News 1: New Study: Biofuel From Seaweed – It’s All About The Microbes

http://earthfix.kuow.org/energy/article/new-study-biofuel-from-seaweed-its-all-about-the-m/

Seaweed is believed to be an ideal feedstock for biofuel for it grows faster and produces more biomass than corn. More importantly, it doesn’t compete with other food crops for water or farmland. Microbes are crucial in breaking down seaweed to make fuel like ethanol. A new research published in the journal Science claims that engineered microbes which can convert the sugars in seaweed into biofuel in a single step was developed by a team of researchers in Berkeley, California. These microbes could make the seaweed biofuels industry possible. Right now the company has started a pilot project to produce a few thousand gallons of ethanol from its Chile seaweed farm this year, hoping to bring seaweed biofuel to market within the next four years.

News 2: Edinburgh start-up to make whisky biofuel

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-16701335

A new company called Edinburgh Napier University’s Celtic Renewables Ltd has been formed in Edinburgh to produce biobutanol and other biofuels made from whisky by-products on an industrial scale. The main feedstocks for this fuel generating process are the two main by-products of whisky production – ‘pot ale’ and ‘draff’. The company suggested that biobutanol is user-friendly and provides more power output than the traditional bioethanol, making it desirable to be used as a direct substitute for fossil-derived fuel. The founder of Celtic Renewables considers the whisky industry to be a ripe resource for developing biobutanol while other entrepreneurs rank this program as an innovative, beneficial and environmentally friendly one.

In “GAO Confirms: Anthony Watts Is Right, UN Temperature Data Rigged To Show Warming”, Tom Harris, a Canadian executive director of International Climate Science Coalition, claims that the USHCN globe temperature data is unreliable and thus the warming trend is rigged. This statement concurs with Anthony Watts’ report on the authenticity of the U.S. surface temperature record. Anthony Watts is a American meteorologist, editor of the blog, Watts Up With That? and also a climate change skeptic.

Tom Harries made his statement base on the findings of The U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO found that 41% of the weather stations are placed too close to heat sources that humanly increases up the temperature measurements. This evidence is not convincing because surface temperature records collected by weather stations are far from the only indicator of globe warming. Sea level rise, increased melting rate of ice, weather balloon measurements and other evidences also account for the measured warming trend.

This article contains a fallacy: Hasty Generalization. One can not conclude the warming trend is untrue just base on surface temperature records and without taking other indicators in to consideration.

In David Orr’s speech, six new principles were proposed to replace six myths about modern education.

There is significant overlap between principle two, six and the Basic Scholarly Skills ENVR 200 expects us to learn. Both principle two and six suggests that mastering learning method is as important as course material itself. “Subject matter is simply the tool.” (Orr 1991) This idea is also being put forward by the Basic Scholarly Skills by asking us to “improve ‘our’ own process of learning”.
In addition, principle one says “all education is environmental education ” (Orr 1991). This principle carries the same idea as our Basic Scholarly Skills does. The course goal document requires us to actively seek, evaluate and differentiate information collected from a variety of media sources. One can not master a single subject without acquiring information from other fields.
Group work skills demands also desire to create an environment in which we can gather wisdom and learn from others.

However, there is not overlap between principle three, four and our course learning goal. Both principle three and four bring up that knowledge should be well applied to the real world and one cannot truly know the knowledge well before understanding the effects on real world. Our course learning goal does not clearly demonstrate the significance of applying what we have learned to real people and communities but focuses more on how to communicate environmental issues and knowledge coherently and effectively.

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