Ethanol is touted as the short term fuel of the future…the clean burning biofuel. A new study calls into question the potential benefits of switching to ethanol, specifically E85 gasoline (85% EtOH, 15% gasoline).

Mark Jacobson, an environmental engineering professor at Stanford, published a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology detailing possible health effects including cancer by 2020.

Note: The study was based on corn based ethanol usage for its determination of total carbon output.

The carcinogens of biggest concern from gasoline are benzene and butadiene. With E85, these are reduced, but since there is still 15% gasoline, they are not eliminated. According to the study, cancer rates would stay relatively the same, potentially a slight decrease.

When ethanol (CH3CH2OH) does not burn fully, formaldehyde (H2CO) and acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) form. That’s bad. They are precursors to ozone formulation. Ozone is great in the atmosphere, but on the ground its a carcinogen. It’s causes asthma, even deaths in the case of the elderly. Ozone is the fun component that triggers all of those “Spare the air” days in the summer.
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Over the past few years, I have definitely noticed a trend towards politicizing science. The intelligent design debate, stem cells, and climate change have all become political issues.

In the journal Science a few weeks back, communication professor Matt Nisbet argues that scientists need to start framing their arguments. Framing so the public better understands the issue. Framing to pare down the technical, make it more accessible.

It’s an interesting argument, placing more communication responsibility on the scientist. My cafe series is intended to give science a frame, without the responsibility solely falling to the researcher. My frame is “a dialogue on science of local impact”. It’s a frame intended to start debate and relate the importance of research to all of us.

I am concerned with laying that responsibility solely upon scientists. Framing is great for communication, but there is a fine line between framing and spin. Scientific integrity is tantamount to public trust, will framing degrade that trust? It also takes incredible organization and dedication to maintain a frame, I doubt the science community can pull that off.

Definitely an interesting article, especially heading into my first event.

You can also check out On the Media’s interview with Matt Nisbet

Here are something interesting links for the earthquake fanatic:

Nor Cal USGS

Real Time Earthquake Maps (California-Nevada)

Real-time Shaking Maps for California earthquakes of Magnitude 3.5 and larger

1906 San Francisco Earthquake ShakeMaps

Earthquake Probabilities for the San Francisco Bay Area
USGS and other scientists conclude that there is a 62% probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake, capable of causing widespread damage, striking the San Francisco Bay region before 2032.

General Quake Info
Earthquake basics and educational material; geological and historical information; links to professional and amateur organizations; online access to earthquake data.

Hazards & Preparedness
How to prepare your home, business and family for earthquake hazards; earthquake probabilities; shaking hazard maps; liquefaction hazard and earthquake engineering.

Earthquake Research
Current research activities and results in seismology, crustal structure and deformation, geology and borehole physics.

UC Berkeley Quake Site

Historical Earthquake Intensity Information

1868 Hayward Earthquake History:
http://www.museumoflocalhistory.org/pages/list.php?topic=earthquake
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/1868eq.html
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist4/68oakl.html
http://seismo.berkeley.edu/faq/1868_0.html
http://cires.colorado.edu/~bilham/HaywardCreep.html

California Department of Insurance - California Earthquake Information

California Reader: Stories about earthquakes

Hayward Fault Tour
A website showing the surface expressions of the Hayward Fault.

Paleoseismology, Hayward Fault, California
A large, widely damaging earthquake will occur on the Hayward fault in the future. That much we know. What we don’t know is when.

Predictive Intensity Map for 1868 Hayward Fault
This is the intensity distribution we would expect for a repeat of the 1868 earthquake which was a M=7.0 event on the Hayward fault.

Finally there is a great Google Earth Flyover of the Hayward fault put together by Jim Lienkaemper, a USGS geologist. Map showing active fault traces within the Hayward Fault Zone, including a virtual tour of the Hayward fault in the east San Francisco Bay Region that can be viewed in the Google Earth.

I am quoted on the KQED Quest radio program about science cafes in the bay area. QUEST is a local multimedia series featuring local scientific research. It’s an excellent series, check it out.

Who knew I sounded so nasal? Good to know.

You’ve heard all about ethanol as the next big biofuel. You’ve heard about Brazil and their sugar-derived ethanol. Hell, you even saw that episode of the Amazing Race where it was a roadblock. You’ve heard about corn-based ethanol here at home. And now cellulosic ethanol is all the rage. Let’s start talking how.

Fermentation is the key here. Just like a fine wine (ok maybe a box wine), we’re trying to convert sugars to ethanol. With sugarcane, the sugar involved is polymer of glucose. With corn, enzymes called amlyases are used to convert the starch polymer into glucose. As we know with wine, glucose is easily converted to ethanol with various yeasts. Corn has an extra step, thus it takes more energy to produce ethanol from corn than sugar. The process is pretty quick on a commercial scale, yeast converts sugar to ethanol in a matter of hours.
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