what a great saturday. abra and i made plans to ride to sauvie island. for some reason. it was a cold and drizzly (ok, rainy) morning and by mile 15 neither of us could feel our feet. by mile 30 i was debating at what point i could call sarah for a ride and not be a complete weiner. however, 41 miles later i dropped abra off at home (with my god kitten ruby, who is now in heat) to warm up. 42 miles later i hosed my bike off in sarah's back yard and began the defrosting process. then i ate a delicious proscuitto and salami sandwich. life is sooooo good. now i go work and send out some orders...and then i go drink hot chocolate with whipped cream at chance of rain.

i know sauvie island is "about 20 miles from downtown portland" i've also driven out that way before. so i have no idea why i thought it would be about a 20 miles ride. or at least an easy ride...oh well. i'm just glad i made it! if i can stay up past 6pm, i think it's a good night to go out and enjoy myself.

occasionally...no, make that rarely, i have an idea that really means something. i had one of those ideas a few months ago, and right now i'm feeling pretty validated.

i live in portland, which is in the northwest, which is pretty much the biodiesel center of idea production in the us right now. ok, so that might be an exaggeration...but i'm guessing you'll see more "biodiesel, no war required" sticker in this area than any other. as a person who is trying to be as eco-friendly as possible, and realizes that (realistically) i can't ride my bike all the time...i've taken an interest in biofuels and thought about making the switch. there's a lot to learn, and it's very exciting. and depending on who you talk to...biofuels will save the world.

however, it didn't take me too many minutes of thinking to realize that mass-produced, mindlessly-used bio fuels are going to save the world. let me start with a basic point, and then move backwards. the only this that is actually going to help us conserve resources and reduce waste, is...well...using less resources. so i think it's funny when a bunch of folks think that by using another type of fuel...that we can save the world.

well, that other type of fuel, in this case biodiesel (if you are making processed biodiesel direct from soybean or other crop) is still dependent on petroleum and isn't actually that good for the environment. why? because to make a fuel out of soybeans (for biodiesel) or corn (ethanol)...you need conventionally grown (read: petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides and farm equipment) harvests that are then dependent on petroleum or coal to get to the west coast for processing and then are put through an energy intensive processing process (use your vocabulary vanessa!), with some nasty byproducts, to make biodiesel. not entirely bad, but also not entirely good. definately not the solution to our energy needs.

this new york times article
prompted today's post. i'm glad to see the debate about biofuels is hitting the media...i don't think we should look to any one source as our new energy savior. this christian science monitor article also spurred the post. when the hustle over petroleum slows down, the hustle for arrable land heats up...as does the hustle for space, land, territory to make all these projects work.

i saw a good start would be a focus on conservation. is that so hard? i'd like to see our fine president, national and local legislators and leaders say "hey! you! yea, you! you should carpool or take transit or bike commute. i do, and it's great! we can all pitch in to conserve resources by making mindful decisions about energy use. do it, or else." who knows, it couldn't hurt.

really, the best thing to do is 1) conserve 2) diversify our fuel sources: electric, biodiesel (algea & soybeans & all), ethanol, straight veggie oil, and more.

i think from here on out i'll just post about bio fuel and alternative fuel stuff. we'll see how long that lasts.

let's promote willie nelson's biofuel. here.