The Green Inc. blog on the New York Times website is reporting/blogging about a trifecta of wealthy blokes that are fast-tracking an alternative feedstock that has the potential to replace coal as the energy-source of choice at those 'dirty' power stations.
Photo: Brazilbiomass
How it works is that the insightful entreprenuers will build several plants to process a sugercane byproduct called bagasse. The leftovers are compacted into small pellets that can then be incinerated in the power station furnaces, which brings us nicely onto the virtues of electric CVs.
We think that when company's say 'zero-emissions' van/truck they are talking purely about tailpipe emissions because the electricity used to charge the batteries in that Modec or Smith Electric most likely came from a coal-fired power station (in the UK at least).
So if coal can be substituted with these biomass pellets we could get closer to sustainable transport, right? The article doesn't mention how much cleaner pellets are to burn versus coal, although they do say that if the bagass is left to rot it is more harmful to the environment. Naturally.
But even if it's only slightly less harmful to the atmosphere than coal it's still a waste product so in that respect it's superior to the black stuff. With the EU wanting 20% of all Europe's energy to come from renewable sources this could actually pave the way for a full-on electric vehicle market.
How it works is that the insightful entreprenuers will build several plants to process a sugercane byproduct called bagasse. The leftovers are compacted into small pellets that can then be incinerated in the power station furnaces, which brings us nicely onto the virtues of electric CVs.
We think that when company's say 'zero-emissions' van/truck they are talking purely about tailpipe emissions because the electricity used to charge the batteries in that Modec or Smith Electric most likely came from a coal-fired power station (in the UK at least).
So if coal can be substituted with these biomass pellets we could get closer to sustainable transport, right? The article doesn't mention how much cleaner pellets are to burn versus coal, although they do say that if the bagass is left to rot it is more harmful to the environment. Naturally.
But even if it's only slightly less harmful to the atmosphere than coal it's still a waste product so in that respect it's superior to the black stuff. With the EU wanting 20% of all Europe's energy to come from renewable sources this could actually pave the way for a full-on electric vehicle market.
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