At first, I was attracted to the name of this Wall Street Journal Article, Donor of the year: Yossie Hollander, and as I began to read it, I realized it was an article about an energy.
This article talks about an Israeli technology entrepreneur that is contributing $5 Millions to fund research for alternative energy in developing countries.Yossie Hollander states that,"In five years, the world will experience a shortage of up to 10 million barrels of oil a day and it will be the weakest counties who won't get the oil." This is a scary thought, considering the dependence this country's dependence on it. Although we may think this might no affect us, it actually does, since this research is held at Cornell University and can actually be beneficial to everyone.
The new method, called pyrolysis, is "suppose to generate biofuels and biochar, a charcoal-like material used to enrich soil and land, for communities in the developing world." Energy is suppose to be created through "the thermal decomposition of organic material such as grass and corn husks, without the use of oxygen." If this experiment succeeds, it will be taught to many African countries.
Yossie Hollander is definitely taking a risk and acting as an angel investor, but he says that he's done is research. The outcomes are unsure, but he believes that this will be successful and be a gift to mankind. I think that, ideally, this does sound like a good investment....but I'm don't know if this will work. I feel like it's like going to be an expensive process, just like hydro-power.
Nice article Amy, I read the same one recently. I wonder what will happen once our world does reach the point of decreasing oil reserves? Will the poorer nations fall first or will conquest take on a more pronounced and expanded form? It is nice to see a man, who at the very least, is trying to create an alternative solution that may have a positive outcome.
ReplyDelete- Timothy D. Vallario
This is a very interesting article. First, I found it amazing that a possible competitor with oil would basically be organic matter decomposing. However, if, like the woman states in the article, in ten years we are in a horrible shortage of oil, it is important that we research and spend money on developing different sources of energy. Also, the woman mentioned that it would be taught to people in Africa. This could help bring up African countries' economies, while benefiting the rest of the world as well.
ReplyDelete-Rianna Das