Bell Bio-Energy and the U.S. takes a step greenward.

Posted Aug 14, 2008 by ■ Richard Bass in Environment 6 comments

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A company in Georgia Bell Bio-Energy has been developing a way to make millions of barrels of oil out of nearly anything that will grow out of the earths surface.

According to Bell Bio-Energy they have reached an agreement with the U.S. Defense Department to build seven new test facilities on government properties( primarily military installations) to prove that their process can quickly turn virtually any naturally grown material into a usable fuel.

" In 18 months or so, we will start manufacturing oil directly from waste and we will build up to about 500,000 barrels a day within two years. In another six months, we'll reach a million barrels a day... Working with the USDA we've identified enough waste material around the country, we truly believe we can make the United States totally energy independent of foreign countries in about five years"

J.C. Bell the man behind the innovation says he got the idea oddly enough by standing downwind from his cows at his food-production company Bell Plantation in Tifton Ga.

J.C. Bell said:
"Cows are like people that eat lots of beans. They're really, really good at making natural gas," he said. "It dawned on me that that natural gas was methane."

The seven test facilities will be built for the Defense Energy Support Center and the Army at Fort Benning and Fort Stewart in Georgia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort AP Hill in Virginia, Fort Drum in New York and Fort Lewis in Washington, as well as one more installation in San Pedro, Calif.

The seven test plants are reported to be built within 60 days and then full production facilities could be built within the next 12 to 18 months.

The first full scale plants would cost approximately between $100 and $125 Million dollars.
An investment of $2.5 Billion will more than likely be required to reach a production rate of one million barrels per day.

Bell claims that the process would be competitive with standard oil prices even at $70 per barrel.

With all of the GW and environmental debates this could provide a solution for both the energy and environmental crisis's alike As this wouldn't be reliant on one single green source it would open the doors for many new solutions of energy production with a variety of sources to draw from.

WorldNetDaily reference.

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Comments (6)

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Posted Aug 15, 2008 by ■ skeptikool
#1

This appears to be competing with another energy system under discussion: gasification. Great, if this Bell Bio-Energy system works, but why the military involvement? And why not prove it with one test facility - not seven?

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Posted Aug 15, 2008 by ■ Samantha A. Torrence
#2

Skeptikool, the military has funded the research for many of our daily conveniences in America. Either the Military (See DARPA) or NASA. They test most of our technology many times 20 years in advance, so it has a long period of testing before it reaches the public and by then it safer and cheaper. The fact they are building 7 facilities and not 1 means that they are closer to having this figured out and the more researchers on the project the faster this can be utilized. And dare I say it, JOBS! =) Not only that but if the military can be fueled with this it will take down the amount of foreign oil consumed in America considerably.

So the question is, why not the military involvement?

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Posted Aug 15, 2008 by ■ Richard Bass
#3

@■ skeptikool
This appears to be competing with another energy system under discussion: gasification. Great, if this Bell Bio-Energy system works, but why the military involvement? And why not prove it with one test facility - not seven?

In addition to Samantha's post. I believe it was decided to use government lands as it would be a fast track to getting the project started. There wouldn't be any squabbles over the all too common "not in my back yard" debates that often hinder the development of industry. Located in the WND reference link at the bottom of the page. They mention the following:

"What this means is that with the seven pilot plants – the military likes to refer to them as demonstrations – with those being built … it gives us the real-time engineering data that we need to finish the designs for a full-scale production facility," J.C. Bell, the man behind the project, told WND today."

Either way I welcome the effort and hope that this can come to fruition in the near future. I support drilling but I like many also believe that we should not overlook any potential sources of energy independence.

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Posted Aug 15, 2008 by ■ skeptikool
#4

Thank you both for your thoughtful responses. The thing is, when we say military we must also think subsidized and taxpayer.

Most who post here, I imagine, are enamored of the private sector. Should not such a technology finance itself? Private investment would be required, of course, to kick start it

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Posted Aug 15, 2008 by ■ Samantha A. Torrence
#5

That is kind of half and half. Most taxpayers want something done about the energy crisis. I know many people feel taxes should be used to further society, for instance welfare. However used in the military capacity it is not just a social program. It would be ideal if we could have this funded in a private industry, I can definately agree with that. However, realistically there just are not enough investors interested for these types of innovations. I can only guess it would take years for this guy to pitch to BP or T.Boone Pickens! lol

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Posted Aug 16, 2008 by ■ skeptikool
#6

Too many have been burned. The truth is, that there is much boondoggle associated with research and if a green label can be attached it becomes easier to pull the wool over the eyes of the taxpayer.

Look at the many millions of taxpayer dollars we have seen going to hydrogen cell research over the past 25 years. Much of that research has been regurgitated 100-year-old technology. Don't see many vehicles around you using this technology, do you?

Many involved in that research, it seems, were more interested in stock promotion than in introducing a workable, alternative power source.

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