[Gasification] Aviation's role in global warming...9/11 aftermath proves theories on H20 in contrails in dramatic fashion.

Fri Mar 21 12:40:00 CDT 2008

This is why Richard Branson is a billionaire, and I'm not:

It is an article of faith these days that any company worth its public
relations budget must proclaim loudly and frequently its good green
intentions. So it was rather refreshing to hear one of Richard Branson's top
lieutenants - Will Whitehorn, chief of Virgin Galactic - cast his company's
enviro-friendly initiatives as strictly business.

"We're not doing this to be environmentally kosher," declares Whitehorn,
referring to Virgin's efforts to develop greenhouse-gas free biofuels for
its jets and forthcoming spaceship, "we're doing this to ensure our
company's survival."

The occasion for Whitehorn's remarks was one of those "green salons" that
have become popular in San Francisco of late. You know, gather a group of
so-called thought-leaders - executives, environmentalists, venture
capitalists, journalists - in a chi-chi restaurant and let the ideas and
sauvignon blanc flow. Easy enough to skewer, particularly when the
well-compensated are dining on ahi tuna skewers, but you never know where
the conversation will go, and in this case it strayed interestingly
off-topic. The subject du jour was a white paper on corporate greenwashing
from Bite Communications, the public relations firm that organized the
recent lunch. Among those on hand were Whitehorn and exes from Chinese solar
panel maker Suntech (STP), fuel-cell maker Bloom Energy, utility PG&E (PCG),
and VantagePoint Venture Partners, investor in electric car startup Tesla
Motors and solar power plant builder BrightSource Energy.

Whitehorn held center court, tracing Virgin's trip down the green path back
a decade when the company forecasted a dramatic rise in oil prices and tried
to gauge the impact on its airline and new railway business. As a result, he
says, Virgin spent big bucks on energy-efficient locomotives to hedge
against future fuel cost spikes.  

GREEN WOMBAT newszine.

Brunswick Naval Air Station has been home to the P-3 ORION surveillance
aircraft since they were first introduced.

Let me just say that the making and tracking of contrails is a major concern
to avoid getting shot down. P-3's are equipped to monitor engine emissions
and their engines are both designed to minimize water vapour emissions and
use a specially formulated fuel.

Frank J. Heller, MPA
KATAHDIN ENERGY WORKS
12 Belmont St.
Brunswick, ME 04011-3004
207.729.6090
http://mysite.verizon.net/fjheller/

-----Original Message-----
From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Greg and April
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 12:33 PM
To: fjheller at verizon.net; Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Aviation's role in global warming...9/11
aftermath proves theories on H20 in contrails in dramatic fashion.

Jet fuel at it's most basic, is ultra high quality diesel, with additives 
added to it to do various things - like detergents to keep the system clean,

and as far as commercial aviation is concerned to minimize the risk of fire 
in a crash.

The problem with biological diesel fuels, is that they have very poor cold 
weather characteristics- something that due to the altitude, jet's face all 
day, every day while they are flying.

Another factor, is that biological fuels tend to have a lower BTU value than

their fossil fuel counterparts - which means that more fuel has to be 
carried for a given distance traveled - thus a lower fuel economy ( which 
can be a major factor in flight operations ).

Personally, I would like to see commercial flying cut back and the return of

commercial train traffic ( which is more fuel efficient anyway ) - steam 
engines based on gasification tech anyone?

Greg H.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Katahdin Energy Works" <KatahdinEnergyWorks at verizon.net>
To: "'Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification'" 
<gasification at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:57
Subject: Re: [Gasification] Aviation's role in global warming...9/11 
aftermath proves theories on H20 in contrails in dramatic fashion.

> Interestingly, this discussion dovetails nicely with Branson's effort to
> make bio-jet fuels and burn them in Low Emissions Engines.
>
> Has anyone on here been involved in jet bio-fuel refineries of some kind?
> ...there's that $25m. prize to think about.
>
> Lot of the technical papers are shrouded in secrecy...CIA efforts at 
> 'cloud
> making' to affect climate and obscure snoopy satellites; as well as the 
> Air
> Force's efforts at obscuring Stealth fighter  & B2 bomber contrails to
> prevent either ground or satellite tracking. It also touches on particle
> emissions as well as gas composition.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Frank J. Heller, MPA
> KATAHDIN ENERGY WORKS
> 12 Belmont St.
> Brunswick, ME 04011-3004
> 207.729.6090
> http://mysite.verizon.net/fjheller/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org
> [mailto:gasification-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Greg and 
> April
> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:05 AM
> To: fjheller at verizon.net; Discussion of biomass pyrolysis and gasification
> Subject: Re: [Gasification] Aviation's role in global warming...9/11
> aftermath proves theories on H20 in contrails in dramatic fashion.
>
> Ah Frank,
>
>
> Just in case you haven't noticed, CO2 doesn't make contrails - it's the
> water vapor in the jet exhaust that makes the contrails, and everyone 
> knows
> that water vapor is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2.    Contrails are
>
>
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