The world’s climatologists have determined that we have gone past the point of no return as far as reversing the damage done from burning fossil fuels.
But they have also said that if current levels are not drastically reduced the problem will continue to worsen, eventually reaching exponential progression by 2035. The devastation to the world economy that this would cause is almost inconceivable.
A better alternative
But the Canadian firm Arterran Renewable Fuels based out of British Columbia is attempting to tackle the problem of fossil fuel burning. Arterran has created a truly renewable fuel that does not use food products such as corn.
The use of plant-based fuels when we are already having difficulties with droughts and food shortages are exacerbating the problem and is simply wasteful and shortsighted. Instead the company opted to use things like manure, municipal solid waste and wood waste to create a solid biofuel labeled “solid density fuel pellets” that appear to be some next generation stuff.
Arterran believes that their fuel will spell the end of our need for coal, which according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, contributes to 40% of green house gases on Earth. The company cites five reasons for this:
- The product is made of cellulose, which has an organic formula of C6H10O5 and is the most abundant organic polymer on earth. The company claims that just the manure in Canada alone would provide enough fuel to power more than sixty million homes for one year.
- There are no fossil fuel generated carbons to poison the air with its emissions, nor are there metals, tar or creosol. Essentially, emissions are steam.
- Each ton of coal requires between 800 and 3,000 gallons of water to extract and process into a useable form. Arterran fuel only used water in conjunction with a food grade catalyst and 95% of the water used is used multiple times, with a 5% loss to steam with each cycle.
- The electrical generation industry currently uses wood pellets when they generate electricity. The problem is that the wood pellets readily absorb moisture and produce CO2 and methane, both of which are explosive if not handled properly. Wood pellets also generate about 8,500 BTU per pound while Arterran maxes out at more than 12,000 BTU. Finally, Arterran is biologically inert and requires no special handling, which reduces shipping costs while increasing safety for workers.
- Finally, Arterran is made from 100% waste material which means that we can turn our farms into food production facilities instead of 21st century energy fields.
GENERcoin
As a way to promote the new fuel Arterran has introduced a new cryptocurrency and exchange that allows them to “pre-sell” the new biofuel. Investors can buy GENERcoins at the exchange and either trade for other cryptocurrencies or use them to buy the new fuel at a 51% discount to current market prices.
The GENERcoins crowdsale took place on the Master Protocol on June 11, 2014. No information has yet been released to the amount raised. But it should also be noted that each participant had the chance to purchased Arterran’s NextGEN Solid Biofuel at the rate of $0.062 USD per coin, equivalent to 10,000 BTU, which includes the discount rate. Each coin holder now has the option of redeeming their coins for the fuel or exchanging or trading them as they see fit.