Fresh Loaf

The man who invented powdered peanut butter has inked a deal with the U.S. Dept. of Defense to produce oil and gasoline out of our waste.

J.C. Bell, an agricultural scientist in Tifton whom we’ve written about previously on Fresh Loaf, will build a pilot facility at Fort Stewart and several other military bases around the country to convert trash and biomass into fuel by using cloned bacteria found in — ahem — a cow’s hindquarters.

Read all about it here.

(Hat tip to Rogue109 at Peach Pundit)

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— Georgia has its own Montauk Monster, and it’s called, simply, Bigfoot. Details will be unveiled Friday, so says Peach Pundit.

— Despite evidence to the contrary, Georgia Politics Unfiltered claims, “There is no sex in the courtrooms of Cobb County Superior Court (or the judge’s chambers for that matter).” Does lesbian sex count?

— Georgia Politics Unfiltered also updates a post from yesterday that hyped today’s political forecast from CQ Politics. CQ’s shocking revelation: In the presidential election, Georgia is “Republican Favored”!

— According to Lucid Idiocy, the food crisis is over. Gov. Sonny Perdue supports biofuels. And the Montauk Monster was spotted drinking margaritas at the Jekyll Island Club. (OK, I made that last one up.)

— Georgia On My Mind has posted photos of the ancient Etowah Indian Mounds. No apparent news there, seeing as how they were built nearly 1,100 years ago. They’re real purty, though.

— Media Matters‘ SpaceyG says she isn’t all that bummed about waking up with John McCain. Political Insider’s Jim Galloway says McCain isn’t all all thrilled about waking up with Ralph Reed. No word on who John Edwards is waking up with.

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OLYMPICS: Began today in Beijing (this morning here), at 8:08 p.m. on 8/8/08.

MANIC TROPICAL DEPRESSIONS: Scientists have strengthened their prediction that this hurricane season will be above normal.

CHRIS REDMAN: Starting the Falcons’ preseason opener Saturday night, but all four QBs will likely take snaps.

SUGARLAND: Being sued by former member, coincidentally while the band’s recent album is No. 1 on the Billboard charts, for not continuing to pay her after she left the band to pursue a solo career.

LABOR OF LOVE: Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Georgia labor leaders are hopeful Obamania will lead to a change in labor laws they say are now stacked in favor of employers.

ZOO ATLANTA: Unveils plans for $200 million expansion over the next 10 to 15 years.

UGA: Gets two federal grants worth $2.5 million to study biofuel production from switchgrass and sunflowers.

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Watch Atlanta alt-fuel hero Rob del Bueno deliver a hypnotic sales pitch to CNN on the merits of biodiesel, the production of which he oversees for Refuel Biodiesel.

I swear, del Bueno could sell water to a well. Good thing the product he’s touting — non-petroleum fuel made from recycled cooking oil that’s siphoned from local restaurants — helps reduce our carbon footprint and our reliance on foreign oil. Oh, and it’s WAY cheaper than regular diesel .

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In the previous post, my colleague Thomas Wheatley refers to kudzu as “the worst gift Asia ever gave us.”

Respectfully, I disagree.

This is worst gift Asia ever gave us.

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In case you missed it, the L.A. Times published a lengthy profile last week on Rob Del Bueno, Atlanta’s only indie-rocker-turned-biodiesel-purveyor.

The story focuses in part on how Del Bueno’s past experience as a member of the “sci-fi surf rock band” Man or Astro-man? plays into his biodiesel ambitions:

The emerging world of boutique biodiesel can seem oddly familiar to a veteran of the indie rock scene. There is the fight-the-big-guys storyline, the sense of mission, the fetishization of locally made product.

Of course, I’m partial to CL’s 2003 cover story about Del Bueno. But the Times does a good job of updating the story. Del Bueno’s made a good bit of headway over the past few years in his mission to bring biodiesel to the mainstream.

For info on how and where to purchase Del Bueno’s biodiesel, which can be used in any diesel vehicle without modification, visit the site of his nonprofit Refuel Biodiesel.

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Thanks to the addition of swipe-card technology, Atlanta’s only biodiesel station is open around the clock to any of you who drive diesels.

The station, located at 250 Arizona Ave. just south of DeKalb Avenue, offers 100 percent, eco-friendly biodiesel (as opposed to a biodiesel-diesel blend) and can be mixed with regular diesel. It sells for $3 a gallon.

The fuel is created locally by the group Refuel Biodiesel, whose website states:

We collect used cooking oil produced by Atlanta area restaurants and kitchens, and process it locally into biodiesel for the Atlanta market. Our locally-based production model aids local waste management and significantly decreases the energy costs associated with feedstock and fuel transportation. Furthermore, because we are part of a nonprofit organization, all proceeds from the Refuel program are used to promote responsible energy solutions in the southeast.

Check out our past story on local biodiesel guru and Refuel Biodiesel founder Rob del Bueno.

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I didn’t know a Prius could go that fast.

My 1973 Mercedes 220D, which I run on clean, locally produced biodiesel, can only make it up to 80 mph (84 mph downhill).

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For some strange reason people in this metro love to brag about how scared MARTA makes them. I suspect many of these people are the same ones with “No Fear” stickers on their trucks.

– Joe Winter at Joeventures.com, quoting a regular MARTA user. Joe has blogged extensively about the Peachtree Street streetcar proposal. He serves on the board of Citizens For Progressive Transit.

South Carolina’s beating us up and taking our lunch money. Not because they’re better, but because they’re thinking more progressively.

– Button Gwinnett at Liberal Lucidity, on how biofuels are far more widely available to consumers in South Carolina than they are in Georgia. According to environmental attorney Scott Hitch, there are 50 retail outlets for biofuels in South Carolina, but only three in Georgia.

Incidentally, I’ve shopped at two of the three in Georgia. Refuel Biodiesel sells biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil and is located in Cabbagetown.

S.A. White is adjacent to Dobbins AFB and sells biodiesel made from rendered chicken fat.

I think he was surprised that I recognized him, considering my line of work. He was even more surprised that I didn’t recognize his dinner companion.

“Would you like to meet Bob Gibson?” he asked, not knowing I was a huge baseball fan. It was cordial and brief, but it meant a lot to me.

– ATLMalcontent fondly remembers meeting journalist David Halberstam while working as a parking valet. Halberstam died Monday in a car accident.

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