FOX news has been showcasing various biofuels and other alternative energy sources recently. Here are some of the videos you can still watch online, just beware you have to watch a 30-second commercial to watch each clip.
A clip from FOX & Friends on ethanol: "The Brazilians can do it, why can't we?"
It's clear the hosts of FOX & Friends don't totally understand ethanol. When they had two guests on to discuss the fuel and it's future, one of the hosts asks, "E85 is pure ethanol, correct?" The guests, Iowa congressman Jim Nussle and Golden Grain Energy president Walt Wendland, clarify this mistake and generally tout all the benefits of ethanol. They say it is cheaper than fossil fuels and will be more plentiful in the future, and is also going to help the environment. They then explain real generally how ethanol is made with corn and enzymes, comparing it to making moonshine. Nussle says it's easy to retrofit current vehicles to use E85 for about $1,000. The guests and hosts then can't help but make fun of wind energy.
Read more after the jump.
Biodiesel in Seattle
Responding to the "looming energy crisis" there are new biodiesel plants popping up all the time, and they're getting larger is the gist of this clip. With his shiny good looks, Dan Springer reports on a 100-million gallon a year plant that will soon be built in Aberdeen, Wash. and will become the largest in the U.S. Seattle Biodiesel, which will build the pant, currently uses Midwest-produced canola oil to make biodiesel, but their large facility will use palm oil imported from Malaysia. A spokesman from Seattle Biodiesel says that once a better biodiesel infrastructure is built, local crops can be used and there will be more energy independence. This is because a quarter of America's fuel needs could be grown on the farm in, say, 15 years.
Pig Oil
The most interesting clip is on turning pig manure into crude oil. "Pigs, known to bring us delicious sides at breakfast and mouthwatering cold cuts for lunch..." is how the in-studio host leads into the clip. The University of Illinois has been testing this conversion method and has had some success in pressurizing pig dung into crude. Aside from the opening lines, the FOX lightness continues as they use all sorts of euphemisms for manure (poop, dung) but the information that the researchers can turn pig poop into oil in about an hour gets across.
Reporter Jeff Goldblatt tells us that a pig produces about a gallon of solid waste a day, of which 70 percent can be used to make the oil. Leaving aside the fact that the term gallon is actually a measure of liquid volume, we can see that with millions of pigs in this country, there are a lot of possibilities for oil production if this thing takes off. The estimate is that in ten years the pig oil will be a serious fuel choice at the pump.
Science fair and fuel-free lawnmowers
This clip isn't about alt-fuels, but they do get a mention. In the piece, students at a science fair discuss their exhibits, including one student who talks about his lawnmower that runs on compressed air. The on-air host asks the young scientist who developed the lawnmower if he can make a car run on the same technology and that if he could he would "change the world". If only it would be so easy.
Lastly, one of the current clips in FOX's "Science" category is titled "'Climate of Fear? Is Al Gore silencing dissent on global warming?" Posted without comment.
[Source: FOX News via Imperium Renewables]
A clip from FOX & Friends on ethanol: "The Brazilians can do it, why can't we?"
It's clear the hosts of FOX & Friends don't totally understand ethanol. When they had two guests on to discuss the fuel and it's future, one of the hosts asks, "E85 is pure ethanol, correct?" The guests, Iowa congressman Jim Nussle and Golden Grain Energy president Walt Wendland, clarify this mistake and generally tout all the benefits of ethanol. They say it is cheaper than fossil fuels and will be more plentiful in the future, and is also going to help the environment. They then explain real generally how ethanol is made with corn and enzymes, comparing it to making moonshine. Nussle says it's easy to retrofit current vehicles to use E85 for about $1,000. The guests and hosts then can't help but make fun of wind energy.
Read more after the jump.
Biodiesel in Seattle
Responding to the "looming energy crisis" there are new biodiesel plants popping up all the time, and they're getting larger is the gist of this clip. With his shiny good looks, Dan Springer reports on a 100-million gallon a year plant that will soon be built in Aberdeen, Wash. and will become the largest in the U.S. Seattle Biodiesel, which will build the pant, currently uses Midwest-produced canola oil to make biodiesel, but their large facility will use palm oil imported from Malaysia. A spokesman from Seattle Biodiesel says that once a better biodiesel infrastructure is built, local crops can be used and there will be more energy independence. This is because a quarter of America's fuel needs could be grown on the farm in, say, 15 years.
Pig Oil
The most interesting clip is on turning pig manure into crude oil. "Pigs, known to bring us delicious sides at breakfast and mouthwatering cold cuts for lunch..." is how the in-studio host leads into the clip. The University of Illinois has been testing this conversion method and has had some success in pressurizing pig dung into crude. Aside from the opening lines, the FOX lightness continues as they use all sorts of euphemisms for manure (poop, dung) but the information that the researchers can turn pig poop into oil in about an hour gets across.
Reporter Jeff Goldblatt tells us that a pig produces about a gallon of solid waste a day, of which 70 percent can be used to make the oil. Leaving aside the fact that the term gallon is actually a measure of liquid volume, we can see that with millions of pigs in this country, there are a lot of possibilities for oil production if this thing takes off. The estimate is that in ten years the pig oil will be a serious fuel choice at the pump.
Science fair and fuel-free lawnmowers
This clip isn't about alt-fuels, but they do get a mention. In the piece, students at a science fair discuss their exhibits, including one student who talks about his lawnmower that runs on compressed air. The on-air host asks the young scientist who developed the lawnmower if he can make a car run on the same technology and that if he could he would "change the world". If only it would be so easy.
Lastly, one of the current clips in FOX's "Science" category is titled "'Climate of Fear? Is Al Gore silencing dissent on global warming?" Posted without comment.
[Source: FOX News via Imperium Renewables]
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