Posted By RichC on May 15, 2007
Saw this video clip and am using it to to fill in a ‘non-posting’ day. Also … solo circumnavigating sailor Donna Lange should be getting into Bristol, Rhode Island sometime late on Wednesday night … if the winds hold. (she is engine-less)
Posted By RichC on May 14, 2007
Wow … I’m totally impressed after only one day of using the Jawbone Bluetooth Headset, so far its great. (audio MP3 link — my ‘real life’ test)
After struggling to find a bluetooth headset for use with my Palm Treo 700p, I’ve finally found one that I can finally recommend. As someone who spends part of each week traveling, I find it usefully to be able to make clear and professional phone calls while in a car or in a “less than ideal office” environment.
In my tests, I used a fairly noisy car and after trying the highly rated and minuscule Jabra JX10 (about $100) … I have found it sorely lacking. Its ability to connect reliably with my PDA/phone — partly the Treo 700p’s fault — and that fact that its microphone is ‘super sensitive’ has found me not bothering to even travel with it. In fact, I even switched back to a low cost generic Motorola Bluetooth headset that I pick up for $20. It actually works better, but its still not a very good choice in my opinion; its doesn’t work all that well with my phone and still has problems in a small car — too much background noise. I eventually have gone back to just holding the phone or using my tangled wired headset for longer phone calls. (my retractable Seidio Earbud Headphones broke)
After watching the video clip on the Jawbone site, I though … “hmm, if this is for real, it will be worth the $100 ‘discounted’ price.” So far I have no regrets, although it is a bit more clumsy and less robust than the popular Motorola ‘cockroach’ Bluetooth headset … although very comfortable to wear. I still haven’t figured out the best way to carry it without leaving it ‘hanging’ from the ear, but in the car I’ve found the Treo 700p’s stub antenna a worthwhile hook! (the shirt pocket works okay, but I’ve already leaned over and dropped it on a tile floor!)
😉
Posted By RichC on May 13, 2007
Slow to post a Happy Mother’s Day greeting today … but then I was enjoying the day with my mom. Happy Mother’s Day to all moms.
Posted By RichC on May 12, 2007
Those occasionally reading my blog have no doubt seen a post or two on solo circumnavigating sailor Donna Lange, well today is no exception as she is only a few days from Bristol, Rhode Island. After facing a nasty blow in April [1] [2][3], Donna was forced to hole up and make repairs in Bermuda. To her amazement, supporters following her voyage treated her with a ticket home to the U.S. so she could attend the planned media bash/ homecoming celebrating her journey. (and it has been a life journey as much as it has been a voyage) For Donna, the celebration was overwhelming and her spirit was soaring. As May rolled in, she returned to the task at hand, repairing her 28 foot sailboat, Inspired Insanity and preparing for that last leg home.
Of the highest priority was the self-steering gear and wind generator as both are near necessities when sailing alone. Second was replacing the starter on her diesel, of which was though to be at the root of most of the engine problems, unfortunately the was another diesel injector pump problem. She and help on Bermuda tried for two day to repair, but finally the mechanical beast got the best of her and she toss lines without diesel auxiliary power. Its a sailboat right?
Her ships log or journey finds her sailing happily along miles from Bermuda and miles from her destination in Bristol, RI … although she is not to far from the Gulf Stream. (current that runs north then northeast off the eastern coast of the United States) Yesterday she commented on dolphins, “just before sundown. a single dolphin appeared … I dashed down to get my tin whistle and when I returned, the water was churning with small green and gray dolphins.. leaping in 7’s, broaching, jumping. I played music and they played around the boat a long time. It was glorious and such a boost to my energy” and then it was a whale … “I saw a burst of water blast into the air to the SW of me. Sure enough the rounding of the hump of a bigger whale followed. A tail broached.. Magnificent. Though near a mile away, I couldn’t resist playing him/her a round of tunes on the whistle. I saw the whale broach a couple times following along side me before I saw her no more. My first whale sighting in my whole trip.”
As she sails her final couple of day toward home, I’m somewhat melancholy as the voyage comes to a close. I’ve enjoyed participating through emails, her music and positive and uplifting outlook. Both my daughter and wife have read Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling book, “The Secret” … and now I hear Donna commenting on it too. It seems they may all be onto something … “you get what you put out there.” Interestingly, people are drawn to others with a positive outlook, included Donna Lange. She exemplifies putting much of this philosophy into practice … from pursuing a voyage around the world in a small sailboat, to her notorious “All good.” Thanks Donna.
Posted By RichC on May 11, 2007
The answer to the above question is that we really don’t know. Fuel quality ‘verification’ in Ohio has been a pet peeve of mine for some time now and I’ve written my share of letters to state legislators. The fact that Ohio is one of four states that doesn’t test the quality of the fuel that is sold to consumers at the pump makes me wonder if we are a target for ‘fuel dumping?’ How does one know that premium is of higher octane than regular? Do you trust the sign on the pump?
Fuel dumping is something that can take place if stations are not self-regulating themselves, which I assume most do … especially if they want to avoid lawsuits. Cincinnati’s neighboring state Kentucky has checked fuel quality through sampling since the 1980s and plans on building a new facility to be even more thorough. I question whether an unscrupulous distributor could occasionally sell mixed loads of questionable gasoline or diesel across the Ohio River into our state … why not … there isn’t any testing? The distributor might be able to ‘dump’ his fuel and Ohioans wouldn’t be the wiser. (until their car suffers premature engine related problems … see “Are all Gasolines the same?“)
Major fuel suppliers in Ohio claim that this isn’t an issue and that the fuel purchasing public has little reason to not trust the fuel being delivered. I’m a bit more skeptical, not necessarily from the big name companies, but from smaller distributors that end up with a mixed load of fuel and the temptation to deliver it as higher octane fuel. WLWT, Channel 5 in Cincinnati, confirmed that the state legislature will be deciding on two bill which should address our state,s shortcoming in verifying fuel quality. As I see it, the county auditor’s office already checks to see if a gallon is a gallon, taking a few fuel sample shouldn’t be that much more difficult?
If the fuel-testing legislation gets the green light, Ohio drivers could see testing by the end of the summer.
“It would mean if you go into a gas station and you’re buying 89-octane fuel, it will be 89-octane fuel (with) very few contaminates or water in the fuel,” said Kevin Pyle of the Hamilton County Auditor’s Office.
Posted By RichC on May 10, 2007
Sprint and Palm have confirmed the availability date for the anticipated successor to the Palm Treo 700p … the Treo 755p, which will be available through Sprint May 14th. The slightly smaller 755p will give Palm OS users an improved size by removing the irritating antenna stub and thinning down the chunky 700p just a bit. To accomplish this the new model has given up a little standby and talk time with a smaller standard battery (1600 vs 1800mAh) and switching to a miniSD card verse standard SD in the 700p. The new Treo is in keeping with the consumer friendly 680 model which is antenna-less and thin as well. From the specification comparison sheet at Treonauts, about everything else is the same. Until there is a OS improvement, WiFi or bump in camera quality … I’m not sure I even want to change phones? (fullsize Palm Treo 755p photo below)
Posted By RichC on May 9, 2007
Tried to post this photo from the Palm Treo via Flickr, but it didn’t work this morning … hmm? Anyway, after filling up my Volkswagen TDI with some left over B100 at home ($2.50/gal – leftover from last year), I stopped at the Sunoco renewable fuels station at the I-71 Mt. Gilead exit 151. Price was a little higher than the $2.63 diesel across the bridge, but then I could only squeeze in $10.00 of biodiesel. (B-20 = $2.83)
The more pressing issue of replacing my failing alternator was accomplished with the generous help of Bruce Bowling of our local CinciTDI group. He just happened to be attending ImpexFest IV this past weekend and offered to pick up my pre-ordered Bosch alternator and bring it back with him. (I’ll ship back my old core; $100 deposit) Thankfully Bruce was able to stay, along with his son Eric and grand-daughter, because this was not a simple alternator swap. Accessing the alternator on an A4 TDI required a little more knowledge than the average VW owner or perhaps even weekend TDI handyman? The surprise for me was that it required significant force to pry the old alternator forward after removing the bolts, I thought for sure something was going to break, as there didn’t seem to be an easy way to do this.
Once out, the question of “is the problem the alternator?” continued to haunt me; thankfully buying the new alternator, and not just the pulley, was the right call. We were able to detect a grinding sound when spinning by hand. Once all was reinstalled (pretty straight forward) the little diesel was back to the appropriate ‘clatter.’ Again, my thanks to Bruce for his wisdom and wrenching skills.
The only glitch came when I switch on the air conditioning today and nothing happened. Simple … we forgot to put the plug back on the AC compressor! It was a hot and tight reach to get that plug back where it belonged today … can you smell my burnt flesh?
🙂
Posted By RichC on May 8, 2007
I liked Megan Murphy’s post over on the Renewable Energy Access site enough that I didn’t want it to get lost … so I’m archiving it here for reference. An algae biodiesel article is in the works and I’ll keep my eye open for it.
May 8, 2007
How Does Biodiesel Affect U.S Energy Consumption?
Q: I am a retired biochemist and worked as a rice farmer from 1945 to 1949. So I am concerned about supply of oil for food production, which is now completely dependent on oil-driven machinery in the U.S., Japan and others. I would appreciate it, if you could give me some information on biodiesel production. — Hitoshi Maruyama, Kenmore, WAA: I wish I could say biodiesel, a renewable alternative to diesel fuel, is produced in such a way that it could safeguard our food supply from the effects of declining oil reserves and permanently higher fuel prices. Unfortunately, biodiesel is not a silver bullet, able to eliminate American agriculture’s dependence on fossil fuels. But biodiesel, produced sustainably and reducing our petroleum demand, can make the transition to a new energy economy less painful.
In 2005, America’s farms spent $27.4 billion on energy-related expenses. That breaks down to $3.4 billion on electricity and $12.8 billion on fertilizers that along with pesticides create a significant, indirect source of fossil fuel-dependent energy consumption for agriculture. The fuels and oils required to operate equipment and machinery cost farmers $11.2 billion, and included the cost of about 3.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel used to plant, tend, and harvest our crops and raise our livestock (1).
It sounds like a lot but the total energy use by the agriculture sector peaked in 1978, and has decreased since then despite increased agricultural output (2). Farm equipment and practices have become more efficient as farmers stay competitive in the market by keeping their energy costs down.
In America, a common way to produce biodiesel is from virgin soybean oil. The oil is harvested from the plant and sold on the commodities market. A biodiesel producer purchases the oil and ships it to a biodiesel refinery, where the process of making biodiesel, a transesterification reaction, takes place. The large triglyceride molecules of vegetable oil are broken into the smaller and less viscous, long chain mono alkyl esters of biodiesel. The reaction requires a short chain alcohol (usually methanol) and a catalyst (usually sodium or potassium hydroxide) (3). Glycerin, a sugar, is also produced in the reaction and is often sold to industry for use in soap, cosmetics, and many other applications.
The American biodiesel industry is experiencing tremendous growth, from its humble beginning of less than 10 biodiesel plants in 2000 to 65 plants operating and 58 more under construction or expanding in 2006. Biodiesel production capacity is projected to reach 1.7 billion gallons by 2008 (4).
1.7 billion gallons of biodiesel would cover almost half of the 3.5 billion gallons of diesel we use on farms, but biodiesel is not just sold to farmers and 1.7 billion gallons is more of a drop in the bucket when it comes to the annual 60 billion gallons of diesel fuel consumed in America.
Making a dent in the total diesel consumed in the U.S. would require a lot of biodiesel. According to a white paper from John Deere & Company, use of a B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% petroleum diesel) blend nationwide is an attainable goal. “It would require 1.1 billion gallons of pure biodiesel… [and] consume all the soybean oil from 18 million acres, or about one-fourth of current U.S. soybean production (5).” (John Deere & Co. is forgetting about my favorite, sustainable feedstock, Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). And are you wondering about algae? Stay tuned for my next column.)
Eighteen million acres of soybeans grown for fuel to meet 2% of our nation’s diesel fuel demand, when my salad came all the way from California? Biodiesel cannot replace all or even close to all of the diesel fuel we consume here in the U.S. But there are simple and delicious ways to reduce our food supply’s dependence on petroleum like buying local, organic produce.
I live on the East Coast and on average the produce available here is 3 to 4 days older than the produce available in California. I don’t want to spend a lifetime eating old lettuce and wasting fuel. Fortunately, there is a growing movement towards Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in America, where small organic farms can provide enough vegetables to support 200 to 300 local families on 5 to 10 acres of land. Here in upstate New York, I can get almost all of my produce during the growing season from the local farmers’ market or join a CSA and have a weekly share of what is in season. I can ride a bike (the chain greased with biodiesel) to where my beets are grown, instead of having them shipped to me from California. I find fresh vegetables and efficiency very appetizing.
So make your biodiesel sustainable and eat your locally grown kale and we might just make it out of this pinch.
Footnotes:
1. United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. “Adjusted Distillate Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales by End Use,” 2005.
2. United States Department of Agriculture. “Energy and Agriculture,” August, 2006.
3. United States Department of Energy. “Biodiesel Handling and Use Guidelines,” March, 2006.
4. Borgman, Don. “Agriculture, Bio-fuels and Striving for Greater Energy Independence: A John Deere perspective on the realistic role US agriculture can play in satisfying America’s increasing appetite for renewable fuels,” January 4, 2007.
5. Ibid— Meghan Murphy
Posted By RichC on May 8, 2007
The Green Car Congress posted that the new Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen that has been displayed at autoshows (see previous post) will also be heading to the US with a diesel option … eventually. The wagon model of the New Jetta is anticipated by VW TDI buyers who find the added versatility and cargo carrying capability of the Golfs and Wagons an advantage over the sedan. The new Sportwagen offers a 5.4% increase in space over the older A4 platform and should offer excellent fuel economy as well.
Volkswagen plans to deliver the first European versions (Golf Variant called the Sportline) in Germany with other countries following thereafter. If you are in the US, don’t expect the diesel version until sometime after June 2008, the expected date for Bluemotion diesels — New Jetta — to arrive in US. (according to my local dealership; although dealer delivery dates are notoriously wrong.)
The new vehicle will offer two diesel and three gasoline engines, including four direct injection engines. (European versions) The entry-level engine is a 1.6-liter four cylinder that outputs 75 kW (100 hp). For more power, the twincharged TSI gas engines deliver 103 kW (138 hp) 125 kW (168 hp) respectively. According the article, the TDI diesels options are the 77 kW (103 hp) and 103 kW (138 hp) engine. Both are factory-equipped with diesel particulate filters. A DSG dual clutch transmission is optional on all but the smallest engine. The US version of the Variant will be the Jetta Sportwagen.
EDIT:Inside Line is reporting that VW expects 2008 Sportwagens ordered with the 2.0 diesel engine to get EPA numbers of 40 city/60 highway. (I’ll believe it when it is printed on the sticker)
🙂
Posted By RichC on May 7, 2007
Posting a ‘Surfing’ video from Teahupoo, Tahiti, the location of the ‘world’s heaviest wave’ surfing event this week as forty international big guns and forty local specialists battle it out in the Air Tahiti Nui Von Zipper Trials.