We have approximately 25 days left to live. Well, depending on when you read this, and depending on when the scientists at CERN finally switch on the Large Hadron Collider, and depending on whether they were wrong about it being safe. At any rate, while we're still here, it's time for another edition of the Science Weekend Warrior!

Biofuels are more environment-friendly than fossil fuel, sure, but is it worth the price? According to a leaked report, Biofuel production has forced global food prices up by as much as 75%. When you use food to create gas instead of eating it, a tug-of-war was inevitable. Read more about it in the full article.

There's a hot little topic running in the socio-political, environmentalism picture, and it involves a regulation that the UK's Department for Transport has in mind for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. The deal is that the rule, if implemented, will probably hurt the world more than do its share of good, and even pro-environment organizations such as Greenpeace agree. Learn why at the full story.

We've all heard the viability of biofuels for land transportation and sea, but when it comes to jet fuel, that's another story. Virgin Atlantic set out to prove that the idea of biofueled jumbo jets are plausible and flew a four jet-engine aircraft from London to Amsterdam to make a point. More details at the full story.

Regan Suzuki of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization said that while there might be benefits from using biofuels, it must still be weighed with the drawbacks that it brings. Scientists added that biofuels might do more damage to the environment rather than help it.

More information can be found in the full article.

We've heard in the past that scientists are looking at the correlation between cow farts and global warming. Now a new study shows that termites might actually have something up their guts that might help curb the worldwide crisis. Enzymes in their bellies can break down plant fibers which can produce hydrogen that can be harnessed to produce alternative energy that will outperform ethanol.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has pointed out in a recent report that biofuels might cause more harm than good. The organization claimed that the use of biofuels is unsustainable and could possibly disrupt markets without the expected environmental benefits.
 
Biofuels came into vogue some time ago as a means of reducing energy reliance, boosting farm revenues, and to help fight global warming. Unlike conventional fuels, this product is made from grains, oilseeds, and sugar, products considered renewable. However, the OECD stated that it is hurting the environment more and is even pushing up food prices.

The group cited the use of fertilizer, acidification, as well as biodiversity loss and agricultural pesticides as far more damaging overall than the negative effects created by petrol and diesel. They didn't propose this without a potential solution to the problems biofuel was supposed to fix though, they pointed out that:

A liter of gasoline or diesel conserved because a person walks, rides a bicycles, carpools or tunes up his or her vehicle's engine more often is a full liter of gasoline or diesel saved at a much lower cost to the economy than subsidizing inefficient new sources of supply.

This may be the case, but until further action is taken to investigate the full impact of biofuels, it will remain as one of the stronger alternatives to normal fuels.

Biofuels have already been discovered from some of the strangest of sources, like fruit sugar and food scraps. There's yet another new source of fuel, and this time, this type of fuel sounds more promising. Introducing the salt water, which comprises most of the bodies of water on Earth and can be supposed as an almost infinite commodity.

In an experiment meant to test new types of cancer treatment, John Kanzius of Washington accidentally ignited salt water using his self-invented radio-frequency generator. The salt water contained within the test tube stayed ignited for days, as long as it was exposed to radio frequencies.

The discovery attracted the attention of Penn State University chemist Rustum Roy, and checked to see if Kanzius's discovery was a hoax. However, much to Dr. Roy's amazement, the potential salt water fuel turned out to be true.

Dr. Roy also explained that the salt water wasn't actually burning, but rather had the bond of its components (sodium chloride, hydrogen, and oxygen) weaken, which releases the hydrogen. The released hydrogen can be ignited as long as the salt water is within range of radio frequency. The flame reached an astounding temperature of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating that the energy packed in salt matter is nothing to be scoffed at.

While the idea of using salt water as fuel is promising, the high cost of research and the time it demands will not be so easy to attain. There's also something to consider as well: the energy used to operate the radio frequency generator versus the energy output of burning hydrogen.

For an accidental discovery, Kanzius' find is truly remarkable. The radio frequency generator was created in the hopes of discovering novel cancer treatment, after all. And since we are all surrounded by salt water, having an (again, almost) infinite amount of fuel is really not such a bad thing.

  

"Our friends, the algae" - this may be the new slogan that will be sweeping the nation as a breakthrough algae production system invented by XL Renewables, Inc. has created perhaps the most efficient source for biofuel to date.

Backed by Diversified Energy Corporation, this new approach was dubbed Simgae (short for simple algae). Putting it simply, it uses the usually green little crust that usually covers most ponds you see and extracts the oils to be used as biofuel.

A lot of pros have been sited to the use of such a simple source as a fuel alternative. For one thing, it costs about 1/2 to 1/16th of the capital cost compared to other biofuels with a reasonably low maintenance and operation requirement. The fact that algae also is able to produce oxygen - like any plant - as well as absorb carbon emissions, is a good plus to the system devised.

So why hasn't this system been implemented before if it's such a smart idea? The cost to create structures and architecture to cultivate such algae systems have been deemed too costly and impractical for the time it can be harvested to reap its benefits.

Simgae offers a simpler solution to this problem. Through a series of a conventional irrigation drip system, called Algae Biotape, the cost and maintenance for the setting up of this project has been nominally decreased.

This is definitely one project for those of you who are interested in being a little more "green" that should get your attention. So until then, remember, algae are your friends.

With all talks about looming global warming, population explosions, forest degradations, it's quite discouraging to even think how Earth would be like, say, 50 years from now. However, there's a school of thought debunking these supposedly Earth killers as mere steps toward evolution. They argued that humans' innate passion for innovation will enable us to conjure up technological solutions to combat these natural problems.

We're running out of biofuels, we turn to the sun. We're running out of potable drinking water, we turn to water purifiers. We're running out of water to wash our clothes, we turn to Sanyo's AQUA washing machine...

Nope, that last sentence wasn't meant to be a joke. Sanyo's about to unleash to the market a washing machine that'll be able to recycle water. Nope, it won't magically produce water, what it does is employ a device called Aqualoop, which in turn recycles water for use in further washes. How? It's a well-guarded secret, but according to it's creators, it can conserve around 50 litres of water per normal washing routine.

It also boasts of an AirWash feature that'll supposedly help owners clean clothes via odor-infusion and bacteria killing chemicals. Pretty much like how modern-day dry cleaners do their thing. Pricing and availability is still on TBA status, but it's highly likely that it'll be released in the Japanese market first.

So there, score one both for the technology freaks and mother nature. Now we can wear clothes without thinking about how much water it took to clean it. Nifty way to help save our planet right? But then again, we can always choose to go naked...