Burning shelled corn to heat your home is a lower-cost alternative to fuels such as natural gas, propane, coal, and wood. Corn burns cleaner than those fuels, and does not release dangerous chemicals into the air. Corn-burning stoves are easy to use and maintain.
Burning corn is good for the planet. Corn absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows, and much of that remains in the stalks and roots. These are usually composted back into the soil. As it grows, corn releases oxygen and helps to rid the air of pollutants. Unlike oil and coal, corn is a renewable resource. A new crop is produced each year.
Still, there are those who do not support the idea of using corn for fuel. The effects of fertilizers and the operation of machinery in the growing, harvesting, processing, and transportation of corn may result in some damage to the environment. Hopefully, with enlightened leadership, these issues will be resolved in the not-to-distant future.
According to studies at Cornell University and the University of California-Berkley, turning corn into fuel uses much more energy than the resulting ethanol or biodiesel generates.
http://www.physorg.com/news4942.html
However, corn stoves are designed to run on shelled corn. No refinery is required.
Royal Dutch Shell considers using food crops to make biofuels "morally inappropriate", as long as there are people in the world who are starving.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060706/media_nm/energy_singapore_shell_dc
I guess that's what one might expect an OIL COMPANY executive to say. I've done a little research and found that while malnutrition is a real problem in some parts of the world, it is not due to an inability to grow food crops, but rather a problem with harvesting and storing them. Using corn for fuel does not interfere with food supplies anywhere in the world. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) says; "American farmers have continued to easily meet all demands for US corn from foreign countries".
Burning corn kernels for home heating bypasses the negative effects of ethanol conversion, but does not address the issue of the need for an environmentally friendly way to generate electricity. Wind, hydro, and photovoltaic systems are a few of the most appropriate solutions for that task. The best current technology for heating water is direct heat from the sun. As the price of oil continues to rise, and with increasing pressure to limit carbon emissions, it will be interesting to see if the automobile industry is able to produce a product that the public will accept.
Do a Google search for corn stoves and visit manufacturers and distributors websites for more information. You'll also find stoves that burn pellets made from wood byproducts. I decided to go with a corn-burner becaus they burn cleaner and corn is less expensive than wood pellets. I'm even growing a small crop of field corn this year to burn in my stove. Now that's energy independence! I don't have enough land to grow a crop big enough to supply me with corn for the entire heating season, but at least I'm doing something to reduce carbon emissions and my dependence upon petroleum-based products for heating.
Here's a great website concerning the use of corn for heat: www.iburncorn.com
Solar John
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Carbon Emissions and Global Warming
For the most part, carbon emissions are due to the burning of fossil fuels. Since carbon emissions are responsible for the undesirable effects of global warming, and since the situation continues to get worse over time, it is inevitable that the government of the United States will take measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions. The automobile industry already has a mandate to produce more efficient vehicles, but that effort alone will not be enough. Only about 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from cars and light trucks in the United States. About 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States are the result of burning fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation.
Fortunately, there are many things that consumers can do to minimize electricity usage. Switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent types is a relatively inexpensive option. Home improvements, such as the replacement of old windows and the addition of insulation are very helpful, as is the replacement of appliances with energy-efficient ones. Producing your own electricity via solar photovoltaic installations, hydroelectric systems, or windmills is another way to limit or eliminate the use of electricity from fossil-fueled power plants.
When legislators understand that they can wait no longer to take action aimed at reducing carbon emissions, it is likely that they will start by eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels and perhaps increasing taxes related to their use. After all, this is what has been happening with the tobacco industry. At the present time, taxes make up about 70 to 80 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes. This action was supposed to result in a voluntary reduction in the use of tobacco-products, but in reality has had only a modest effect. Still, taxes on tobacco-related products continue to rise. If the government attempts to encourage voluntary cutbacks of electricity usage in the same way it has attempted to discourage the use of tobacco products, the outcome may be a dismal failure. If the dumping of carbon into the atmosphere is to be reduced in a timely manner, it will be the result of a commitment by ordinary people.
Many people are already implementing alternative energy systems. Hopefully, the rest of us won’t wait until it’s too late. Scientists believe that at some point, unless we take serious steps to reverse the trend, we will reach a tripping point from which there will be no return. Still, it appears that most people choose to ignore these warnings. Perhaps this is due in part to overblown predictions of doom such as the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem.
The fact that our country has an abundance of cheap coal might also convince some people that we don’t have to change our lifestyle. While oil is getting increasingly expensive, coal may prove to be a viable substitute. Modern mining methods, such as Mountaintop Removal, greatly improve the efficiency of coal production. Unfortunately, large sectors of mountains are being turned into wastelands. But that’s another story. Burning coal contributes to global warming even more than the use of petroleum-based products does, and legislators are likely to heavily tax the use of coal. However, that’s not really a bad thing. Even though we have an abundance of coal, it’s better to preserve some of it for future generations than to use all we can for today’s population. Using renewable sources of energy not only helps to mitigate the effects of global warming, it will cost the consumer less in the long run, and help to preserve natural resources.
John
Follow up: Here's an interesting article related to this post.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16949058&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
Fortunately, there are many things that consumers can do to minimize electricity usage. Switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent types is a relatively inexpensive option. Home improvements, such as the replacement of old windows and the addition of insulation are very helpful, as is the replacement of appliances with energy-efficient ones. Producing your own electricity via solar photovoltaic installations, hydroelectric systems, or windmills is another way to limit or eliminate the use of electricity from fossil-fueled power plants.
When legislators understand that they can wait no longer to take action aimed at reducing carbon emissions, it is likely that they will start by eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels and perhaps increasing taxes related to their use. After all, this is what has been happening with the tobacco industry. At the present time, taxes make up about 70 to 80 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes. This action was supposed to result in a voluntary reduction in the use of tobacco-products, but in reality has had only a modest effect. Still, taxes on tobacco-related products continue to rise. If the government attempts to encourage voluntary cutbacks of electricity usage in the same way it has attempted to discourage the use of tobacco products, the outcome may be a dismal failure. If the dumping of carbon into the atmosphere is to be reduced in a timely manner, it will be the result of a commitment by ordinary people.
Many people are already implementing alternative energy systems. Hopefully, the rest of us won’t wait until it’s too late. Scientists believe that at some point, unless we take serious steps to reverse the trend, we will reach a tripping point from which there will be no return. Still, it appears that most people choose to ignore these warnings. Perhaps this is due in part to overblown predictions of doom such as the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem.
The fact that our country has an abundance of cheap coal might also convince some people that we don’t have to change our lifestyle. While oil is getting increasingly expensive, coal may prove to be a viable substitute. Modern mining methods, such as Mountaintop Removal, greatly improve the efficiency of coal production. Unfortunately, large sectors of mountains are being turned into wastelands. But that’s another story. Burning coal contributes to global warming even more than the use of petroleum-based products does, and legislators are likely to heavily tax the use of coal. However, that’s not really a bad thing. Even though we have an abundance of coal, it’s better to preserve some of it for future generations than to use all we can for today’s population. Using renewable sources of energy not only helps to mitigate the effects of global warming, it will cost the consumer less in the long run, and help to preserve natural resources.
John
Follow up: Here's an interesting article related to this post.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16949058&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Greetings,
I've created this blog to share information regarding alternative energy solutions. I look forward to hearing from other like-minded individuals. Comments are moderated, but I'll allow all reasonable ones, even if they don't agree with my point of view. I hope that this blog becomes a valuable source of information for those involved in renewable energy projects.
Solar John
I've created this blog to share information regarding alternative energy solutions. I look forward to hearing from other like-minded individuals. Comments are moderated, but I'll allow all reasonable ones, even if they don't agree with my point of view. I hope that this blog becomes a valuable source of information for those involved in renewable energy projects.
Solar John
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