[Kzyxtalk] Fuel for thought.

[Marco McClean]

Subject: Fuel for thought.

Jean wrote:
 > Comparing propane to natural gas — per therm/Btu? Per gallon?

Marco here. Propane has more than twice the energy density of natural 
gas. But a lot of energy is used separating propane from natural gas and 
from oil. And I can't easily find an answer about /how much/ is used, or 
how bad that process is in pollution and energy waste, nor about what 
they do with what's left behind after they get the propane out of 
natural gas and oil. Maybe they make plastic out of it, or chemical 
fertilizer, or men's cologne.

About another fuel: I've been using a lot of gasoline lately getting 
Juanita to work and back while her car is in the shop, and going the 
same route every day. I've noticed that something I suspected for years 
is actually a thing: When I get gas at Costco, my car gets poorer 
mileage than when I get it at the Speedway Express station for ten cents 
more per gallon. It's 43 mpg versus 45 mpg, and currently $4.09 per 
gallon versus $4.19. Which results in the exact same price per mile: 
eleven cents.

I think the difference in performance might be from the Costco gas 
having more alcohol in it. All the refiners add it anymore, but some add 
more than others. Alcohol has less chemical energy than gasoline. A 
great deal of energy and water and crop lands and materials are used 
growing corn and turning it into alcohol to add to gasoline. Considering 
that, growing corn for fuel may be worse for the environment than just 
making fuel from oil sucked up of the ground. And alcohol in gasoline 
can be bad for car motors, depending on the car, and depending on where 
you live and even on how long you let your car rest between drives. 
Worst case: too much alcohol in the gasoline in an older car sitting 
idle for long periods in a moist environment can ruin the motor. Best 
case: a little alcohol in the gasoline in a newer car driven every day 
in a dry environment gets you fewer miles per gallon. Either way, the 
main effect is to give giant corporations of corn farms, such as Archer 
Daniels Midland, steady income even if the corn flakes market is on a 
roller coaster, and they can spare a trickle of that money to greenwash 
themselves by advertising on NPR radio stations.

Here's a link to an article just about the car part of that:
https://www.bellperformance.com/blog/the-major-differences-between-ethanol-and-gasoline

Speaking of NPR radio stations: If KZYX's figurehead manager/CEO Marty 
Durlin were to accept just a /15 percent/ cut in pay from her $60,000 a 
year, the freed-up $9000 would pay the entire electric bill to keep all 
their studios lit up and all their equipment on and all their 
transmitters pumping, including the main one. It would be a 
straight-across trade. If recently fired program director Alicia Bales 
was being paid $40,000 a year to pretend to direct the programs, 
dragging out the process of hiring a replacement would pay for all the 
rent on all the buildings, and maybe tower fees, too, and phones and 
internet. And the local airpeople will still be showing up and doing 
their shows, such as they are, for free, the way they have been since 
before the Berlin Wall fell. And the place would still be somehow 
flushing more than half a million dollars of mostly tax-derived grant 
money and rich families' hush money though its various mysterious 
bookkeeping tubes every year, and the upheaval would amount to a blip.

Meanwhile KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, which gets no government grant money, and 
whose management works for free and whose airpeople direct their (our) 
own programs, has just had the massive blow of its radio tower being 
destroyed by the recent storms and needs money to bring it back up to 
its full height and tiny but brave full power. One way to help KNYO and 
real radio would be to go to KNYO.org, click on the Donate Heart and see 
what happens inside your own heart. Another way would be via the 
gofundme page dedicated specifically to the tower project: 
https://tinyurl.com/NewTowerForKNYO

Also, I played Alicia's announcement of her new news podcast on my show 
on KNYO last Friday, and it occurred to me to invite Alicia to have a 
regular timeslot there for her radio work. Many of the airpeople on KNYO 
do shows from their own studios. When I'm at Juanita's place, I do my 
whole show from a typing table. Cheap computer, microphone, small mixing 
board, reading easel and internet service, that's all you need. It's 
easy and fun. Alicia, contact Bob Young via bobb at poetworld.net.

-- 
Marco McClean, memo at mcn.org
https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com