Today was the funeral of my co-worker Shirley, or as West Durham Baptist Church called it, her Homegoing Celebration. The church was full, and the mood was somber, but not depressed. Shirley had touched many people with kindness and generosity, and many of the people who came to bid farewell to her were grateful for having known her.

I liked Shirley a lot, and I’ll never forget the delicious eggplant and zucchini she grew and so generously shared with me and other co-workers. She had a real “green thumb” and seemed to thoroughly enjoy gardening. At work, Shirley was our fastest, most experienced data-entry clerk, and it was quite amazing to see her calmly flipping through the pages of the instrument, while the fingers of her right hand were dancing across the computer keyboard.

Shirley died on April 20, 2007, at Duke Medical Center in Durham. She is survived by one son, one brother, two sisters, and one aunt, as well as a host of nieces and nephews, relatives and friends.

Yesterday was the Durham Earth Day Celebration and it was a gorgeous, sunny and very busy day. We had a Piedmont Biofiuels/BullCity Biodiesel booth at the event and Chris brought his brand-new, jet-black 2006 Jetta TDI over for show-and-tell. Interest in biodiesel and alternative fuels in general was really strong, and our volunteers Jeff, Gary, and Chris were busy most of the day. We had a wide range of discussions and conversations, from the basics like “what’s the difference between diesel and gasoline engines?” to advanced topics like how Blutec will impact biodiesel.

Local media were also interested in our message. Kimberley Pierce of WNCU did a 3-Minute, live interview with Jeff and I. WNCU is a community-funded radio station based at North Carolina Central University. The folks from the Duke University Center for Documentary Studies interviewed us, too. It was also a great day for networking, and in several conversations I brought up the idea of using pure biodiesel in the Durham School buses to reduce the exposure of our school kids to toxic exhaust fumes.

There was some debate among the biodieselers about showing off a stock, off-the-shelf car. Some argued that showing off a cool veggie car would attract more attention I thought it was an important point to demonstrate that a nice-looking, affordable car with no modifications whatsoever, can also be an alternative fuel vehicle, that burns a locally produced, mostly carbon neutral, relatively clean fuel.

An SVO-converted veggie car does attract more attention, and it’s very cool from a geek perspective. But I think the media already focus too much on this tiny minority of biofuel die hards, and that makes it look to the general public like they have to invest in expensive, complicated conversion kits in order to use biofuels. When you talk to folks, every other question is “how do you convert the engine?” when, of course, there is no conversion required at all for using biodiesel. And the focus on SVO conversions also tends to associate biofuels with funky-looking, 1970s Mercedes’ or VWs. Most people prefer a more modern ride. So showing off a comfortable, nice looking state-of-the art automobile really made a difference, I think.

Togo is not a poor country. But sadly, few citizens of the small, West African nation share in whatever wealth this country produces. This is documented by the pathetic $1,600 per-capita GDP – a bit less than Haiti ($1,800) and a bit more than Afghanistan ($1,500) (sources: Wikipedia and CIA).

Nothing illustrates better the wealth of Togo than the lifestyle of those Togolese with their fingers in the pie. Like the gentleman in the picture, who is the Defense Minister of Togo, and who runs the Togolese state cotton production monopoly and the gold mining operations, and who’s twin brother runs the Mills of Togo. According to LeTogolais Monsieur Kpatcha recently treated himself to a new, comfortable mode of transportation: a Rolls Royce Phantom – and apparently not just one, or two, but – count ’em (if you can) – three!! Three Rolls Royce Phantom – each for the tidy sum of €300,000 ($340,000). And he probably also had Route Nationale No. 1 re-paved between Lomé and Kara, so his new ride won’t suffer.

Kpatcha Gnassingbe – yes, of course he is a Gnassingbe – is another son of Gnassinbe Eyadema, the former strongman of Togo. Apparently Kpatcha is locked in a struggle for power with his little brother Faure (the current president of Togo). This power struggle could be bad news for the Togolese people, because “when the elephants fight, the grass suffers.” The average Togolese has nothing to gain in this fight. If anything, Kpatcha may be worse, and less scrupulous than Faure. Let’s hope this struggle won’t be taken out on the backs of the average Togolese.

[update 4/23: see some more info about Kpatcha below the fold]

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Between the news of the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech (we’re all Hokies this week!), a slightly hectic, double trip to the beach and another offer on a new house, we’ve had a busy, weird time lately.

Last week the kids were off from school, so on Thursday we drove to Atlantic Beach, to join a friend and her daughter at her beach house. Friday, I drove back to Durham, where Laura and I made an offer on a house and had a nice night out on the town. Saturday, I drove to Raleigh, where Piedmont Biofuels had its annual membership meeting at the McKimmon Center (nice digs!). I had promised to present the Durham update to the members, which I did. After that, I hopped back in the car and cruised back to the beach, for another walk in the sand and a couple of margaritas.  Sunday, we cleaned up, I packed the kids into the car and we took off, in the midst of huge downpours from this nasty cold front that was sweeping into the area. This front had brought tornadoes to the Midwest and I think some funnel clouds were spotted in North Carolina as well. I find it a bit nerve-wracking to drive on those coastal highways in such downpours, because the roads have these huge ditches on the side, and in the rain they fill with water – up to 8 feet in some places. If the car slides off the road, you’re likely to end up in the water and drown! Anyway – we made it home with no problem.

… computer product (according to PC World).

AOL mailed a billion of these annoying CDs to people, and I think I received most of them.

Coming up for air a bit … we have some big projects going on, like getting our house ready to put on the market (to sell it) and looking for a new place to live. We’re planning to stay here in Durham, we just need a third bedroom, and a change in scenery.

Anyway – one of the projects I am working on is my biodiesel road tax. Figuring out how to “be legal” when using homebrew is turning out to be more complicated than actually making the stuff. And I am not even necessarily the trailblazer here. A lot of the groundwork seems to have been done by Piedmont Biofuels and other homebrewers. At this point, my biggest hurdle appears to be to convince a bonding company to post a $2000 bond with the state.

To be very clear: please do not take any of this information as legal advice. I am just documenting my experience for the benefit of a public discussion. I AM NOT A LAWYER.

In North Carolina, when one operates a licensed vehicle on public highways, one is required to pay road tax. (NC General Statute, Chapter 105, Article 36C) That tax is collected as part of the cost of the fuel for that vehicle, and all commercial retailers of fuel are required to collect that tax. But what happens if you don’t buy fuel from a retailer, and make your own instead? Do you still have to pay the road tax?

Well, the law is based on your use of North Carolina highways, not on the source of the fuel. If you use the highways, you have to pay taxes. If you don’t use the highways, you don’t have to pay taxes. That’s why you can get dyed, off-road fuel, which is not taxed, and which is only for use in off-road equipment, like farm vehicles, construction vehicles, recreational vehicles, etc. So if you make fuel yourself and use it in a vehicle on the highway, you have to pay road tax.

To be able to pay that tax to the NC Dept. of Revenue (NCDOR), you have to become a licensed and bonded “Biodiesel Provider.” So I emailed the NCDOR and today I received in the mail my very own form GAS-1262 – the NC Motor Fuels Tax License Application. Many of the NC DOR forms can be downloaded from the DOR website, but currently this one is not available online. So that’s about 20 pages of “light reading” and some trivia questions, like “Are you a shipper of record on one of the commercial pipelines serving North Carolina?”

No problem.

The other piece of this equation is the bond. Article 36C requires that Biodiesel Providers post a $2000 bond with the state. One of the most common ways to do this is to pay a bonding agency. So I contacted a friend of mine who is an insurance broker and also an agent for CNA Surety. Boy, those bonding folks are not easy to please. They wanted to know exactly what statute of NC law requires me to get a bond, and they said something about wanting an “official financial statement” from me. Can’t they just run a credit check? Well, we’ll see how that turns out.

So if I can get the bonding guys to do their thing (to the tune of $100/year!), I’ll just have to fill out the application, and I should be legal, and able to pay road tax to the state.

Beautiful, melancholic video of the demolition of the Durham Hotel, Durham, North Carolina, in 1975.

video by Billie Mann

Over the years, in conversations about sports, I have always identified myself as a biker – a mountain biker. Not a particularly competitive specimen, I lack the colorful outfit and fancy bike, but I do enjoy very much taking my 17-year-old Simonelli bike on a challenging single-track out in the woods. We’re just a 10-Minute drive down the road from a very nice 7-mile loop at Little River Park, and I try my best to hit the trail regularly.

The problem is that the park manager closes the MTB trails when it is too wet, to prevent damage to the trail and the forest. That is fine – I support that. So I began to just go for a run when the bike trails are closed. There are two nice hiking trails in the park, and they are great for running. The trails wind through a different part of the park, and run along the creeks and rivers in the back part of the park. They offer a totally different view of the land as the bike trails, which climb up a small hill.

So today I ran 5 Miles on those trails, and it was great! Last night thunderstorms moved through the area, and dumped a 3/4 inch (2 cm) of rain. Right now the redbuds and the dogwoods are blooming, and the other trees are breaking out in an ever-so-tender green. It’s been getting pretty warm, and it was 85 Deg. F (29°C) and the humidity this morning was at least 500 percent. Still, it was a fun run and the forest was really beautiful.

The US and the EU have reached a deal to liberalize transatlantic air travel. It may seem like a good idea to allow US airlines and EU airlines to send their planes to any destination in Europe and the US. It will increase competition and presumably give consumers more choice and lower prices. And they call this “Open Skies.”

In reality this deal looks to me like it will choke the already crowded sky even more. This deal is unlikely to provide me with a direct Lufthansa connection to Stuttgart from RDU or other smaller airports in the US to smaller airports in Europe. It will, however, increase traffic congestion at already extremely busy airports, like Atlanta, JFK and O’Hare, and it will increase the air traffic across the Atlantic. While evidence is mounting that air pollution is dangerously changing the global climate, this deal will put even more jets into the sky, depleting fossil fuel reserves and pumping greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

The German Constitutional Court ruled (de) that symbols that use the Nazi schwastika as part of a clear, unambigous ANTI-Nazi message is legal in Germany.

WOW. I was a bit worried about this.

It would have been quite ironic if people who clearly express an Anti-Nazi sentiment had been criminally prosecuted for wearing the illegal Nazi symbol. Especially as there is a well-documented resurgence of Nazi- and White-supremacist ideology in Germany.  AND after it was revealed that members of the police security detail for a former member of the Jewish council in Germany were Nazi sympathisers (de).

Durham is supposedly number 8 of the best places to live in the US:

Yay, Durham – the birthplace of … uh … [CTRL]+[ALT]+[Delete]!??

In 1947, Ghana was the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to shake the yoke of colonialism and take its destiny in it’s own hands. It joined a group of only seven other, independent African nations: Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, the Sudan, Tunisia, and Egypt (then known as the United Arab Republic). In 50 years of independence this vibrant nation has seen ups and downs, coups and counter-coups, but also long periods of political and economic stability. Today, this stronghold of Pan Africanism is a country permeated by a particular sense of independence and pride in its heritage. In the last 15 years, Ghana has had free elections and a peaceful government transition from Jerry Rawlings to John Kufuor. Ghana is far from perfect. But today this diverse nation is a hopeful example and a beachhead for democracy in West Africa.

Happy Birthday, Ghana!

[update 3/7: pictures of the parade and a report of Kufuors’ speech]

… accidentally. In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, 170 armed Swiss troops crossed into the tiny neighboring Principality of Liechtenstein. They got lost in bad weather in the Alps during a training exercise and strayed a mile into the unarmed principalities sovereign territory. Scrambling to prevent any escalation, both countries immediately launched diplomatic efforts and were able to peacefully resolve this incident.

Oh boy – that was a close one! :)

BTW: Liechtenstein is the only country left with direct historical continuity back to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (The First Reich).

The other day Marc posted a message to the BIG list with a link to an article that is quite critical of the biofuels industry, and a good example of some of the one-sided thinking of the critics of biofuels.

THE REAL SCOOP ON BIOFUELS
“Green Energy” Panacea or Just the Latest Hype?

by Brian Tokar, WW4 REPORT

You can hardly open up a major newspaper or national magazine these days without encountering the latest hype about biofuels, and how they’re going to save oil, reduce pollution and prevent climate change. Bill Gates, Sun Microsystems’ Vinod Khosla, and other major venture capitalists are investing millions in new biofuel production, whether in the form of ethanol, mainly derived from corn in the US today; or biodiesel, mainly from soybeans and canola seed. It’s virtually a “modern day gold rush,” as described by the New York Times, paraphrasing the chief executive of Cargill, one of the main benefactors of increased subsidies to agribusiness and tax credits to refiners for the purpose of encouraging biofuel production. (MORE)

For the most part, this article trots out the usual caveats of the biofuels industry and it is hard to argue against the argument that there is not significant hype and profiteering going on in this industry.

However, I find it odd that they choose to so unequivocally slam biofuels, as they tout the site as a resource for information about what they call World War 4 (clearly, the site is a hype-free zone!). A major factor of most major, current conflicts around the globe is access to fossil oil reserves or control of transit routes for oil and oil products (Iraq, Darfur, Chechnya, Afghanistan).

While the issues of competing food/fuel production, land use, agro-pollution and energy balances are real, and quite relevant, the article frames biofuels in the tired hype-or-panacea dichotomy. This is an overly simplistic view and intellectual laziness. No, biofuels are not a panacea. No, soy and corn will not take care of all of the world’s fuel needs. That does not mean biofuels are not worth pursueing! There is a lot of work to be done to make biofuels a a truly viable alternative for fossil fuels, especially in the big picture. But we have to start now, and we can. The power of this technology is that it is simple, and it is easily accessible.

What irks me most, though, is the point at the end of the article, that argues that conservation is the panacea for all the world’s energy needs, and that no one pushes for greater energy efficiency because there is no profit in conservation. First of all, there is a huge overlap between the alt. fuels folks and the conservation community. Most biodieselers I know also drive very fuel-efficient VWs, not Hummers. I find it offensive that the author of the article seems to suggest that the biofuels community just wants to switch to biofuels, and not make adjustments to achieve greater efficiency.

Second, I think as energy cost rises, thee are excellent commercial opportunities in conservation. The Toyota Prius is a great example. And gasoline-electric hybrid cars are certainly not a panacea to the world’s energy needs, but that does not mean conservation does not work, does it?

Lots of stuff is brewing. I started a Mr Brew keg – 2 gallons of Märzen – I am very curious how that’s going to turn out. I also have 50 gallons of biodiesel settling in the basement. I am running low on methanol – need to make a run to the Roxboro Dragway for some “racing alky.”

Today, I went to the Piedmont board meeting. Lots going on there, too. Among many other things., we’re getting ready for the annual membership meeting in April. We’re planning to move the Bull City Biodiesel tank – the juicebox – to a new location on Angier Ave.

The Africa trip we had planned for June won’t happen. The person who was coordinating the Ghana stuff for Laura’s store is seriously ill and in the hospital. So Laura had to cancel the trip. So now we’re trying to figure out whether we should go by ourselves in the fall.

Friday, I got a growler of the latest brew from Foothills – the Sexual Chocolate Stout. It’s a seasonal brew, and they don’t even list it on their website. But this is a truly amazing beer. It is malty and thick and pitch-black, and it coats the glass when you pour it. I find the flavor to be more mocha and cocoa, not so much chocolate-sweet (like Youngs Double Chocolate Stout). And boy, is it intense! You can taste the almost 10 percent alcohol a bit, but only enough to serve as a discreet warning. What a brew!

Jean-Sylvanus Olympio, the founder and CEO of the consulting firm Consultencia, won a prestigious French entrepreneurship award earlier this month in Paris. The chief geek himself, Bill Gates, handed the Master de la Création 2007 award to Olympio at the Salon des Entrepreneurs conference in front of 6000 people.

Video of the ceremony (via Togocity)

Video of an interview with Olympio after he received the award (via Le Togolais)

So who is Jean-Sylvanus Olympio? Clearly he is Togolese, and he bears a rather famous name: Sylvanus Olympio was the first president of Togo and he was asassinated in 1963 by Gnassinbé Eyadema, the father of the current president. Olympio’s son, Gilchrist is a prominent opposition leader. He tried to run for president several times, but he was bumped out of the race by the RPT on technicalities. It sounds like Jean-Sylvanus Olympio might be a son of Gilchrist and a grand-son of the first president. There is some speculatioin to that effect in the discussion of the Togocity story. I’ll keep digging to see if that is confirmed.

Our local paper, the News & Observer, ran a story today about the status of alternative fuels in the Triangle area and yours truly is mentioned as one of the local “biodiesel nuts” :) … I wish Bull City Biodiesel got a bit more credit for providing 1000 gallons of biodiesel a month to Durham. But at least Piedmont gets good exposure.

Fill-up stations offering a mix of petroleum and high amounts of ethanol, fuel from fermented plant material, can be hard to find. Biodiesels — fuels made from plant and animal fats sometimes, mixed with petroleum — are scattered here and there, known mainly to devotees. One provider of nearly pure biodiesel has a limited number of pump stations accessible only at set hours and only to members of a cooperative.

A few people, including Jurgen Henn, have succeeded in driving off the gasoline grid entirely.

Once a week, Henn walks from his Duke University office in Durham’s Brightleaf District to collect plastic jugs of used cooking oil that three local restaurants save for him.

In his basement at home in Bahama, Henn blends methanol and potash with the discarded grease in a biodiesel reactor built with plumbing parts and a water heater. When his diesel Volkswagen Jetta runs low on fuel, he just pours in his home brew.

“I try to limit the amount of fossil fuel I use. We need to save that stuff as much as we can for our kids and for their kids,” said Henn, a Duke University computer network specialist.

Others buy their biodiesel from a local manufacturer, the Piedmont Biofuels Cooperative. Beth Grabowski, an art professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, is one of 400 members of the co-op. She fills her car with 99.9 percent petroleum-free biodiesel at a pump on Carrboro Public Works property, one of seven co-op pumps in the Triangle. The fuel comes from a reactor the co-op runs in Chatham County that now produces about 1 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

Triangle’s fuel choices are few, News & Observer, Feb 22, 2007

This weekend, I finally tried out my Mr Beer homebrew. I patiently waited 4 weeks for this stuff, and I was rewarded with a rather tasty brew. I let it sit in the barrel a week longer than prescribed, because it had not yet begun to clear up a the end of the first week. After another week, it was so clear that I could see the yeast gunk at the bottom of the little barrel. I bottled the beer in 1-liter pop-top bottles for aging and carbonation. After another two weeks, I popped one open, and behold: the beer poured a lovely clear yellow with lively carbonation and a reasonably firm head. It’s a light-bodied beer with a bit of citrus and a good bit of yeast (stronger from the bottom of the barrel). Nothing fancy, but not bad for a first go at it.

Now, clearly its a “kit beer” and not made from scratch. Basically, the wort comes in a can, and you just warm it up, add sugar and yeast and bubble, bubble … you have beer. Yet, for a first shot at homebrewing, this is not a bad idea. It’s real easy, and it gives the novice a sense of the process, and a sense of accomplishment when it works. After a couple of kit batches, I think I’ll try my hand at making beer from scratch.

Prosit!

Today began the Year of the Pig in the Chinese lunar calendar. Apparently this is considered a very auspicious sign in the Cinese zodiak, and so many Chinese are planing to have a baby this year.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Last week I undertook a trip to Charlotte, NC, which turned out to be completely for naught. Yet, on my way back to Durham, I took a detour via Winston Salem to have lunch at the Foothills brewery. This little brewery puts out some remarkable brews, and I was quite curious to visit the brewpub to see for myself the place where they produce these fabulous beverages.

Located on Fourth Street in downtown Winston Salem, the brewpub is nice, with a large bar and modern, open spaces. Nothing fancy, but appealing and straight-forward. The menu is also straight-forward and quite beer-oriented. I had “fish and chips” – and it was really good – and a couple pints of their stout. Very tasty, indeed.

Part of my mission was to refill several growlers for a couple of friends. As I am typing this, I am enjoying a glass of Foothill’s Seeing Double IPA – which is my favorite. It’s a very hoppy strong beer – a prime example of a ridiculously overhopped American ale :) with serious kick at 9.5 percent Alcohol. Somehow they manage to make this into an immensely drinkable beer, with a really smooth mouthfeel and pronounced citrus notes.

The thing about Foothills is that they don’t bottle their beers. So you can only get it on tap at some bars around the state. If you want to enjoy the beers at home, you have to get a growler, which is a half-gallon (2 Liter) bottle that is filled at the tap. The growlers are not pressureized, so you cannot keep them for more than a few days. Once you open one, you better finish it up, or the stuff goes flat. So far, that has not caused me any particular problems.

So when I left the brewery with my five growlers, and headed back to Durham, I felt again at peace with the world, despite the futility of my trip to Charlotte.