Bio-coal instead of Petro-coal
If you want to make your coal-fired train or power plant more enviro-friendly, then this might be good news for you.  A Seattle-based company is planning to offer “E-coal“, which apparently stands for eco-coal (I think they should have called it “bio-coal”, but maybe that name is taken). The big advantage for you, Mr. Steam-Train-Engineer, is that this E-coal  can be “substituted for fossil fuels, without the need for facility [or train] retrofitting.”
On a smaller scale, you can now fire-up some organic waste-based briquettes as alternative fuel. These are better than wood-based charcoal because they have a higher caloric content by weight and “leave no soot when touched, are easy to light and emit almost no smoke.” Â But I wonder if they add a flavor to food?
Biodiesel Made from Coffee Grounds
According to the American Chemical Society, Biodiesel can be made from waste coffee grounds! The benefits of coffee grounds include:
- Nearly as much yield as other sources like soybean and palm oil,
- 100% recycled/re-used source,
- coffee’s antioxidants prolong the biodiesel shelf-life,
- and of course, it creates a nice coffee smell!
So when will we see fuel pumps that offer a choice of smells? Popcorn, french fries, and now coffee. Yum!
Read more in the ACS press release…
Welcome!
This is my first post on the new blog-o-riffic version of tiltshift.com! This is the fourth major overhaul of my personal website since 1996.
- 1996 to 2001 - hosted on Europa (JPG snapshot)
- 2001 to 2005 - “Old” tiltshift.com (archive with many broken links)
- 2005 to 2008 - Tree-text placeholder (in limbo with no public content)
- 2008 to Today - Blog-o-riffic version (you’re looking at it!)
Now, let’s put these bits and bytes to work…
