A New York taxi company owner makes enough money to not only live near Monaco but also to buy a Tesla Roadster. More shocking? He wants his neighbors to actually know how he made his money with a taxi-liveried Tesla.
The anonymous exploiter of lost tourists and underpaid immigrants alike apparently owns a fleet mostly made up of Escape Hybrids, so in his mind we're sure the connection between not-terribly economical taxis and an electric supercar painted to look like a cab makes total sense.
Missing the Humor, Le Blog Auto points out the electric-two seater wouldn't make a very practical taxi, largely due to the inability of magnetic signs to stick to the carbon bodywork. We'd add that the lack of trunk space and long recharge time should also be considered before any enterprising individuals attempt to make a business out of this. Also, there's the whole "no back seat" thing. [Le Blog Auto via Green Car Reports]
The EU has big plans for its renewable energy future, and much attention has thus far been directed towards wind generated power, with nations such as the UK and Germany leading the way in making the most of Europe's wind potential. For this reason, the European Commission's latest plan to reduce carbon emissions by pumping a huge slice of the 50 billion euros available for research and development into solar power, may raise a few eyebrows.
Power generated from solar panels and carbon capture-and-store technology are the two major components of the EU's plans, as the commission tries to demonstrate how it is taking the necessary steps to meet ambitious carbon cutting targets. The plan, due to be released tomorrow, is a direct attempt to raise the EU's profile before the UN summit meeting in Copenhagen in December on reaching a new global agreement to curb climate change.
Even as the world emerges from a financial crisis, a new order in the region is in motion as companies are being increasingly encouraged to invest heavily in clean energy technology. "Markets and energy companies acting on their own are unlikely to be able to deliver the needed technological breakthroughs within a sufficiently short time span to meet the EU's energy and climate policy goals," the commission said in a draft of the plan obtained by the International Herald Tribune.
While 50 billion euros may seem like a tall order with the economy barely out of recession, experts agree that the large-scale investment will pay off. The market for the technology is exploding, offering the prospect of massive earnings and millions of jobs for countries that take an early lead.
"Increasing smart investment in research today is an opportunity to develop new sources of growth, to green our economy and to ensure the EU's competitiveness when we come out of the crisis," said Janez Potočnik, commissioner for science and research.
The plan, still in its early stages of development, will come in addition to the costly cap and trade system used to regulate greenhouse gases that are already in place. Some of the 27 EU member countries also tax carbon dioxide emissions associated with heating homes and running cars.
In a plan for allocating the money, the commission calls for 16 billion euros for solar power over the next 10 years, 13 billion euros for carbon capture and storage, seven billion euros for nuclear and six billion euros for wind.
However, as much as the commission's plans are a sign of the regions commitment to the fight against climate change, environmentalists cannot be entirely happy with the significant commitment also made to carbon-capture technologies. But the commission argues this is totally necessary in order for Europe to meet its carbon-cutting targets and remain competitive.
But the plans to drive forward with the development of European solar power will no doubt be welcomed by environmentalists.
TORONTO (AP) — Art experts believe they have identified a new Leonardo da Vinci— in part by examining a fingerprint on the canvas.
Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, said Tuesday that a fingerprint on what was presumed to be a 19th-century German painting of a young woman has convinced art experts that it's actually a da Vinci.
Canadian-born art collector Peter Silverman bought "Profile of the Bella Principessa" at the Ganz gallery in New York on behalf of an anonymous Swiss collector in 2007 for about $19,000. New York art dealer Kate Ganz had owned it for about 11 years after buying it at auction for a similar price.
One London art dealer now says it could be worth more than $150 million.
If experts are correct, it will be the first major work by da Vinci to be identified in 100 years.
Biro said the print of an index or middle finger was found on the painting and that it matched a fingerprint from da Vinci's St Jerome in the Vatican. Biro examined multispectral images of the painting taken by the Luminere Technology laboratory in Paris. The lab used a special digital scanner to show successive layers of the work.
"Leonardo used his hands liberally and frequently as part of his painting technique. His fingerprints are found on many of his works," Biro said. "I was able to make use of multispectral images to make a little smudge a very readable fingerprint."
Technical, stylistic and material composition evidence also point to it being a da Vinci. Biro said there's strong consensus among art experts that it is a da Vinci painting.
"I would say it is priceless. There aren't that many Leonardo's in existence," Biro said. He said he had heard that one London dealer felt it could be worth more than $150 million.
Silverman said his Swiss friend saw it first and told him it didn't look like a 19th century painting. When Silverman took a look at the painting at the Ganz gallery in 2007, he thought it might be a da Vinci, although that seemed far-fetched. He hurriedly bought the painting for his Swiss friend and then started researching it.
"Of course you say, 'Come on, that's ridiculous. There's no such thing as a da Vinci floating around,"' Silverman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I started looking in the areas around da Vinci and all the people who could have possibly done it and through elimination I came back to da Vinci."
Last year, Silverman bumped into Nicholas Turner, a former curator of drawings at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Museum. Turner said it was a da Vinci and other leading art experts have backed it up as well.
Silverman said thanks to the fingerprint image at the Luminere Technology laboratory it was confirmed.
"That was icing on the cake," he said.
Silverman describes the Swiss private collector as a very rich man who has promised to buy him "lunch and dinner and caviar for the rest of my life if it ever does get sold."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
imgur.com —The photo was re-hosted in the event she decided to delete it, but this picture was tweeted by Megan McCain to tell the world about her "spontaneous" (she used the quotation marks) night in with a book, a webcam and her breasts pushed together.
Far up on Yellow Mountain in the south east of China’s Anhui province is a trail of tens of thousands of granite steps. Partly lacking rails to hold on to, they are a traveller’s only guide past deep ravines and steep descents. Weather-wise, a whole year can pass in just one day: spring in the morning, summer at noon, autumn in the afternoon and winter at night. The most dangerous part yet might be the breathtaking views that can easily make visitors forget where they have to tread.
Wooooow, don’t look down – Fairytale Bridge: Image: Jesse Warner
Huang Shan, or Yellow Mountain in Chinese, is a mountain range consisting of 76 peaks. It has been a popular hiking trail for more than 1,200 years and has been immortalised in innumerable Chinese paintings and poems.
The most remarkable features of Huang Shan are its famous granite steps, said to have been started more than 1,500 years ago – 60,000 steps and altogether more than 50 km of footpaths. Considering that every granite slab had to be carried by hand, building the steps really becomes a Herculean task.
Can you make out the steps to Tiandu („Heaven“)? Image: Jakemete
If you think the next image looks scary and the walk strenuous, consider that the original steps were just hewn into the rock face and people traversing them had to hold a chain hanging off the wall for support!
Just plastered to the mountain – don’t look down while you walk! Image via Pixdaus
Getting to the top requires 5 hours of climbing the steep granite steps but there is an easier route for those who can bear the stomach-churning, 3,700-m-ascent in a cable car. The 8-minute ride often goes directly along the rock face!
Once on top, visitors have thousands of stairs in front of them and various trails to choose from for exploring the mountain. That doesn’t mean solitude, serenity and quiet. No, as one of China’s most popular tourist attractions – especially the East and North trails preferred by tour guides – the area is thronged with people huffing and puffing up the mountain, all the while whooping away to try out the echo. So much for serenity.
Coming through! The crowds trekking Huang Shan: Image via lewisesinchina
The line for the cable car back – the last one leaves at 5 pm, hurry! Image via lewisesinchina
A handful of expensive and small hotels and hostels await visitors at the top. Everything that is up on the mountain, from the smallest brick to the hotel’s water heaters, was carried up the mountain on one of the porter’s backs. That’s right, no cable car for supplies as they are too heavy and porters are cheaper than the fare, as they make the equivalent of about $5 per trip.
A hotel, literally in the mountains: Image via lewisesinchina
Because the porters are fast, they manage two trips in a day – 4 hours from the Huang Shan village to the top where the hotels are and 2 hours back to the village. The same walk for an untrained person will take 7 hours to the top and 5 hours back down!
The mountain range was formed in the Mesozoic about 100 million years ago by an ancient sea that disappeared due to uplift. The region’s peculiarly shaped granite peaks were formed in the Quaternary Period through the influence of glaciers. The three highest peaks are almost 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) high.
But looking up is not how you enjoy the magnificence of the Yellow Mountain; you have to look down:
The Yellow Mountain’s vegetation varies with altitude: forest below 1,100 meters; then patches of trees up to the tree line at 1,800 meters; and above that, alpine grass-lands. The Chinese especially love the Huangshan Pine – many trees are more than a hundred years old – because it is a hardy plant that can grow anywhere and in almost any condition.
Many fern species are represented as well and the whole Huang Shan region is an important habitat for rare and threatened plant and animal species. Because of this fact and the spectacular scenery and sunsets, Yellow Mountain was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.
If you’re thinking of visiting, here’s some good advice for you:
Don’t enjoy the views and by no means flirt with the monkeys! Image via lewisesinchina
Oh, and do watch this video before you go as it gives you a pretty good idea of a visit on a crowded day:
A group of civilly-disobedient hemp farmers and business leaders were arrested Tuesday morning while digging up the lawn to plant industrial hemp seeds at the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
David Bronner, the president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a more than 60-year-old company that does tens of millions of dollars of business annually, was among those arrested.
Bronner buys the hemp used in his soaps from Canadian farmers. He was arrested outside the DEA museum, which shares space with the headquarters.
"Our kids are going to come to this museum and say, 'My God. Your generation was crazy. What the hell is wrong with you people?'" he said as Arlington County Police handcuffed him and walked him to a waiting car.
The group was arrested for trespassing.
A DEA spokeswoman referred comment to the Department of Justice "because they're the people who set the policy for drugs." A DOJ spokeswoman declined to comment.
Hemp, however, is not a drug and has no capacity to get someone stoned, the farmers pointed out. Wayne Hauge and Will Allen, farmers from North Dakota and Vermont respectively, brought shovels and seeds to the protest, where they were joined by representatives of Vote Hemp, which advocates for federal legislation that would allow states to craft their own hemp policies.
Currently eight states -- Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia -- allow industrial hemp production or research, but federal law, which requires nearly-impossible-to-obtain-permits to grow hemp, trumps those state laws. A bill introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would allow states to craft their own policies.
Isaac Nichelson, head of LiViTY Outernatioanl, a hemp clothing company, was also planting seeds, telling the officers and a handful of reporters that he'd rather buy his raw material domestically than from China.
"Who's got a permit?" asked David Smith, DEA security supervisor, when he spotted the collection of farmers volunteering their agricultural services to his agency.
"As far as I know, we applied for the permit a long time ago," Nichelson told him.
The farmers asked the next DEA official to arrive if he knew the difference between hemp and marijuana.
He wasn't sure. "It's a cousin, right? Or is it an uncle?"
Hauge is one of two farmers licensed by the state of North Dakota to grow hemp, but he can't do so because of the federal ban. Mother Nature is apparently unaware of the federal restriction: Hemp grows wild through the United States.
President Reagan invested significant resources going after hemp, uprooting millions of plants of what it calls "ditchweed." Reagan's effort against ditchweed steadily increased and by 1989 the DEA was able to claim it had uprooted 120 million ditchweed plants. By 2001, that number reached half a billion.
The farmers argued that Instead of uprooting hemp, the government should allow American farmers to grow it, especially since American companies can already legally sell hemp products. "We've got a billion dollar industry we're sleeping on," said Hauge, who is suing the DEA for the right to raise hemp.
Hauge traces his interest in growing hemp back to the founding fathers, and one particularly famous hemp farmer. "The DEA would have arrested George Washington," he said. UPDATE: The Huffington Post has obtained a video of the arrests. The first protester collared - the one taken down pretty hard -- is Adam Eidinger, communications director for Vote Hemp, a hemp clothing store owner and a veteran arrestee. Next comes David Bronner, he of the magic soap. Then goes Will Allen, a Vermont organic farmer, followed by Isaac Nichelson, the hemp clothing company owner. Steve Levine, president of the Hemp Industries Association, is taken in last. Wayne Hauge, the North Dakota farmer, was also arrested but isn't in the video.
Whale penis leather interior. That's all you really need to know about the $1.5 million Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition. Yes, the diamond-encrusted white gold gauges and gold-plated bulletproof windows are impressive, but seriously, whale penis leather interior.
The already bulletproof and wildly over-the-top 8.1 liter GM V8-powered Dartz Kombat T98 is getting a name change to Prombron and along with it will come a complete and brain-maimingly bourgeoisie upgrade with the Monaco Red Diamond Edition. The world's most expensive ultra-luxury SUV will debut at the 2010 Top Marques Monaco show with luxe features crazy enough to make a Maybach blush. For your $1.5 million you get the following features:
1. Ruby Red matte paint 2. Gold-plated bulletproof windows 3. 22" Kremlin Red Star bulletproof wheels 4. Whale Penis Leather interior 5. Tungsten exhaust 6. Tungsten and white gold gauges with diamonds and rubies 7. White gold diamond and ruby encrusted badges - grill, side and dashboard 8. Special edition Vertu mobile phone with "alert" button 9. Additional outside kevlar coating 10. Rogue Acoustic Audio System.
And, of course, of course - THREE BOTTLES OF World Most Expensive Vodka - RussoBaltique Vodka, drink edition, same as in the RussoBaltique car when it visited Monaco at 1912.
We have a lot of questions about this car, most of them whale penis leather-related, but in the bigger picture, this brazen finger-in-the-eye raises a good point, so to speak. What makes a luxury vehicle? Things we used to think of as luxury - bovine leather, wood trim, high-end audio, etc., have become mainstream. Does it take exceptionally ridiculous material selection and bold ostentatious flair to define new luxury? Is it encapsulating yourself in a vehicle capable of taking a direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade? Does it mean emulating the wild excess of past luxury much like the Red Diamond is doing? Who knows. But we're betting the tzars would roll in one of these babies. [Dartz via Jameslist]
Rumor site 9to5Mac reports that Apple is on the cusp of releasing an FM radio application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. And get this: it will be for the current models, not for some new hardware revision. According to the rumor, Apple will awaken the slumbering FM transceiver already dormant within the devices, currently only used to talk to the Nike+ widget.
This speculation seems to fit in with Apple’s switching on of the Bluetooth functionality inside the second-gen iPod Touch with the 3.0 software update, but the rumor then gets a little weird:
The holdup on this app is that Apple is trying to integrate the Mobile iTunes Store purchases into the functionality of the program.
Yes. Apple, which has already managed to put tune-tagging into the iPod Nano, is apparently having trouble doing it with the way-more-powerful iPhone platform. This sounds like nonsense, but it doesn’t mean we won’t see a radio app. What great news. Now there will be, along with the stocks application, yet another app that I will never use yet cannot remove from my iPod.
The bodies of thousands of wild rabbits culled each year from Stockholm's parks are being used to fuel a heating plant in central Sweden.
By Allan Hall
Six thousand bunnies were killed last yearPhoto: GETTY IMAGES
Animal rights activists have claimed that domestic pets are also being rounded up and incinerated.
"Those who support the culling of rabbits think it's good to use the bodies for a good cause. But it feels like the power company is trying to turn the animals into an industry rather than look at the main problem," said Anna Johannesson of the Society for the Protection of Wild Rabbits.
The rabbits going up in smoke are the inhabitants of Stockholm's parks who are culled to protect the shrubs and trees on which they gorge. But many of them are tame domestic pets turned loose by owners who no longer want them.
Six thousand bunnies were killed last year. The corpses were frozen and then sent to a special heating plant at Karlskoga, in central Sweden, where the cadavers were burnt in order to help heat the homes of residents of Värmland.
But animal rights activists have called for better treatment for the wild rabbits.
Mrs. Johannesson told local newspaper Vart Kungsholmen; "We want to see them start looking at other solutions for the rabbits. Helsinki in Finland sprays the plants to make them unappetizing and they have also set up a system of shelters for animals to be donated to. They have come much further along than us."ra
"She had love in her heart and never met a stranger," Robert Starnes says of his daughter Jessie.
But the life of the little girl, known to give away her own school supplies to needy classmates, would be cut suddenly short.
"I was doing something in the kitchen - and she hollered out for me and she fell and she was having a seizure. I called 911 and they started an ambulance but before they got there I started CPR," Jessie's mom Lisa Roussea recalls.
Jessie suffered a brain aneurysm.
There was nothing doctor's could do.
"We decided early on that we wanted to donate her organs," Starnes said.
"If she was in the position to choose, she would have chosen to give her organs," Lisa added.
Seven people benefited from Jessie's donations.
Her lungs, kidneys, corneas and heart were all able to be used.
"My hope is to one day listen to Jessie's heart in this 13 year old girl," Starnes said.
"The letter I got from the kidney recipient - she talked about her Easter miracle and that's what the Easter holiday symbolizes and she had new life and that she would take very good care and her family was thankful and how now she can play with her grandchildren without getting tired," Rousseau noted.
According to Tennessee Donor Services - one person can help more than 50 people through organ or tissue donations.
"When the decision to save another life is made you may not feel it that day you will know without question their life story carries on there is not greater gift," Jonathan Malloch with Tennessee Donor Services told News 12.
More than a hundred thousand people are on the National Transplant Waiting List.
The need for life-saving organs is so great it's estimated that 18 people die every day waiting.
"I think that in this community alone it's something we don't talk about at the dinner table, but sharing with your family your wishes is the most important thing," Malloch added.
A billboard is set to go up on Amnicola Highway that shares Jessie's story.
It's her parents hope that someone else will see it and share the gift of life.
"We can't control life but we can control the gifts of life," Starnes said.
"I am very glad that her legacy is living on and I feel like on days that I don't want to go on, if she could come back here one day and see me..what would she want to see me doing and I think she would want to see me doing this," Rousseau added.
An X-ray machine which produces ''naked'' images of passengers has been introduced at Manchester Airport, enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives.
The full body scanner, which is being trialled, will also show up any breast enlargements, false limbs, piercings, and a clear outline of passengers' private parts.
Some travellers might not want to be scanned because of the graphic nature of the images, bosses admit.
They can refuse to undergo the virtual strip search at Terminal 2, opting for the traditional ''pat down'' search instead.
But the black and white image will only be seen by one officer in a remote location before it is deleted, Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport, said.
''Most of our customers do not like the traditional ''pat down'' search, they find it too intrusive, but they still want to be kept safe.
''This scanner completely takes away the hassle of needing to undress. The images are not erotic or pornographic and they cannot be stored or captured in anyway,'' she said.
The scanner, made by the firm RapiScan Systems, makes the check-in process much quicker for passengers, who will not have to remove their coats, shoes or belts.
Frequent fliers do not need to worry about radiation from the low-level X-ray, she said, and a dental X-ray transmits 20,000 times more radiation.
''Passengers can go through this machine 5,000 times a year each without worrying, it is super safe and the amount of radiation transmitted is tiny,'' Ms Barrett said.
The scanners, which cost £80,000 each, were also trialled at Heathrow Airport in 2004. The Department for Transport will decide whether to install them permanently at the end of the trial, which is expected to last for a year.
Electromagnetic waves are beamed on to passengers while they stand in a booth, and a virtual three-dimensional ''naked'' image is created from the reflected energy.
Security officials in the United States have pioneered their use at New York and Los Angeles airports, and they are gradually being rolled out in other airports in the country.
We’re getting used to hearing about new weird and wonderful apps for the iPhone, everything from cosmic ordering to your own personal voodoo doll app.
The biggest problem with iPhone apps these days is the sheer number of them, tens of thousands of them in fact, so you basically have to sort out the treasures from the trash.
We were fortunate the other day to stumble upon a trio of new apps that could prove pretty useful.
The apps, available in Apple’s iTunes store, were developed by University of Utah researchers, who say they could make life easier for medical professionals and students as well as patients.
So let’s take a look at them:
• ImageVis3D Mobile – This app allows the user to manipulate, display and rotate 3D images from CT (computerized tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, as well as other images. It is free to download and is based on software from Utah University’s Scientific and Computing and Imaging Institute (SCI).
• AnatomyLab – If you want to view a virtual dissection of a human body (unless you are a medical student then I can’t imagine why you would), activate the “view cadaver” button. The app, which costs $9.99, allows the user to view no fewer than 40 different stages of dissection of a real human body.
• MyBody – Basically a watered down version of AnatomyLab, developed with the general public in mind. It basically gives the viewer an idea of what the human body looks like inside and out, but not so detailed that it’s meant for medical students. It’s cheaper, too, just $1.99.
The researchers at SCI are developing another iPhone app: ViSUS, which already enables those with a laptop or desktop computer to view, edit and analyze massive image files.
Both ImageVis3D Mobile and ViSUS will “help people visualize and manipulate large amounts of image data,” said Chris Johnson, director of the SCI Institute.
Apparently many medical professionals are already buying AnatomyLab in order to show images to their patients to help explain a diagnosis or injury. Johnson said Image Vis3DMobile could be used for this as well, using the patient’s own scan image.
So don’t be too surprised next time you’re at the doctor’s and he whips out his iPhone to show you what’s wrong.
Still in Albuquerque... Today was the final day of the big Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and it was CANCELLED! SHIT! That sucks! This was taken a couple days ago when they launched all the special shaped balloons. Yesterday would have been a fantastic day to shoot the event, but I made the BAD decision to drive up to the top of a big mountain. I've always wondered what the balloon festival would look like from up on top of that mountain, looking down on Albuquerque with all these balloons floating by. Now I know... It looks like CRAP from up there!!! Where are the balloons? Way, way off in the distance there were these tiny little colored specks. Are those the balloons? The mountain looks so close from down here.
Since the prehistoric times, our planet has been home to so many mysterious creatures. While some vanished out of existence completely, others are still there peeping through those remote haunts of extinction. They keep on reminding us that their tale, the Yetis’ and the dinosaurs in particular, is not yet over. Various reports citing researchers and paleontologists confirming their existence through some massive footmarks substantiate the above-stated belief. Here are the images of the monstrous footprints of the mysterious creatures to alert those who are skeptical about their existence in the past and present as well.
Ubiquitous and easy to grow, algae has long been a promising biomass-to-fuel candidate in the eyes of researchers. Now algae is a burgeoning sector in biofuels with several high-profile start-ups, including Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics, and the interest of big-time investors like Bill Gates and ExxonMobil. Of course, hurdles still exist to make a competitive fuel. Algal biofuels still cost too much to produce—over $8 a gallon (pdf), according to the DOE. Furthermore, most existing strains do not yield oil in the quantities needed to quickly scale up to commercial production of biofuels. Companies also need to worry about contaminating local ecosystems and the amount of water needed to grow cultures in large batches. Despite these challenges inroads—and actual fuel—are being made in the nascent field. Here are 5 projects leading the pack today.
By Jeremy Jacquot
1. Algenol Biofuels
The Project /// $850 million committed to build algae farm that sells ethanol fuel for $3 per gallon
The Location /// Sonoran Desert (Mexico)
The Technology /// The company’s goal is to produce fuel directly from the algae without killing or harvesting the creatures, allowing for a shorter turnaround time to make fuel. The company claims its process lets it make around 6000 gallons per acre per year.
To Market /// Production is expected to begin by the end of 2010. Algenol intends to produce 1 billion gallons annually by 2012. They say their production costs will be around 85 cents per gallon.
2. Solix Biofuels
The Project /// A demonstration facility that could produce up to 3000 gallons of algal biofuels per acre per year by the end of 2009
The Location /// Coyote Gulch, Colo.
The Technology /// Solix uses specialized photo-bioreactors in which batches of microalgal cultures are grown in large, closed-growth chambers under controlled light and temperature conditions. The company claims its closed systems can produce up to seven times as much biomass as open-pond systems. Once the cultures are fully grown, their oil is extracted through the use of chemical solvents like benzene or ether. The solvents are mixed into the chambers to separate the oil from the algae, and it is then collected from the surface. Solix is also collaborating with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to use its acoustic-focusing technology to concentrate algal cells into a dense mixture by blasting them with sound waves. Oil can then be extracted from the mixture by squeezing it out; this makes the extraction process much easier and cheaper, obviating the need for chemical solvents.
To Market /// Tentatively by the winter of 2009.
3. Sapphire Energy
The Project /// A 300-acre integrated algal biorefinery
The Location /// Southern New Mexico
The Technology /// Sapphire’s focus is on “green crude," a liquid that has the same composition as crude oil, and is therefore compatible with existing refineries. The company has already shown that its fuel can be used in cars and even jets. Sapphire has a 100-acre pilot facility near Las Cruces, N.M.
To Market /// The plan is to make 1 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel per year by 2011, 100 million by 2018, and 1 billion gallons per year by 2025. There are no figures as of yet for the now-running 300-acre facility.
4. Solazyme
The Project /// Along with Sustainable Oils (camelina-based biofuel) and Honeywell subsidiary UOP (biodiesel), Solazyme plans to supply 400,000 gallons of fuel to the Air Force and 190,000 gallons to the U.S. Navy 1500 gallons of jet fuel for the U.S. Navy by 2010.
The Location /// South San Francisco
The Technology /// Solazyme engineers designer algal cultures using DNA from different strains to maximize oil production and size and grows them in large fermentation vessels before harvesting their oil. It first tested its jet fuel in late 2008.
To Market /// Solazyme claims that it is on track to produce over 20,000 gallons of fuel for the Navy by 2010. The company hopes to bring the cost of its fuel down to $60 to $80 per barrel within next two to three years.
5. Seambiotic
The Project /// 5-hectare commercial plant
The Location /// Israel
The Technology /// Seambiotic grows microalgal cultures in open ponds using flue gases like carbon dioxide and nitrogen from a nearby coal plant as feedstocks. Its 1000-square-meter facility produces roughly 23,000 grams of algae per day—three tons of algal biomass would yield around 100 to 200 gallons of biofuel. It recently formed a partnership with NASA to optimize the growth rates of its microalgae.
To Market /// Up and running since 2003, Seambiotic set up a pilot plant in 2005. Seambiotic expects its commercial plant to be ready by late 2009.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
A New York taxi company owner makes enough money to not only live near Monaco but also to buy a Tesla Roadster. More shocking? He wants his neighbors to actually know how he made his money with a taxi-liveried Tesla.
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