make the kit yourself.  In addition to cutting the hose to fit, you will need to have a crimping tool and the correct size hose plug for the terminator on the last injector.  The correct hose size is 3mm ID in “soft” consistency.  The firm or hard consistency doesn’t allow for easy bending between injectors.

Cleaning out the fuel tank

Years of diesel fuel in a tank will cause sludge to form on the inside of the tank.  Biodiesel is alcohol-based and serves as a solvent when introduced into the fuel tank.  The sludge is dissolved into the fuel and enters the fuel lines and fuel filter.  For an older vehicle, this may clog the fuel filter very quickly.  Here are my recommendations on slowly cleaning the fuel tank.

1. Do not use 100% biodiesel until your tank is clean.  (B100)  By using B20, you will slowly dissolve the diesel sludge without quickly clogging the filter.
2. Use B20 for the first five tanks of fuel and then change your fuel filter.  After this, you should be able to run B100 but keep a spare fuel filter with you.
3. When your car starts to lack power, it’s time to change the fuel filter again.  After this second change, you should be able to go back to regular fuel filter changes.

Biodiesel in blends greater than 50% work very well in the summer in Georgia.  Once the temperatures drop below 40 degrees, I recommend switching to B30 or less.  Biodiesel will begin to gel at temperatures under 40 degrees.  Gelled biodiesel will quickly clog your fuel filter and cause a very large mess.  By following the recommendations above, you should find running biodiesel a pleasant experience.  It sure smells a lot better than diesel and will make you feel better about your carbon footprint.

My 1970 Mercedes 220D Veggie Car

As part of my “no nonsense” series on bio and alternative fuels, I covered biodiesel and straight vegetable oil (SVO) and waste vegetable oil (WVO) diesel conversions.  Since I believe in experimenting first-hand with topics I discuss, a few years ago, I worked with a local company to convert a restored 1970 Mercedes 220D to run on vegetable oil.  I have had one other veggie car before “Helga” the Mercedes and you can read about the “Veggie Ranger” conversion on Greasology.com.

Restored Vintage Mercedes 220D Diesel

Why did I pick an old Mercedes?

Even though the first diesel engines built by Rudolf Diesel in the late 1800′s ran on plant oils, modern diesel engines are far removed from those first engines.  They use direct injection with high pressure common rail fuel systems with computerized injection and timing.  They use sensors everywhere that expect a fuel that has the same viscosity and cetane rating as diesel fuel.  They are also not very tolerant to water in the fuel

Helga the Veggie Mercedes interior

The 2.2 liter, indirect-injected, mechanical diesel in the Mercedes 220D is much closer to the first diesel engines and is a much more forgiving and tolerant engine for burning alternative fuels.  There are no computers or sensors.  Combustion occurs in a “pre-combustion” chamber off the side of the main cylinder (there are four of them).  This helps prevent carbonization of the piston rings in the cylinders since unspent fuel is carbonized in the pre-combustion chamber instead of in the cylinder.  This is very important for diesel engines that are run on vegetable oil.  It is common for veggie fuel to enter the combustion chamber at lower than optimal temperature which causes the fuel to be sprayed in a less than optimal pattern.  This causes some of the fuel to carbonize on the walls of the combustion chamber.  In modern diesel engines, fuel is injected directly into the cylinder.  Therefore, the carbonization occurs on the head of the piston and eventually on the walls of the cylinders.  This causes carbonization on the piston rings which eventually fouls them causing breakage and a dead engine.

Helga's Converted Engine Bay

There are some sophisticated and well-designed vegetable oil conversions such as the Frybrid and Vegistroke conversions that are designed to perform on modern, direct injection diesel engines but still require a very careful fuel preparation system.  This is a highly debated topic in the Grease Community but my recommendation would be to go with an older indirect injection diesel engine if you want to experiment with veggie fuel.

Helga's Veggie Fuel Tank

How Does the Conversion Work?

Helga has a coolant-heated, two tank system with a looped return.  There are two parallel fuel systems that connect before the injection pump on the supply side and after the injection pump on the return side.  It was designed by Rob del Bueno of Vegenergy Fuel Systems and installed by Dezso Gavaller.  Rob is an experienced resource in the biofuel industry and is the star of the VegMyRide Instructional DVD on converting a diesel vehicle to vegetable oil.  You can order the video direct from Rob if you want a copy (link coming soon).  It includes all of the conversion fuel diagrams including the system installed in Helga.  Here is a brief description of the system:

1. A custom-welded tank with an integrated heat exchanger.  Coolant from the engine is looped through the heat exchanger welded into the tank to heat the vegetable oil.
2. Hose on hose (HOH) fuel lines from the fuel tank to the heated fuel filter. The coolant lines that take engine coolant to and from the engine are wrapped together with the vegetable oil fuel line as it runs from the tank to the fuel filter.  This keeps the fuel heated from the tank to the fuel filter
3. Coolant-heated fuel filter on the vegetable oil side of the fuel system. The head of the filter is a coolant-based heat exchanger that also uses waste heat from the engine to heat the oil coming from the fuel tank.
4. Arctic fox inline coolant-based heat exchanger. This is the last point of heating the fuel before it flows through the valve and into the injection pump.  Coolant that leaves the engine is at its hottest point so it flows first through the arctic fox, then through the fuel filter and then onto the fuel tank through the HOH lines to the tank.
5. Switching valves. One switches the fuel source from diesel to vegetable oil.  The second valve switches between returning diesel to the diesel tank and looping the return back into the fuel supply line.  The loop is used when the system is running on vegetable oil and during the diesel purge process.

How do I Operate the System?

When you first start the engine, the fuel system should be set to diesel and return. (there are two switches)  the engine is cranked and warmed up on diesel fuel.  Once the engine reaches operating temperature, both switches are flipped to the right simultaneously switching the fuel system to veggie and the return to a looped return.  You can now drive on veggie until you’re approaching your destination or you start to run out of vegetable oil.  When you are a few minutes from your destination, you need to begin the diesel purge process.  Flip the fuel selection switch back to diesel but leave the return switch on looped return.  Diesel enters the fuel system and return loop diluting the vegetable oil until it is almost completely diesel fuel.  This is usually about 1-2 minutes in Helga when driving on the highway at 65mph.  Once the system is purged, the return switch is flipped back to diesel return.

Helga's Veggie System Control - diesel/veg on left, return on the right

Pro’s and Con’s?

My overall experience with this car was positive.  However, I was very meticulous in doing research on the right vehicle, picking a well-designed conversion and performing proper filtration and dewatering of the fuel.

Pro’s

• Once I had the operating procedure down, the system was easy to operate.
• I used approximately 90% vegetable oil fuel on my 80 mile daily commute to and from work.
• I didn’t have any vegetable-oil related problems with the vehicle or fuel system during the year and a half that I used Helga as a daily commuter
• I only replaced the veggie filter one time during the time I owned her.
• The exhaust smells like french fries.
• There is no particulate in the exhaust so it doesn’t bother folks with breathing issues like asthma.

Con’s

• The conversion cost around $1700 installed.
• Fuel acquisition from restaurants is competitive, time consuming and messy
• Fuel preparation is messy and time consuming
• Most diesel mechanics won’t work on your veggie car or truck

Overall, I enjoyed running my two veggie vehicles and didn’t have any issues with the conversions or driveability.  However, they were well-designed and I took the proper precautions and procedures when preparing the vegetable oil for use.  I also perform most of my own vehicle maintenance and would consider myself an advanced “shade tree” mechanic.  I would not recommend veggie cars to someone that is not mechanically-inclined unless you find an installer that will provide all of your vehicle maintenance for you.

For more information on using vegetable oil as a diesel fuel, see the following “NotPetroleum-approved” internet sources:

Greasology.org

InfoPop SVO forum

Frybrid Forum

Vegistroke site

Biodiesel is a Clean Alternative to Petroleum

Any diesel engine can run on biodiesel.  Is that a true statement?  Are there any issues to deal with or do you just dump the “biodiesel” into the engine?  What is biodiesel anyway?

There are lots of questions that should be answered when you begin to peel back the onion on running your vehicle on biodiesel.  This article will attempt to demystify biodiesel and answer some of those questions.  This is part of our “no nonsense” series on biofuels as a partial solution to wean us off of petroleum.

What is Biodiesel?

Biodiesel is a fuel made from renewable plant oils and animal fats.  It differs from plant oils and animal fats in that it must first be reacted with an alcohol and catalyst before it becomes fuel.  After the reaction, the biodiesel must be separated from the non-reacted oil/fats, leftover catalyst and glycerine by-product.  The resulting fuel must also be washed and dried to remove any impurities before the fuel is ready to run in a diesel engine.

If you use biodiesel in its purest form in an engine, this is known as B100 or 100% biodiesel.  When the pure biodiesel is blended with regular diesel in different proportions, it is still considered to be “biodiesel.”  It has different designations depending on the percentage of biodiesel that is mixed with the regular diesel fuel.  The most common commercial blend of biodiesel consists of 20 percent pure biodiesel and 80 percent regular diesel.  This is known as “B20.”  Some vehicles are only warranted to run on B5 or 5% pure biodiesel.  This is such a low percentage of biodiesel, most consider this to be regular diesel fuel with an additive.  It is similar to gasoline that uses a 5% ethanol additive.  (oil companies used the toxin MTBE until they realized how bad it is and switched to ethanol)

The American Society for Testing and Materials created a standard testing procedure for biodiesel known as ASTM D6751.  Biodiesel for commercial sale must be tested to make sure it meets this standard before it is approved for sale as a fuel.  For more information on the process of making biodiesel, see these NotPetroleum-approved links for information and technical discussion:

Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial

InfoPop Biodiesel Discussion Forum

What is NOT Biodiesel?

Biodiesel is NOT waste vegetable oil, plant oil or animal fats.  Those are all feedstocks that are used for making biodiesel.

Biodiesel is NOT vegetable oil mixed with diesel.  Some people use this as a fuel in diesel engines but it is not biodiesel.  This can work as a fuel since it cuts down the viscosity or “thickness” of the vegetable oil so that it will run in a diesel engine.  This is not recommended as a fuel for modern diesel engines.  It can work in some engines but requires an in-depth knowledge of the internal components of different types of diesel engines and some understanding of thermodynamics.  If you are not a tinkerer and are not technical, don’t try this.

One of my Biodiesel Jetta TDI's

Does Biodiesel “just work” with a diesel engine?

Yes and No.  You can dump biodiesel in a diesel engine and it will burn as fuel.  However, since biodiesel is an alcohol, it will eventually degrade seals and hoses that are not rated for alcohol.  The most common material for making alcohol-resistant seals and hoses is called a “fluoro-elastomer.”  The most common version of this is called Viton and is made by Dupont.

If you are running B20 biodiesel in a modern diesel vehicle, the dilution factor will help prevent this degradation.  Also, most modern diesel engines use viton seals and hoses with viton lining.  If you would like to use pure biodiesel (B100) in a vehicle, make sure your seals and hoses are viton or have been replaced with fluoro-elastomer materials.  Most auto parts stores carry “high pressure fuel hose” which normally has a fluoro-elastomer lining and comes in several sizes.  To be certain, make sure the host is marked with the following designation: “SAE30R9.”  Hose with this marking has the viton lining.

Most vehicles are warranted for only B5 and some for B20.  If you run less diluted versions of biodiesel you will void the warranty.  Make sure you take this into consideration before running more than the recommended blend of biodiesel in your vehicle that is still under factory warranty.  One last word to the wise: remember that viton is “alcohol resistant” and not “alcohol proof.”  If you run B100 on a regular basis, you will eventually have to replace the viton seals and hoses.  However, the life is probably closer to the regular replacement cycle on hoses that are used with regular diesel fuel.

Do I need to “convert” my car to run on biodiesel?

The only conversion necessary is to make sure that your hoses and seals are made from an alcohol-resistant material like Viton.  (see information in the section above)

"Clifford" my biodiesel Dodge Cummins 12 valve

How do I make Biodiesel?

Biodiesel does not require a special facility or laboratory to produce the reaction.  However, it can be dangerous and could cause bodily injury or death.  I would NOT recommend doing this in your garage or at home.  There are good instructions on the internet on how to make biodiesel yourself and some commercial devices to make the process less cumbersome if you have a safe place to make it and have knowledge of Chemistry.  Proceed at your own risk!

Where do I buy Biodiesel?

The best way to find commercial biodiesel retailers in the United States is to use the biodiesel finder site at the National Biodiesel Board.  If you are located in other regions, I would recommend googling “biodiesel” and your location to do some research on where to buy commercial biodiesel.  Make sure you are buying from a licensed facility.  If not, make sure the fuel is tested and certified ASTM D6751 to prevent damage to your vehicle from dirty, un-reacted fuel or worse.

Can I run my car on vegetable oil?

You can run a diesel vehicle on vegetable oil.  However, it is much more difficult than using biodiesel.  I used to teach a class to elementary and middle school children on running cars on vegetable oil.  The easiest way to explain it to them was to tell them there are three basic steps to making waste vegetable oil work as a diesel fuel: “Get it CLEAN, Get it DRY and Get it HOT”

One of my Experimental Veggie Vehicles

There is much debate around what is required to make a diesel engine run on vegetable oil and which types of engines will work.  Here are some NotPetroleum-approved links to find out more information on how to make this work.

Greasology WVO Tutorial

InfoPop SVO Discussion Board

What do I have to do to make waste vegetable oil work as a fuel?

Get is CLEAN, Get it DRY and Get it HOT.  Choose an older diesel Mercedes built before 1986 if you want to experiment. However, make sure you like to tinker with car maintenance yourself since these cars are old and require a lot of regular maintenance.  After all, they are at least 25 years old and are often neglected.

VeggieRanger Teaching a Class on Veggie Fuel

Do NOT buy a new $50k diesel truck and hand it over to a hippie to convert it to vegetable oil.  There are sophisticated vegetable oil conversion kits that will work with new trucks if they are installed by a professional.  If you want to go this route, google “Frybrid” and “Vegistroke.”  These systems do work but only if you are experienced at preparing the oil as a fuel.

I hope this has given you enough information to better understand biodiesel and how you can use it as an alternative to petroleum.  Biodiesel isn’t the only solution for getting us off of our addiction to petroleum but it certainly can be a part of the solution and/or serve as a bridge to future technologies that are NotPetroleum!

Electric Light Rail System in Salt Lake City, Utah

While visiting Salt Lake City this week, I rode one of UTA Trax’s electric light rail cars.  I didn’t have a place to go or somewhere I had to be at the time.  I just wanted to go for a ride because an electric streetcar is fun to ride for a clean energy enthusiast. We don’t have streetcars in Atlanta anymore so this was my opportunity to experience what was a part of everyday life for city dwellers in the early 1900′s.  I couldn’t wait to buy my ticket and go for a ride!

Light rail is thought of as a utilitarian form of public transportation.  However, our grandparents used it both as a way to get from point A to B and as a form of entertainment.  In the late eighteen hundreds and the early nineteen hundreds, street cars and light rail were commonplace in most metropolitan areas.  My wife’s grandparents remember riding the street car on Peachtree Street in Atlanta in their Sunday best after church.  They didn’t have a destination.  The streetcar was the destination and the entertainment.  There was a slower pace of life that allowed people to often enjoy the trip more than where they were going.

Street Cars Stacked in a Junkyard, 1956

So what happened to this form of entertainment?  Some will tell you that mass production of the automobile in 1908 was the catalyst that doomed the electrified streetcar to the scrapyard.  Others will speak of the National City Lines conspiracy where companies representing autos, tires and the oil industry formed a company that pressured city governments to pave over rails and send the streetcars to the junkyard to make way for internal combustion engine-powered buses that needed tires and petroleum to run.  Internal Combustion by Edwin Black has detailed research on this theory.  I hoped that my experience on this electric rail car would help me form an opinion after reading studies on most of these theories.

I purchased my full fare ticket and waited for the next rail car to arrive at the station.  When the cars pulled up, I pushed a button, the doors opened and I climbed up for a ride.  The first thing I noticed when sitting down was the familiar surroundings from riding city buses and subway trains growing up.  After sitting down and looking around, I could have easily been on a diesel bus.  The sounds were familiar.  Beeping from the warning system that the doors will be closing and the rushing sound of air from the climate control system was very familiar.  As we pulled away from the station, the only missing sound was the roar of a diesel bus engine.

Here’s what I noted from my short excursion:

Riding streetcars isn’t much different from riding a subway. They have a set path and don’t deviate from it.  Buses have set routes but they can be easily changed by providing new directions to a bus driver.  Light rail requires laying new tracks and integrating it into existing tracks before the route can be changed.

There were still lots of cars on the road.  It was obvious that having a streetcar in Salt Lake City didn’t cause most drivers to get rid of their cars and ride public transportation.  The street car I was riding on was half full but there were lots more cars driving all around us.  It is clear to me that there are two requirements for the adoption of clean public transportation: building the light rail system and convincing people to use it.

A great way to see the sites. I picked a route that took me straight through the city by the convention center, temple square and the stadium.  I could have easily stepped off of the train, visited the sites and stepped back on the next street car.  However, I was there for the ride and could see the Mormon temple from the outside and the rest of the sites with ease.

My overall impression of the electric streetcar was that it is a functional and clean form of transportation that should be pursued by most cities.  While current sources of electric power are not clean, building electric transportation systems and vehicles will help us prepare for more cleaner sources of electric power that will replace coal as the grid is updated over time.

Modern Light Rail Cars in France

Currently, electric light rail is very common in Europe and more than fifty US cities have deployed electric light rail with many cities in the process of planning electric light rail systems, including Atlanta, the home of NotPetroleum blog.

My hope is that we’ll see a revitalization in urban areas in the US with electric light rail and street cars for public transportation.  Not only will it reduce our consumption of petroleum but it will help us to reconnect with our neighbors and fellow citizens.  Driving carpool in a minivan is a very isolating experience.  You can ask any Mom or Dad who has this daily duty.  Imagine jumping on an electric tram with other neighbors and heading to the grocery store, dry cleaners or even school?

As I ride down Main street Salt Lake City, I realize that light rail is a part of the solution for our clean energy future.  There will need to be many innovations and solutions to help foster adoption of clean transportation but electric light rail should surely play a role in weaning us from our addiction to petroleum.

Bloom Energy and the Electric Car

Bloom Energy, after operating in secrecy for more than eight years, has now unveiled a fuel cell that could change the way we think of energy and the grid.  Bloom introduced a potentially game-changing product that could provide us with a local, on-demand power source with the potential to help us power new devices that will wean us from dependence on petroleum.  Today, mass adoption of electric vehicles is a threat to the stability of our centralized power grid.  Local power generation solutions will help reduce the load on the grid as we shift to alternative sources of power and mobility.

At the heart of the Bloom Energy Server is a solid oxide fuel cell with some proprietary innovations that allow it to enter the market as a solution that rivals efficiency and price of any existing fuel cell.

Exotic Metal Catalyst?

One of the limitations of most fuel cells is they require the use of exotic metals such as platinum and palladium for the anode and cathode.  Solid oxide fuel cells are able to use more traditional alloys for catalysts since the electrolyte is a dry, ceramic material.  In the case of the Bloom Energy Server, the cells use a “sand-like” substance for the electrolyte wafer.  The anode and cathode consist of proprietary “inks” that are applied to the electrolyte and stacked together to build the cell.

Ceramic electrolyte with anode and cathode "inks"

Fuel Source?

Fuel cells in the Bloom Energy Server can use several different types of fuel sources including renewable or fossil-based gases.  In the current Energy Servers, there are installations that operate both on natural gas and reclaimed bio-gas.  According to Sridhar in a 60 Minutes interview, the fuel cells can even be powered by solar.  We believe that he is referring to the Energy Servers’ ability to reverse the reaction and create oxygen and fuel from an energy source.  If this is the case, the energy source could be from solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, biodiesel generators or conventional grid electricity.

Distributed Grid Security vs. the Centralized Grid

One of the features of the Bloom Energy Server is its ability to generate electricity at the point of consumption.  With the traditional electricity grid, power is generated at a central plant and then distributed to the point of consumption using transmission lines.  In route to the point of consumption these lines can lose as much as 80% of the generated electricity.  The Bloom Energy Server is located at or near the point of consumption and converts the fuel into electricity without requiring any loss of efficiency through transmitting the power over long distances.  By using this model of power generation, the Energy Server will always be more efficient at generating electricity than the current national grid.

With mainstream electric vehicles hitting the market by 2011, the Bloom Energy Servers are a timely innovation.  My hope is that residential versions of these fuel cells will arrive before Bloom’s projected date of 2015 (at the earliest)

When thinking of ways to help kick our petroleum addiction, it’s hard not to be thinking of the Middle East and their grip on the World’s energy supply.  Sheiks pump oil, we pay for it,  sheiks get rich and powerful.  Some sheiks use the funds to bolster Taliban-ese societies that oppress their people and help spew anti-American rhetoric throughout the world.  Some of our dollars make it back to terrorists that kill our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Some of our gas dollars probably funded the flight training and logistics terrorists used to kill thousands of civilians at the WTC in 2001.

While reducing our dependence on foreign oil is by far the most effective method of diffusing this vicious cycle, I can’t help but ponder how the current wave of democratization of the Middle East will affect this?  Thomas Friedman posted a very informative opinion article on the NY Times Wednesday that describes a wave of change happening throughout the Middle East.  If anyone has their pulse on the Middle East, it is Friedman.  From his firsthand knowledge of the political environment (through living and reporting there  for years as a journalist and correspondent)  and through his Pulitzer Prize winning book on Middle East politics and social environment, From Beirut to Jerusalem,  Friedman is most qualified to report on this topic.

Unlike the elections of the 80s and 90s in the Middle East where most autocratic leaders that allowed elections always received 99% or more of the vote, covering elections today has more uncertainty and is a more interesting story.  A story that keeps voters up at night awaiting election results.  In the case where there is concern of fraud, it is no longer the status quo.  Today, you will find voters protesting the injustice in the streets using technology such as Twitter, IM, Facebook and other social media tools to organize.

There is a wave of change moving through the Middle East fueled by the taste of Democracy and the enablement of technology that gives people the social media tools to organize like no other time in history.