Bioroot Energy » Founder’s Blog

2012: The Year Shift Happens

Jay — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:38:39 +0000

Evidence of fossil energy pollution might be over our heads, but it’s still everybody’s problem in need of a solution.

Ready for shift to hit the fan from all directions?

Warmer winters, hotter summers, more volatile weather, drought and retreating glaciers, etc. And rising energy prices to go along with rising emissions and sea levels. Ready for increasingly expensive change? Every product or service with an energy cost (what doesn’t?) will cost more.

Ready to be disappointed by elected [...]

Just who are the dreamers?

Jay — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:53:28 +0000

“It’s not a solution unless it solves your problem.”

To build a strong business in the clean energy world, you need a solution that actually solves problems. And a tireless work ethic*, a big heart, a sparkly personality, a tough hide, and a big wallet. And a lot of luck, hard work, and tough decisions to succeed. We’ve got everything but the big wallet, but we’re working on that too.

But it’s not really a money problem. It’s [...]

What We Are For

Jay — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:48:02 +0000

Repost from PostCarbon.org: What We Are For

Every activist engaged in combating human-caused climate change or specific elements of the current energy economy knows that the work is primarily oppositional. It could hardly be otherwise; for citizens who care about ecological integrity, a sustainable economy, and the health of nature and people, there is plenty to oppose—biomass logging [for generating electricity] in Massachusetts, mountaintop-removal coal mining in West Virginia, natural gas drilling in Wyoming, poorly sited solar [...]

BE Donor Profile: Dick White

Jay — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:23:01 +0000

Here’s a kind and thoughtful man who’s been around the block and learned more than most from the journey. Dick White is a resident of Hamilton, Montana, and a fellow charter member of the Bitterroot Toastmasters Club, to which I belong.

Last Wednesday, I gave a speech to fellow club members titled “Occupy Energy,” which made the case for community involvement and support for developing our clean fuel project in western Montana. Toward the end of the speech [...]

America’s forests: Land of many (good) uses

Jay — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:04:20 +0000

The video points to housing and other traditional markets for wood products. Responsible use of wood from America’s forests can also include using what has historically been piled and burned because there was no better use of the needles, barks, branches and cones from thinning and fuel reduction projects. (All that “waste” biomass can make a lot of great clean fuel, an un-traditional but valuable use of wood.)

Coal and Ethanol Are Not Alternative Energy Policy

Jay — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:11:24 +0000

“National security is not wars out there anymore, it is the war of ideas here in the US.”

“Clean coal” and ethanol just are not that policy, nor will they ever be, they are a charlatans game.

Two sentences in the article linked below stuck out, especially with the bloodbath in the global economy and today’s 300+ 634 point drop in the DJIA. At what point does America begin to wake from its slumber and realize the house [...]

She’s Our Mother

Jay — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:53:49 +0000

We’re not asking you to put your life on the line for Mother Earth, just a couple of sentences of support for our mission. We need your endorsement. Is this too much to ask for your Mother?

http://www.biorootenergy.com/endorsements

Pulling Together Before Disaster Strikes

Jay — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:41:38 +0000

The sun filters through thick smoke from a wildfire burning near Los Alamos, N.M. Photo: AP

One good thing about natural disasters, such as forest fires? They’re great for pulling people of diverse backgrounds together to address the ugly aftermath of destruction, loss of life, lost jobs, destroyed businesses, environmental impacts, etc. The common interest comes into play, and people respond. They step up and do what’s right. But that bad thing is, this pulling [...]

Ethanol and National Security

Jay — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:56:49 +0000

The real reason America doesn’t have abundant, clean liquid energy? We haven’t declared war on fossil energy that enslaves people and poisons the planet. But we will because it’s important. Markets only move when people invest in them, and it’s all too clear that America has an oil addiction that presents grave obstacles to clean liquid energy development. Every gallon of gasoline we buy and burn is an investment in keeping America in debt and [...]

Personal Slime Trails

Jay — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:51:04 +0000

The great acoustic musician Harvey Reid has toured the United States extensively for four decades, usually by car. He’s released 22 recordings and is considered a master of many musical instruments including the six and twelve string acoustic guitar, slide guitar (dobro), six string banjo, and autoharp.

Harvey was the first (and so far only) person I have ever encountered who spoke of personal slime trails. It was his way of describing the endless streams of trash and [...]