Josh Tickell shows off a jar of his favorite fuel
Josh Tickell shows off a jar of his favorite fuel
It’s time for The Rolling Stones to embrace alternative energy and rework the lyrics of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” It’s not “a gas, gas, gas!” It’s a solar panel, a wind turbine... a gallon of biodiesel!
Surely, single-minded filmmaker Joshua Tickell would support the rewrite, as he has championed biodiesel for more than a decade — first by driving his fryer oil-fueled Veggie Van cross-country; now, by sharing his self-proclaimed cinematic “gift to America.” Fuel, his slickly shot personal documentary, tracks his efforts to convince fellow citizens to change the world by changing their fuel. Start pumping greener gases; stop emitting greenhouse gases. Fuel makes the compelling (and clear) case that it’s time to shut up and fill up... responsibly. While the converted may know this sermon by heart, for the uninitiated, this is a prayer worth hearing and heeding, made more palatable by the presence of stars like Julia Roberts, Sheryl Crow, Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson who join the on-screen choir.
When I caught up with the charmingly immodest Mr. Tickell at a sneak preview of Fuel in Seattle, he rhapsodized a cappella about the beauty of biofuel and the unsightliness of D.C.’s blind governance.
If the Environmental Protection Agency is compromised by a conflict of interest, as Fuel suggests, would you prefer the organization be shut down altogether or continue to serve as a de facto mouthpiece for Big Oil?
The EPA is actually part of the executive branch of the government, but it is arguably illegal due to the fact that it was created under the Nixon Administration to be administered directly through that branch of the government; but today, the EPA is effectively managed on a state-by-state basis. There is little to no federal control. In my opinion, the entire organization should be dismantled and replaced with a set of constitutional mandates that provide every person in the United States access to clean water, clean food, clean air and clean energy regardless of race or income.
Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House. Ronald Reagan tore them down. Do you think Obama will truly go green or just start drilling for oil in the Presidential pool?
I was dismayed by both [McCain’s and Obama’s] energy platforms. They were both abysmally shortsighted, neither promoted energy efficiency and conservation and both used oxymoron clichés like “clean coal.” I think we need to take [politicians] through a rigorous training program to teach them basic physics and chemistry as they relate to energy, after which they should be escorted to the North and South Poles and shown the lack of winter ice. There just seems to be a fundamental disconnect between our elected officials and the real world dynamics of energy and global warming. My answer? Educate them, but do it in a way they get the ticking time bomb we are sitting on top of.
Are all biodiesels created equal?
Any diesel car can run on biodiesel with no modifications. Diesel cars come in all shapes and sizes but the best ones are just now coming out. European diesels commonly get over 50 miles per gallon. The new models get 80-100 miles per gallon with 150 and 200 mile per gallon diesels on the horizon.
Another documentary investigated the demise of the electric car; you seem disinterested in its metal corpse. Do you disapprove of the technology? Are you unimpressed with hydrogen-powered vehicles as well?
I like electric cars. They are hot, or cool depending on your lingo. Hydrogen cars are just electric cars with an exceptionally expensive and impractical hydrogen-to-electricity converter. The big question is not whether hydrogen cars are good or bad, but rather, are they practical? Since it takes approximately four times more energy to make a gallon equivalent of hydrogen than that gallon equivalent of hydrogen contains, I assert that hydrogen vehicles are not now — nor will they be within our lifetimes — cost-effective. The whole hydrogen economy idea has been funded by oil companies who want to sell natural gas. (99 percent of hydrogen is made from natural gas and most of the world’s remaining natural gas is in Saudi Arabia).
But surely, there is some way out of this fix.
I think it goes back, once again, to basic biology and physics. Oil was created from algae. Why keep drilling for oil when you can make it from algae that takes only days to grow, rather than hundreds of millions of years? I think the algae-to-fuel discoveries are some of the most exciting parts of Fuel and certainly one of the best potentials we have for producing more liquid energy.