Biofuels: the debate matures

The impact of climate change on our environment now seems to be the biggest subject around. I really don’t see how anyone can credibly deny the existence of global warming and its principal causes. It’s everywhere in the news around us, from Al Gore and friends winning the Nobel Peace Prize, more record oil prices, increased CO2 emissions from shipping to increased polar ice melting.

The move away from oil to power our vehicles is the biggest discussion of the moment and what is going to replace it.

There is no definitive answer to the question and I doubt there ever will be. Whatever we use, we will be using up some of the world’s resources – we just have to try to make sure that we are not simply creating new problems on a scale to rival those we already have.

The October issues of NatGeo and Wired both feature biofuels as the cover story. Both do a good job of highlighting the risks and problems faced by those who want us to run our cars on ethanol. There are many crops can be used for ethanol production – corn, sugarcane, soybeans, grasses. This raises questions about how much land it will take to produce the amount of fuel we require – the impact on the environment of land-use change, increasing food prices and more…

There are other sources for ethanol production – wood chip, household rubbish…Then you have others who think ethanol isn’t the best solution anyway. Hybrids, hydrogen, electricity from cleaner renewable sources, butanol(?), algae, termite guts (lovely…) all have their fans. Technology Review’s section on biofuels is good covering these options.

This is only the beginning, let’s see where we are in another five years. Let’s hope it’s not too late already.

• National Geographic: Growing Fuel The Wrong Way, The Right Way

• Wired: Switch. One Molecule Could Cure Our Addiction to Oil

• Technology Review: Biofuels special report

The future of Free

A while back Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail book and blog announced that his next book would be called Free, exploring “the most radical price of all — zero — in the context of the economics of abundance.”  So I knew the news that you could buy Radiohead’s new album for whatever price you liked, including 0p would appeal to him.  Here’s what he has to say.

I wonder how many examples of free he will find.   And I wonder if  there will be enough to fill a book, especially if we can follow progress online.  Hopefully it will first appear as an article in Wired magazine, but otherwise I think it will have to wait till it comes out in paperback.

Unless, of course,  he releases it as a downloadable PDF file.  We could name our own price.  He could rake in the cash when we all buy the t-shirt, mug and tickets to the book-reading tour.  That would be an experience worth reading about…

Radio: BBC radio at 40

This weekend saw the BBC’s four main radio stations celebrate their 40th birthday. I like Radio 2 and can quite happily listen all day, and I think that Jeremy Vine’s lunchtime show is consistently very good at putting over intelligent content at a peak time, but my heart lies with Radio 4. It’s a bit of a coming-of-age moment when you start listening – suddenly you feel like you have grown up.

It’s not the perennial favourites – the Archers, Desert Island Discs, the shipping forecast – that attract me. I like the documentary series, the in-depth look at current issues and the science programmes. Not being hampered by having to supply visuals, the programmes can go more in-depth in the time available. But above all, it’s the comedy. Radio 4 has a wry, quirky sense of humour.

There are the flagship shows – Just a Minute is one of those joys that you think should be reserved for those of a certain vintage, who can fully appreciate its longevity. But I love it. For those of you who do not know, this is a show where the panel have to speak for one minute on a given subject without repetition, hesitation, or deviation. So simple in theory, so difficult in practice, it never fails to make me smile. It’s also allowed me to hear (via repeats on BBC7) comedians from yesteryear in their prime – Kenneth Williams, Derek Nimmo and many more. I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue is also up there but isn’t quite as consistent, despite Humpf’s glorious innuendoes; the Now Show, the News Quiz, Chain Reaction, the Hitchhikers series and more.

Then there’s the more bizarre stories that you can’t imagine other stations looking at – a few weeks back there was Julian Clary looking at the innuendo in the lyrics of old “dirty blues” songs; we’ve had Clive Anderson looking at plastic rubber ducks; Arthur Smith at Santa Claus conventions, and so many more. The shows are always worth checking out, even if not always totally successful.

All stations celebrated with special programmes, but “4 at Forty” and  “Radio 4, This Is Your Life”.  The first is an interesting look back at the history of the station (“network”) with various past controllers and broadcasters; the second is a great slice of comedy from Stephen Fry and Matt Lucas.

Congratulations Radio 4, and here’s to another 40 years of laughs, grins, giggles, smirks and sniggers.

BBC:  Radio 4 at Forty
The Guardian: Mainly fair, moderate, or good
Wikipedia: Radio 4