Owen Taylor Up Early: Asian Oil Demand, Onions For Energy, Remote Moisture Monitoring

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By Owen Taylor, Editor

December 14, 2009 – Worth noting this morning:

Asian Oil Demand: The federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasted in a report last week that Asian countries will increase their short-term demand for oil. The heightened demand will be fueled mainly by a turnaround in industrial production. The upswing, EIA noted in a report last week, will be led by “countries such as China and India. Oil demand in 2010 should grow on average around 0.5 million bbl/d (barrels per day), rising to 25.5 million bbl/d for the region.

Georgia Gasifying Onions For Fuel: Georgia researchers are finding a use for spoiled Vidalia onions: turning them into methane gas for fuel. That fact was included in a University of Georgia report that gave consumers a string of Vidalia facts. Why turn them into energy?

“They (unmarketable and spoiled onions) can pollute soil and pollute the water,” says UGA biological and agricultural engineer Changying “Charlie” Li. “And, for neighborhoods, the smell is a social issue. How to manage this waste stream is very critical.”

Diseased onions put back on fields can lead to more diseases.

Gary Hawkins, a CAES pollution prevention and alternative energy specialist, is working to turn unwanted onions into fuel, specifically methane gas. To do so, he shuts them in containers called anaerobic digesters, which are void of oxygen and contain bacteria. The digesting onions produce methane gas that can be used to heat buildings or to run electricity-producing generators. Based on chemical tests, onions are second only to blueberries in their potential to produce the most methane, Hawkins said.

Water Watching Remotely: We’ve just returned from the California almond conference where much of the emphasis was on how to produce almonds and other crops in 2010 with the looming potential for another year of restricted water supplies. Parts of the state's San Joaquin Valley received a small fraction of normal allotments, which left vast stretches of the valley unplanted and put permanent-crop acreage at risk in the driest araes.

So, a press release about a new wireless mesh moisture monitoring system quickly caught my attention this morning The release introduced ClimateMinder system, which was initially developed to assist drought-stricken farmers in Turkey and has since been deployed in 60 farming and greenhouse operations worldwide.

According to the release, it consists of 3 technologies: GrowFlex, a patent-pending seamless hardware and software integration for 24/7 monitoring and control; GrowMobile, a unique mobile handset application; and ClimateMinder Server a secure server that provides management and connectivity. The system is managed through a “cloud-based” computing system, meaning that all the software and data functions are managed through a service.