w o r d s

Laura just called and pointed me to a story on biodiesel on NPR’s Morning Edition:

Mike Pelly, owner of Olympia Green Fuels, uses bio-diesel fuel to power his two cars. He makes the mixture from used vegetable oil discarded by Chinese restaurants and fast-food joints. Pelly tells Steve Inskeep how it works. NPR : Driving a ‘Green’ Vehicle

Our local “paper of record,” the News & Observer, published a brief item about our biodiesel pump. (2nd item on the page)

Interesting post on a Biodiesel-hydrogen-powered hummer Limo in New Mexico (and other renewable energy experiments).

BTW - talking about renewable energy … Iceland uses its abundant geothermal energy to produce electricity and heat.

America’s addiction to oil is one of her most serious problems. It is a burden on the economy because it drains trillions of dollars from this country every year. And it is the Achilles’ Heel of the economy because oil is getting more and more expensive, and eventually we will run out of oil. At that point, the US economy will collapse if it has to go “cold turkey” on petroleum.

To spread this message several organizations got together and launched a campaign to invite Americans to sign a Declaration of Independence from Oil. I, for one, am happy to sign the declaration. My car runs on veggies :)

Go ahead and sign the declaration to send a message to Cheney and Ford.

So I guess I survived the first day back at work after our awesome, two-week vacation in Iceland and Germany. We are still processing the sights, sounds and cultural impressions. Iceland struck us as a very cool and quietly very powerful place. Huge geological forces are at work here, glaciers and volcanoes shape this island. Everywhere you see hissing steam vents, boiling mud holes, groaning icebergs, vast lava deserts and massive waterfalls in lush valleys. The Icelanders are a quiet, self-reliant people whose culture was shaped by toughing it out on this remote, inhospitable rock in the Atlantic.

For five days we explored Reykjavik (the capital) and the southern coast of Iceland. We had great weather - lots of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50s (15 degrees C). Even the most popular tourist attractions outside Reykjavik were not particularly crowded, maybe a dozen cars and a couple of tour buses at the most. And at some of the waterfalls and famous black sand beaches we saw hardly more than a handful other tourists. And this was the peak of the season!

After five days in Iceland, we continued to Frankfurt and spent 9 days cruising south-west Germany to visit friends and family. It was quite hot in Germany, and after Iceland, Germany seemed twice as crowded and hectic. We did a bit of sightseeing, too. and visited the Freiburg cathedral, the ducal palace and gardens in Ludwigsburg and the Heidelberg castle. Pretty standard tourist fare, but pretty interesting, nevertheless. And after the $10-beers and hot dogs in Iceland we did enjoy relatively inexpensive and tasty food in Germany.

The children certainly deserve mention as seasoned travellers who weathered jet lag, long drives, unusual foods and a rather exhausting pace with bravado and style. They seemed to enjoy every new little adventure, and they brought fresh curiosity to every new place we explored.

Now it’s back to the grindstone and work, work, work …. as soon as I have the time, I’ll set up a nice photo album for the trip.

Wow - back in silly-visation after 5 days in Iceland! What a gorgeous, wild raw place! Pictures to follow. After that, Germany seems twice as hectic and crowded. But the weather is great and the beer is a LOT better and more affordable than in Iceland.

Oh boy! Don’t take your greasecar into Yellowstone (via Sustainablog):

Larry Joy, a 53-year-old electrician, said the bear shattered a window on his 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit, tipped the plastic fuel tank on its side and gnawed on car hoses about two weeks ago. He said the evidence included muddy paw prints around the broken window and a pool of cooking oil on the rear floorboard.
Newsday.com: Owner of biodiesel car says smell of vegetable oil attracted bear