Energy News Briefs

Gas Techno Mini-GTL
Gas Techno is offering to "mini gas-to-liquids (GTL)" plant packages using its technology of natural gas to methanol conversion, for between $1.5 million and $2 million. The packages can fit inside a standard 40 foot shipping container. Instead of converting natural gas to syngas, Gas Techno's process converts the gas to methanol, with formalin as a side product.

Biomass to Wheel Comparison
A Virginia Tech U. professor has devised a simple "biomass to wheels" method of calculating comparative efficiencies between different biomass methods for powering automobiles. A preliminary comparison is pictured above, with the basic approach outlined below.

Rentech's 55 MW biomass powerplant in Port St. Joe, Florida, received its final and unappealable air permit. The plant uses biomass gasification and gas turbine generation technology. Such a plant is ideal for CHP -- combined heat and power -- and for auxiliary production of fuels and renewable chemicals.

Also in Florida, GreenEnviroTech is building two plants for converting used vehicle tyres to oil. (via Biofuelsdigest)

Brazil's massive offshore oil reserves comparable in size to those of the North Sea

Positive news on small modular fission reactors (SMRs) from Dan Yurman and US Senator Lamar Alexander.

The Al Fin Energy blog does not focus upon any particular source of energy, because human civilisation is going to need most available forms of energy to get to the next level. The energy starvationists who currently control most governments of the advanced world are steering civilisation directly toward the Idiocracy.

Since civilisations cannot survive without relatively abundant energy, and since so many forms of energy are being prohibited and over-regulated, over-taxed, and over-priced by governmental agencies and international cartels, virtually all forms of energy must remain on the table for those remaining who wish civilisation to succeed. It is up to us that these forms of energy be utilised in as clean and sustainable a manner as possible.

Bonus! via NextBigFuture, Kirk Sorensen's information-packed TED Talk: