From Waste To Watts: Biofuel Bonanza

Recommended QUEST Resources

• See additional photos - Waste to Watts flickr set

  See and discuss behind-the-scenes photos from our TV Story, Waste to Watts.

• Discuss the From Waste To Watts: Biofuel Bonanza Story

  Discuss the From Waste To Watts: Biofuel Bonanza TV Story on the KQED QUEST Science Blog.

• Biofuels: Beyond Ethanol

  For years there's been buzz – both positive and negative – about generating ethanol fuel from corn. But thanks to recent developments, the Bay Area is rapidly becoming a world center for the next generation of green fuel alternatives. Meet the scientists investigating the newest methods for converting what we grow into what makes us go.

• Biodiesel Road Trip

  It's pretty easy to drive a converted biodiesel car when you live in the Bay Area, but what about a road trip? Our Quest producers drive to LA. and back in a biodiesel van to see how easy it is to be green.

• Cashing in on Carbon

  This month, the Federal Trade Commission is looking at carbon offsets. Demand is booming for these green credits, where customers cancel out their greenhouse gases emissions by paying companies to preserve forests or subsidize renewable energy. Critics wonder, however, if consumers are really getting what they are paying for.

Additional Links

• Sustainable Conservation

  Sustainable Conservation advances the stewardship of natural resources using innovative, pragmatic strategies that actively engage businesses and private landowners in conservation.

• Joseph Gallo Farms

  is a family-owned, fully-integrated farming, dairy and cheese producing enterprise long recognized for its quality products and its environmental leadership. The company has won many prestigious awards for its wildlife and environmentally compatible farming practices. Also, it has recently begun generating much of its own electricity by processing cow manure and other wastes through a sophisticated methane digester system.

• Western United Dairymen

  WUD is a voluntary membership organization representing more than 60% of the milk produced in California. Membership benefits include resources in labor law, environmental regulations and pricing issues. Members decide the direction of state and federal legislative efforts affecting the dairy industry.

• UC Davis Biogas Energy Project

  The goal of this innovative public-private alliance is to divert organic matter -- stuff made from plants and animals, such as food waste and yard clippings -- away from landfills and into the energy grid. That reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and turns trash into a substantial source of clean energy.

• Onsite Power Systems

  Onsite Power Systems creates new sources of biohydrogen, biofuels, and alternative renewable energy. Their systems are capable of supplying complete, economically and environmentally viable solutions for organic biomass management and waste disposal while creating abundant, alternative renewable fuels for onsite energy requirements.

• Norcal Waste Systems

  Norcal Waste Systems, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, is parent to companies providing all facets of solid waste management: collection, recycling, transfer, and landfill operations.

• Jardinière

  The restaurant Jardinière is committed to being a socially responsible business that operates by having 3 bottom lines, Profit, People and the Planet.

• PIER Renewables -- Anaerobic Digestion

  Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process in which biodegradable organic matters are broken-down by bacteria into biogas, which consists of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and other trace amount of gases. The biogas can be used to generate heat and electricity.