NATURAL GAS AND CO2 GENERATION

Recent technological advances have greatly increased our recoverable natural gas reserves. A great opportunity is opening for reduction of greenhouse gasses from electricity generation (pipeline natural gas releases only 57 percent as much CO2 as coal). The situation is quite different different for CNG (compressed natural gas) when used as a transportation fuel. CO2 releases are tabulated by The EIA (Energy Information Administration) as part of the 'Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gasses Program'. I have used Gasohol (gasoline with 10% ethanol) as the standard because it is the most common fuel, even if not so stated on the pump.

Percentage of CO2 release compared to Gasohol

Gasoline = 107%
E85 (gasoline with 85% ethanol, called Flexfuel) = 22%
CNG = 80%
Propane (a natural gas by-product) = 95%

note: EIA gives ethanol 100% credit for the CO2 absorbed during plant growth.

Inventors

Recently Ohio citizens chose a new statue to represent the state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Thomas Edison won, followed closely by the Wright Brothers. I find the choice of Edison ironic, since he left the state to do great things. But another issue comes to mind – in this great era of technological innovation, why are contemporary inventors so anonymous? I don't know the answer, but here are names of people who made useful inventions that we did not have (or use) when we were first married (1960). My original list of inventions contained only one person that I have heard of – Steve Jobs, inventor of the personal computer. The list plus sources:

Kidney Dialysis – Willem Kolff (abt. 1942) – washingtonpost.com

Microwave Oven – Percy Spencer (1947) – galawa.com

Velcro – George de Mestral (1955) – Inventors Hall of Fame (?)

Hand Calculator – Jack Kirby, et al. (1967) – pbs.org

Digital Watch – Peter Petroff (abt. 1970) – allbusiness.com

E-Mail – Ray Tomlinson (1971) – itmanagement.earthweb.com

Statin Drugs – Akira Endo (1973) – tracerkinetics.engr.iupui.edu

Voice Mail – Steven J. Bois, et al. (abt. 1975) – en.wikipedia

Wheeled Luggage – Bob Plath (1985) – guide4home.com

In addition, I could not find the names of the inventors of the DVD (Introduced 1994), Saran Wrap (Dow Chemical, 1949), and Zip-Lok Bags.