Biodiesel in the UK and Europe: "Biodiesel, according to the British Association of Biofuels and Oils (BABFO), is the solution to many of the world's ills and could give Britain up to 10 percent of its motor fuel needs." Usage is more advanced in France and Germany, with government subsidies.  11:34:51 PM    

Monterrey, Mexico plans to turn rotting garbage into electricity: A biogas plant has been contracted, taking advantage of the high concentration of organic matter in  developing country garbage (90% vs 55% in developed countries.) "Only a handful of garbage-to-energy landfill plants exist in the developing world... Monterrey's plant, currently under construction, will be the first of its kind in Latin America."  11:28:20 PM    

Ztek demonstrates gasoline to hydrogen reformers, about as large as a refilling bay in a gas station. The company has a longer-term plan that would produce far more hydrogen than was in the gasoline originally. The plan would bundle the reformer with a high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell. The solid oxide cell runs at about 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit). The waste heat can be used to heat the carbon monoxide, which is then mixed with water. There, the carbon monoxide reacts with the water, or H2O, stealing an oxygen atom to become carbon dioxide. The H2O, robbed of the O, becomes hydrogen gas.  11:23:34 PM    

Scientists: Bits more basic than quarks. The basic building blocks of nature may not be atoms, quarks and strings but quantum bits -- ultra small packets of pure information, top physics researchers say.  11:10:52 PM    

Siemens Brings Electricity to a Hundred Villages in Gabon, Central Africa:  "Typical uses in the country's remote villages, which are scattered hundreds of kilometers apart, include the refrigeration of lifesaving vaccines and the operation of interior and exterior lights, fans and even shortwave receivers and satellite phones."  Special functions have been added to minimize maintenance.  Budget is 20 m Euros, complete 2003.  10:57:20 PM    

There is no constitutional right to copy anything.  Good review of the law on copying.  3:34:05 PM    

E+Co, Energy through Enterprise:  E+Co is a fund supported by Rockefeller Foundation, UN Foundation, and others.  It has supported more than 70 clean energy companies worldwide, including an award-winning multi-country African program, AREED.  It has program associates in seven countries.  2:23:21 PM    

More info on the new plastic solar cell, including how it might be improved.  12:26:44 AM    

Nanoparticle Safety: Science News Online, March 30, 2002: "some researchers are beginning to look at the potential consequences of putting the new materials into the environment or the body."  12:21:40 AM    

How Susie Bayer's T-Shirt Ended Up on Yusuf Mama's Back: globalization, the rag trade, and Africa.  12:05:14 AM