"They had to cancel the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremonies this year: a fight broke out among the nominees."

Okay, I grant you if Bob Hope's writers had written that joke it probably would have been funnier. I know it would because I co-authored a story with some former staff writers from Bob Hope's team, and we sold it to Disney. A silly little thing about tap dancing penguins. Yes, really. About 15 years ago, I believe. Though like the Attorney General, I just, "don't recall," the exact date.

In fact, I think Hope did make a joke like that at one time when Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat were co-nominees. But the point of starting with that sad joke is to emphasis the absurdity of the protests by the National Biodiesel Board against the broad interpretation of the definitions that qualify a gallon of diesel for the "biodiesel tax credit". They are objecting to the fact that it appears this credit will be applied to diesel fuel produced by the ConocoPhilips refinery. They have plans to convert animal fats into diesel fuel. The only basis of their objection is that it is "unfair" because the established petroleum companies already have their refineries built. Doesn't that sounds like a playground dispute among 8 year olds to you?

Now there may be some basis for the complaint, I grant you. The National Biodiesel Board is claiming that the tax credit was established to promote the construction of new alternative fuel processing capacity, not to subsidize the oil industry. That may be a valid point. But on the other hand, Changing World Technologies (possibly [quite likely] with the help of their partner ConAgra) lobbied and got the definition of "biodiesel" extended to include "non-ester renewable diesel". More specifically, they originally had the term "thermal depolymerization" added as an alternative production method. If you have been reading my column you will likely recall that the "traditional" biodiesel is specifically a "fatty acid methyl ester" produced from biologically sourced oils using methanol and a catalyst. While the National Biodiesel Board may have a valid point, their desire for a narrow interpretation of what constitutes "biodiesel" or bio-derived diesel is hardly altruistic. Soybeans and rape seed (better known in the form of "canola oil")(you will recall my attitude toward restricting language to politically correct sensibilities is inclined to be reactionary, so "rape seed oil" it is, to me) are the common sources for such vegetable oils, although corn oil may be a contender too, as domestic products from American farms which can be turned into diesel by this simple and inexpensive esterification process. So once again "special interests", in this case, farmers and agri-business, put their own interests ahead of those of the nation, and in this case, even the planet.

The same people who are happy to bang the drum for nationalistic "energy independence", meaning weaning ourselves from the use of foreign (especially Middle Eastern) petroleum, see a threat to their best interests if petroleum refiners turn some of their resources to meeting that same priority. Did they really expect the Bush Administration to have any other attitude toward petroleum industry players on this turf? Do they really think that it is not in the national interest to demonstrate that the existing infrastructure investments in petroleum refining technology can readily adapt to processing new sources of energy? Can they really be so blind as to not see that this "innovation" applies to the economics of refinery capacity everywhere? If ConocoPhilips can put their Texas refinery to use in this way, does it not also mean that refiners (including the major multinationals and independents) in Japan and Nigeria, Peru and Norway can do the same, thus reducing worldwide pressure on petroleum reserves, not to mention upward pressure on petroleum prices.

To have any hope of satisfying North American demands for fuels we are undoubtedly going to be importing bio-oils from other countries. Palm oil is currently the leading candidate, but jatropha curcas is a fast rising contender. Jatropha's status as a native plant to some of the most inhospitable ground in India is a testament to its adaptability and hardiness. Since I first mentioned this species in my column I have been contacted by a number of parties who are involved at one stage or other of cultivation of jatropha. One young person is a recent graduate from college in India (Mumbai, I think they said). Another works with a whole busload of scientists with PhD's who are looking for up to a billion dollars in the next five years. A billion dollars now is, potentially, enough to put them in contention with some of the more modest sized petroleum producers within a ten year production cycle. There is a pioneer spirit in this community of biofuel development. When they talk about sustainable growth it sounds like they mean it. This is not just a gold rush to, "the latest thing." It sounds and feels to me like a lot of people who want to change the world for the better, to put the "means of production" in the hands of farmers around the world, and improve the situation with respect to carbon load on the atmosphere.

Clearly I myself have a favorite horse in this race. I have long advocated turning sewage and garbage into fuels. Does that mean I am against "big oil" turning toward "big green"? No, not on your life, I am not.

My own company's slogan, "Greener than Solar" is catchy, and intended to draw attention to the fact that we are aiming to clean up waste streams that are currently costly and constantly with us, as well as less than environmentally desirable, as we turn them into electricity and non-ester renewable diesel. I think it is an important mission and I am pleased that we are attracting some interest.

Frankly, though, I am also conscious of the advantage of planting new vegetable matter as an energy source. Plants get most of their carbon dioxide from the air to use to manufacture their own cells and the energy they store in the form of sugars. This means that although we take oil from their seeds for biodiesel, they are also naturally "sequestering" carbon dioxide in their structure as they grow. They are acting as natural atmospheric filters as they do it. So although we take back a portion of the carbon dioxide they are taking out of the air to make our portable energy liquids, it is only a rather small portion of the total they remove from earth's atmosphere (until they themselves die and rot or are digested by biological mechanisms). In effect, plants are solar energy conversion devices that double as carbon dioxide sequestration devices. Admittedly photovoltaic solar panels that produce electricity are coming down in price rapidly these days, but compared to the extremely low cultivation cost of a "weed" like jatropha, you can't expect to beat the manufacturing cost of Mother Nature anytime soon.

I saw Tom Friedman's program on the Discovery Channel that he called: Green: The New Red, White, and Blue. Tom found a couple of fellows in Monrovia, California who are doing what I mentioned a few weeks ago, converting Toyota Prius Hybrid vehicles into "Plug-in Hybrid" cars. The firm doing this is called "Energy CS", and various reports around the internet claim that this conversion helps them get anywhere from 150 mpg or in some versions of the story "up to 276 mpg"(or even in one case rounded to 300 mpg). Of course all those numbers are a little "silly" since, in fact, you are going to pay for the electricity in addition to whatever gasoline you consume, so the mpg rating is a highly fictional number. You are just going to add the electricity costs to your household electric bill. Still, some estimates place the cost of driving on electricity in this way at about $0.05 a mile so that is at least as good as the 60 mpg at today's prices. (I like the sound of the $0.01 or $0.02 a mile, but I don't find them credible at this time with current plug-in hybrids.)

Unfortunately I have to report that local prices here were $2.99 per gallon as of yesterday, up from $2.85 just 3 weeks ago. I did a number of radio interviews last year about "Poop Powered Cars" referring of course to producing our "non-ester renewable diesel" (which at the time I was still calling "biodiesel" since it was, I believe, prior to the EPA ruling making the distinction). When folks asked me, last summer, to estimate where gas prices would be by this winter I said they would likely hit $3.00 a gallon again, and over the long term, probably continue to rise. This is not an occasion when I take much joy in being correct (even if I did miss by a month).

I don't know if it is a genuine note of optimism to end this column, but I did a Google search for the terms, "Stafford 'Doc' Williamson", and "biomass" and "biodiesel" which gave me 4 full screens of listings. I went to the end of that set of listings and chose the "repeat the search with omitted results included". I then found 25 screens worth of references to me and my articles just on this subject. Try it yourself. Of course, it probably has much higher entertainment value for me than any of you, I do realize that. Actually the first time I search it came up with just 20 pages (unfiltering). For me the disappointing part is that my own website, containing all but the very latest of these columns only shows up on the second to last page. That gave me something to chuckle about. I may turn into one of those "Kitty" Carlisle people, you know, the ones who are famous mostly just for being "well known." I could live with that, I guess.

love

Stafford "Doc" Williamson