| dont read this...read cryptic moth! them plastic boys are on a roll.... rolling! .....and action! |
[Aug. 9th, 2006|07:00 am] |
report&article>short>epic doc in procress blog
OK ian and gad, sure ur prolly sick of hearing me talk about these two documentary filmakers already (unless you watched their amazing short movie alphabet soup already, 11 minutes sure to blow you away. SHOCKING!). But since they are back on the road after a brief hiatus (this time acrosss the US of A) they are a postin' like mad. Well techincally they are posting like filmakers trying to get the wifi in the hotel after a long day of shooting, so\ there is a little time lag, as they're already in Tennessee and have already been to WASTEAWAY (the people who took Bonnaroo's non recyclable noncompostable garbage and turned it into picnic tables..). Still, there is just so much awesome stuff on thir blog. Go check it out. In what i consider to be the weirdest thing ever, they meet the crew who is making plastic out of chicken feathers. Yup, thats right, chicken feathers! so what are you waiting for? go read the Cryptic Moth in Flight |
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| Sony's Compostable Walkmans |
[Jun. 1st, 2006|06:22 am] |
I've talked about Ian & Gad a bunch-- they're hopping around the planet looking at the good, bad, ugly & inspiring aspects of plastic (hey plastic might be bad, but ask someone who has a plastic artificial heart how he feels about the stuff). On the Inspiring side they have seen plastic-free cities, wedding dresses made of plstic bags and other goodies. but todays entry, on tehir shoot yesterday at Sony is inspiring to the power of 12!! They goy the skinny on all of Sony's polylactic acid (PLA) compostable plastic wlakmans, cameras and more....
..that walkman over there, even the packaging is PLA! |
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| fujitsu & toray: biopolymer cellphones! |
[May. 22nd, 2006|08:51 am] |
Working with fellow Nippon company Toray Industries, Fujitsu has refined the microstructure and improved the mixing compatibility of its polylactic acid (PLA) material with polymer alloyed polycarbonate (a higher glass transition temperature). They says the new polymer alloy has the same heat resistance and moulding properties of the PLA previously developed by the companies, but with a 50% improvement in impact resistance. They just exhibited the mobile phone chassis at the Tokyo International Forum this week. It says it plans to use the new plastic in future mobile phone models to reduce the use of petroleum-based plastics. |
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| Ian Gad and the CrypotoMo-- still on the ro |
[May. 10th, 2006|06:01 am] |
Ian does Leggoland!
What fun, in a way, well at least what fun footage! Over at my favorite film-in-progress; the Cryptic Moth's plastic docudrama, (which I talked about down there, the plastic wedding dresses and of course ex Daily Planet producer/eco-whipping boy...) But who knew? who knew that they re-use scrap plastics (90%), C2C thinking, no PVC, lotsa eco praise... who knew? well, now we do, and when Ian and Gads movie is done, everyone will.... The only issue i have with all of it is why is he teasing us?? i mean look at this pic:
the oilrig is huge and over, waaay over on the right there's a wind turbine. OK Ian, whats with that? you holding out the best footage for your film?? well, i guess that makes sense... ok. yeah. fine. what fun all around!!
[Crytic Moth in flight....] |
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| ADM supermarket to the gas tank, extrusion plant, bioChem factory, and um... world (?) |
[Apr. 29th, 2006|08:10 am] |
The Andreas reign is over. New ADM CEO
is an Oil woman. What could this mean??
Say hello to Patty Woertz. She's the new CEO of Archer Daniels Midland. ADM is a huge company and their products are in so many products on a supermarket shelf, that if you thought about it your head would spin. Now I was never a fan of ADM founder Dwayne "sleezy" Andreas, and I'm not the only one. But every dark tunnel has a light at the end of it, and Patty might just be that light (Well one can hope). See ADM is a food company, They make corn syrup for soda-pop and food-relief packages, and well, pretty much cornered the corn and (non organic) soy markets so long ago that it's hard to find a conventional farmer who doesn't have a relationship with the "Supermarket to the World." But this appointment, Mrs. Woertz, is a new angle and definitely a glimmer of hope. Maybe. While I am hoping that she will come to terms with alternatives to chemical fertilizer, like rock dust in particular, that isn't where the glimmer comes from.
See Mrs. Woertz used to work in the oil industry. In fact she was executive vice president of Chevron before becoming President of Chevron Canada. She's an oilman. So whats an oil (wo)man doing running a corn stand? three words: bioplastics, ethanol & biodiesel.
See, this maybe good. Sure, this may end up being a HUGE boondoggle (remember there's someone else from Chevron who is seriously fucking the world up right now, they even named a tanker after her) But I'm hoping that this is a good sign. A woman who understands feedstocks (like plastic ones, not like feeding corn to pigs) and who knows how much power this woman can yield. Besides, it's not like Cargil's NaturworksPLA is so hot! And the demand for these materials at the moment is still huge as compared to the supply. So who knows? It may be a god thing after all...
[Chicago Business] |
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| Cryptic Moth In Flight |
[Apr. 24th, 2006|04:35 am] |
...from wedding dresses made with plastic bags,
to the best and worst that plastic has to offer...
OK I know I've told you about my buddy Ian before. Not only have I been proud as punch by his antics over the years (way back a million years ago we had a production company together, but that's a different story). But I am now going to put on my cheerleader costume and bring it on for him, as his latest really deserves some rah-rah rahing! Yes, this is the dood i hinted about a while back in a post here when he left Discovery Channel's Daily Planet. But his new journey is going to be even more amazing! He's now traveling around the world with a very talented editor, shooting & chopping videos to assemble the Mother of all Plastic Documentaries! He's got quite an agenda here, not to protest and just show you the bad, but the good, why we needed plastic, and then of course the hundreds of eco solutions that there are for plastics.
And of course, for your reading pleasure, he's even started a blog, charting the journey ....
So hats off to Ian and Gad, I am going to write up about them whenever something really stands out, but be sure to check out the blog and cheer them on. In uphill eco battles, allies always make it seem easier to cross the line... Plus he writes really well and has a great sense of humor, so laugh, cry and check out the Cryptic Moth in Flight
...and just in case you were wondering, this is a cryptic moth:
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| Story du Jour |
[Apr. 21st, 2006|04:16 am] |
microreactors make biodiesel on the fly...
This creditcard-sized microreactor, invented by OSU's Goran Jovanovic, will one day be making biodiesel as easily as milking a cow. In the world of Biodiesel, they have taken portability, speed, and efficiency to a new zenith. Like going from the ENIAC to an AlienWare. And it being EarthDay/Week/Month (really what day of the year isn't Earth day??), and what with Eco-info being the hot info of the moment (hopefully something that can sustain), and everybody* having a love-in with BioDiesel, you can see why this story, which actually broke a week ago in Oregon, has been spreading like wildfire lately.
I *asterixed "everybody loves biodiesel" up there because that's a little over the top, not "everybody loves biodiesel" (and I'm not even talking about Lee "What's for Dessert" Raymond here), we think it's clean. And if we make the biodiesel out of a new crop, like hemp grown on the side of highways, it can cycle it's carbon. But the reality is that BioDiesel emits carbon dioxide just like regular-unleaded, or nonbiodiesel. It also emits Nitrous Oxide (and that's no laughing matter. well it is, it's a gas really, but not when emmitted into the atmosphere). There's other particulates it emits. Its cleaner than DinoDiesel, that's for sure, but panacea? Nyet. I guess in some ways, it's the best that we can get at the moment. I mean you can convert a car to 100% electric and use it as a city car only. But for the open road, unless you wanna be a wayhardcore rebel and DIY maniac (and take your sweet time electrolyzing on the road), this is it.
And in that respect these microreactors are pretty cool. Also cool is the whole concept. Each card only processes a small amount of BioDiesel. But you can stack them so you would have something the size of a PC tower with thousands of them and that way, one can process a substantial amount of veggie-fuel! Dr. Jovanovic says that in the future we will be using these micro reactors for a variety of different purposes, so expect to be seeing a lot more of these gold cards around in the future. The good clean positive evolved future! |
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| ...friends in weird places |
[Mar. 31st, 2006|11:18 am] |
Bio plans eco-brunch junket for Journalists!
It's not quite lunch, and a little too late for breakfast, but this one brunch, two weeks away in Chicago has a totally different angle. And one that 'we' dig so much, BioPolymers!
Hosted by BIO- the Byotchek Industry Organization, this is the BIO 2006 Media Brunch for Foods and Consumer Products Produced Through Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology. (i know i know... sounds maybe good & maybe a little frankenfoodish, and i do like the green Biotchs-- when they grow stuff in dishes not in fields). But this Brunch is going to be fun! The invites are four journalists only (and bloggers, IF they apply by this evening)
The event will have a fashion show where the clothes are made from fermented polylactic acid (or PLA Natureworks, for short), all plates and ustensils will be compostable bio-goo instead of petroleum plastics, there will be a brief skit on cellulostic ethanol (which needs some BT to really make it a viable gasoline replacement), and an exhibit of new wonderfood/raw material polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA?), which includes bedding products, packaging materials, and baby products (great if the baby's name is Polly, or maybe Al).
( Read more... ) |
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| Meth Kills ....or does it?? |
[Mar. 30th, 2006|01:05 pm] |
Methanol, or CH3OH has been around the green world for some time now, every few months there's a story about some methanol PME fuel cell (proton membrane exchange) or direct methanol fuel cell, usually for cameras cellphones and laptops. But now MIT's Technology In Review shows off some fancy footwork in explaining why, not only is gool 'ol methanol (sans the fuel cell) good to go now for fueling our cars and buses (as opposed to the MethFCs), but that it can even be carbon neutral! An interesting take on stuff.... Me, I used to house methanol in the kitchen 'cause we'd be making biodiesel (and that's 94% veggie oil, 5% methanol 1`% lye) but i love the idea of a carbon neutral methanol infrastructure (especially if it means not letting any of that melted permafrost methane up into the polar atmosphere...). Love MIT!! |
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| Plus ça change, plus ça reste la même |
[Mar. 6th, 2006|01:12 pm] |
Former CIA head spook R. James Woolsey gets standing ovation from Hippies in Eugene Oregon!
According to Eugene's Register Guard, North American Industrial Hemp Council board member (and former CIA head under Clinton) R. James Woolsey wows 'em with what imnsho seemed like a piecemeal call to Biofuels and Ethanol... Meh... |
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