With all the gloom around us, sometimes it's nice to share a little humor. So, here's a picture that made it's way into my inbox from my uncle. We'll just have to learn to enjoy the ride!

P.S. One may surmise that all the bubbles have burst, but there's one more to go: treasuries. Compare the current treasury bubble (dollars) with the housing (2007), internet bubble (2000) and commodity bubble (2008). One of the many adverse effects of a burst in the treasury market will be a loss in value for our USD. You can protect against that by investing in gold and currencies, especially. If you'd like help with that, I'll soon be authorized to take on new clients through my financial advisory business, McHugh Financial LLC. More to come…

MSU leverages public, private funds for farm waste-to-energy project

Contact: Mark Fellows, University Relations, Mark.Fellows@ur.msu.edu,
Cell: (517) 819-5437, Office: (517) 884-0166; Steven Safferman,
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Office: (517) 432-0812, safferma@msu.edu; Ajit Srivastava, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Office: (517) 353-7268, srivasta@msu.edu

Published: Oct. 15, 2008
E-mail Editor

Story

A
large-scale anaerobic digester at the Scenic View Dairy in Fennville.
Photo courtesy of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

MSU
researcher Steven Safferman with an anaerobic digester of the sort his
team hopes to mate with power generators to produce power from animal
waste. Photo by G.L. Kohuth

Click on an image to view a larger or high-resolution version.

Related Links

• Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

EAST
LANSING, Mich. — State and foundation grants exceeding $3 million will
assist Michigan State University researchers in developing technology
for smaller farms to turn animal waste into usable heat, electricity
and other valuable products.

 

MSU’s
planned Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center will
consolidate new and existing programs in a planned 3,280-square-foot
building south of campus, at MSU’s expanding farm animal and
environmental research complex.

 

Researchers aim to
develop and commercialize turn-key digester/microturbine modules for
affordable waste-to-power systems for small and mid-sized farms.

 

“The initiating of
the center completes our vision for a continuum of research
capabilities from theoretical calculations, laboratory-scale,
bench-scale, pilot-scale and farm-scale anaerobic digestion research,"
said Steven Safferman, the center’s director and an associate professor
in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

 

A two-year, $1.5 million Michigan
Public Service Commission research grant “recognizes MSU’s strong
capacity to address the critical issues of sustainability of animal
agriculture and the need for renewable energy and economic development
in Michigan,” department chairperson Ajit Srivastava said.

 

An additional
three-year grant totaling $1.5 million from a private southeastern
Michigan foundation to build the facility and fund new programs “is an
excellent example of how universities and foundations can work together
to address critical issues of society such as food, environment and
energy,” Srivastava added. The foundation prefers to remain anonymous.

Farm
waste management is a growing issue due to concerns over food
contamination, pollutant runoff, odor and, most recently, greenhouse
gas emissions. Petrochemical cost spikes, meanwhile, have added to
farmers’ costs for fertilizer and fuel. The MSU ADRE Center will
develop ways to efficiently convert manure liquid into methane for heat
and electricity while extracting fiber for soil enrichment or ethanol
manufacture and water for irrigation. Other valuable output could
include animal feed and algae, which can be processed into biofuels.

 

Anaerobic
digestion is not a new concept, and has been applied in recent years by
some large dairy farms to generate power. Development of scalable,
modular systems could allow smaller farms, those with fewer than 500
head of cattle, to convert waste into valuable resources. Despite the
loss of two-thirds of U.S. dairies since 1988, such smaller operations
still account for 53 percent of the 71,510 remaining and 48 percent of
U.S. milk production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

“The enhanced
revenues and reduced pollution from the proposed system will
significantly improve the quality of life and health of residents in
rural communities and turn an environmental and economic liability into
a public and private asset,” said project lead investigator Wei Liao,
an assistant professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering. “It
is our hope that success at this level will lead to extensive
applications of similar technology throughout Michigan and the nation.”

 

The ADRE Center
also is expected to conduct contract testing of related equipment and
processes to help support itself, and to house a recently created farm
energy auditing program that could conduct digester/power system
feasibility studies for dairy clients. It is slated for completion by
mid- to late 2009.

 

"Agricultural
operations are extensive energy users. Most can reduce their energy
use, sometimes even resulting in increased production, by adopting new
high-efficiency technologies,” said MSU professor Truman Surbrook, who
is managing director of the Michigan Agricultural Electric Council.
“Advances in this field are occurring at such a rapid pace that it is
hard for producers to keep up without the assistance of highly trained
personnel such as Michigan's certified farm energy auditors.”

 

The farm energy
audit program is supported by a two-year, $250,000 grant, also from the
private foundation. MSU will contribute another $230,000 toward the
cost of managing and operating the ADRE Center.

 

For more detail on the MSU ADRE facility, its funding and background on anaerobic digestion, click to www.egr.msu.edu/age/.
The Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering is affiliated
with the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and College
of Engineering.

 

###

 

Michigan State
University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through
innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU
is known internationally as a major public university with global reach
and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract
scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with
practical problem solving.

 

 

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Placing his hand on the Bible once used by Lincoln,
Barack Obama took the Oath of Office at 12:05 p.m. on the steps of the
U.S. Capitol. Immediately following, he delivered his Inaugural Address
to a sea of flag-waving Americans stretching down the National Mall to
the Lincoln Memorial and beyond. The full text of his address is below.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the
trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our
ancestors.  I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as
well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this
transition. 

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.  The
words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still
waters of peace.  Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst
gathering clouds and raging storms.  At these moments, America has
carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high
office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals
of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. 

So it has been.  So it must be with this generation of Americans. 

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood.  Our
nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and
hatred.  Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and
irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure
to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.  Homes have
been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.  Our health care is too
costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence
that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our
planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. 
Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across
our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and
that the next generation must lower its sights.  

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.  They are
serious and they are many.  They will not be met easily or in a short
span of time.  But know this, America -  they will be met. 

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. 

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and
false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far
too long have strangled our politics. 

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time
has come to set aside childish things.  The time has come to reaffirm
our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward
that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to
generation:  the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free,
and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that
greatness is never a given.  It must be earned.  Our journey has never
been one of short-cuts or settling for less.  It has not been the path
for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek
only the pleasures of riches and fame.  Rather, it has been the
risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more
often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the
long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. 

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and
worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. 
They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions;
greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. 

This is the journey we continue today.  We remain the most
prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.  Our workers are no less
productive than when this crisis began.  Our minds are no less
inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last
week or last month or last year.  Our capacity remains undiminished. 
But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and
putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. 
Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and
begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.  The state of the
economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to
create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.  We will build
the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed
our commerce and bind us together.  We will restore science to its
rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s
quality and lower its cost.  We will harness the sun and the winds and
the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.  And we will transform
our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new
age.  All this we can do.  And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who
suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans.  Their
memories are short.  For they have forgotten what this country has
already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is
joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. 

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted
beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us
for so long no longer apply.  The question we ask today is not whether
our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether
it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a
retirement that is dignified.  Where the answer is yes, we intend to
move forward.  Where the answer is no, programs will end.  And those of
us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend
wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -
because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and
their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good
or ill.  Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched,
but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market
can spin out of control – and that a nation cannot prosper long when it
favors only the prosperous.  The success of our economy has always
depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the
reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every
willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route
to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our
safety and our ideals.  Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can
scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the
rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.  Those
ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for
expedience’s sake.  And so to all other peoples and governments who are
watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where
my father was born:  know that America is a friend of each nation and
every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity,
and that we are ready to lead once more. 

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not
just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring
convictions.  They understood that our power alone cannot protect us,
nor does it entitle us to do as we please.  Instead, they knew that our
power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the
justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering
qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy.  Guided by these principles once
more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -
even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.  We will
begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned
peace in Afghanistan.  With old friends and former foes, we will work
tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a
warming planet.  We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we
waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by
inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our
spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we
will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness.  We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -
and non-believers.  We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn
from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter
swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter
stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old
hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon
dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall
reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new
era of peace. 

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual
interest and mutual respect.  To those leaders around the globe who
seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know
that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you
destroy.  To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and
the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of
history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench
your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to
make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved
bodies and feed hungry minds.  And to those nations like ours that
enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to
suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources
without regard to effect.  For the world has changed, and we must
change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with
humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol
far-off deserts and distant mountains.  They have something to tell us
today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through
the ages.  We honor them not only because they are guardians of our
liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness
to find meaning in something greater than themselves.  And yet, at this
moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this
spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the
faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation
relies.  It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees
break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours
than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest
hours.  It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with
smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally
decides our fate. 

Our challenges may be new.  The instruments with which we meet them
may be new.  But those values upon which our success depends – hard
work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity,
loyalty and patriotism – these things are old.  These things are true. 
They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. 
What is demanded then is a return to these truths.  What is required of
us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of
every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the
world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly,
firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the
spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a
difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women
and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration
across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than
sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can
now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far
we have traveled.  In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of
months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the
shores of an icy river.  The capital was abandoned.  The enemy was
advancing.  The snow was stained with blood.  At a moment when the
outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation
ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter,
when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the
country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].“

America.  In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our
hardship, let us remember these timeless words.  With hope and virtue,
let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may
come.  Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were
tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back
nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace
upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it
safely to future generations.

Download military-advantage-in-history.pdf

According to the review, and I agree, military advantage is gained through tactical and operational dominance, weapons and the employment thereof. However, enduring military advantage, the goal of US military strategy, hinges upon institutional advantage: political, economic and military. Therefore, preserving US hegemony is not as simple as maintaining the best tactical use of the best weaponry. We must maintain institutional advantage as well.

What does that mean? Well, it means ensuring that America protects what makes it great: American faith in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as well as faith in our constitution, government and military to protect those ideals. Should our ability to protect those ideals erode, American faith will wane in kind and hasten the fall of American leadership. (Other factors, such as lack of strategic vision on part of our leaders will also contribute to American decline, but that’s another topic for another post.)

Booz Allen’s report rightly prescribes military transformation as the tactical and operational requirement for American hegemony, but fails to provide counsel on institutional advantage. The report simply states that, "Tactical or operational advantage must be sustained by a strong economic foundation and a system in which stable governance is maintained."

Is it me or is this understatement of the report and the decade? Granted, when written in 2002, not only was the current economic disruption was not foreseen, we were only just starting to rebound from economic effects of 9/11, but isn’t that what military planning is all about? Preparing for the unexpected? After all, the report does state that "debasement of the currency" was
second among the reasons listed for the Roman collapse, the longest
standing military advantage on record.

Sun Tzu, the ancient chinese military philosopher asserts in his "Art
of War" on which most military strategy is based, that the best general
wins without firing a shot. Knowing that, according to the report,
American institutions; democratic institutions, personal liberties and
market and financial institutions represent not only our greatest
strength, but also our greatest vulnerability, someone other than
Congress, perhaps the Fed, should war plan against economic
vulnerabilities in the same way the DoD plans for military threats.

One may argue that economic defense is not the purview of the military, and perhaps that’s correct. But ignoring the problem isn’t a solution either. Congress clearly lacks the ability to provide proper oversight and policy recommendations pertaining to currency and spending controls from a defensive posture. This abdication of responsibility and failure to properly assign it remains a huge hole in our national defense framework. Some institution, perhaps the Fed in coordination with the DoD must bear this responsibility. Failure to do so could be more catastrophic than a conventional military attack. Just ask the Germans after WWI or the Americans after the revolutionary war.

Moreover, Congress should take to heart and implement those protective economic measures with the same zeal and vigor that they so eagerly pursue DoD recommendations. Perhaps with the backdrop of protecting America, Congress will learn to reign in their spending knowing that if they don’t, their spendthrift ways will ultimately bankrupt the dollar and the American way of life.
 

Moreover, contrary to the author’s position in his "Fighting Big Solar" article, Renewable Portfolio Standards are not bad policy although it is technically a manipulation of the market. This minor government interference, in this case, can be justified by offsetting gains in security, both financial and military. Fewer imports from adversaries offset by domestic power production from renewable/unlimited sources such as wind and solar, will lessen the outflow of American wealth to other countries and increase the financial solvency of the American people and dollar. That being said, a direct government subsidy, as the author states, implies that the government knows better than the market, which is rarely, if ever, the case.

A cap and trade system in which all businesses and citizens/consumers are on the carbon grid will provide a private market subsidy from polluters to non-polluters as individuals and businesses manage their carbon and finances according to their own needs and capabilities. The resulting financial incentive to reduce your carbon footprint will flow to the greatest innovators and create thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of new jobs across the country. But for the system to work, the carbon target needs to be market-based as well, which is where these attempted-market-based-solutions often fail.

The target should be at year one status quo and increased annually by the average of those participants who improved their performance. Those who performed worse will not be included in the target calibration as doing so would create a disincentive to improve. Conversely, allowing the best performers to set the standard creates a Prisoner’s Dilemma incentive to perform. Not competing only worsens your situation. Competing and succeeding improves your lot. However, by putting everyone, business and citizenry alike, into the position of having to manage their resources as best as possible, will result in better performance than any government directed program. As a result, we’ll likely see a new wave of entrepreneurial creativity, mergers, acquisitions and technological leaps financed by the opportunities of a vast new market.

Basically, what that means is that we’re charging our oil purchases to our national credit card, which of course, we’ll have to pay back at some point. That time may be sooner rather than later if the US Dollar doesn’t start increasing in value.

The problem is that with the mortgage problems at Fannie and Freddie and the government’s willingness to back up their debt, we could add much more the to national debt which will drive down the value of the dollar. As the dollar goes down, investors will opt for other currencies and investments that yield a higher return. As investors shun the dollar, the due date for repayment gets closer or we’ll suffer much increased inflation.

The solution to our fiscal problems, both government and citizen/consumer alike, comes back to energy and breaking our dependence on ANY oil, not just foreign oil. Which would you rather have: a menial, temporary "tax break" which adds to our national debt and must be repaid later or a permanent reduction in expenses? Personally, I’d much prefer the latter.

So what’s the silver bullet?

An electricity grid powered by solar, wind and geothermal is half of the solution. Solar, wind and geothermal power supply is infinite, their production cost goes down as mass production goes up, they’re non-polluting sources of power and they’re 100% domestic. That’s what I call energy independence. But that’s just half the equation.

Converting our auto fleet to entirely electric or hybrid electric would not only free America from pain at the pump, we’ll also cut our national deficit, the amount we continue to borrow to make ends meet, in half, which in turn, will increase the value of the dollar. Just imagine what you’d do with all the money you’d save on gas…

That’s a silver bullet…

Now only if we could get Congressional spending under control and make a few reforms of wasteful spending, we might actually eliminate the deficit and still have money left over to improve our health care and education.

Let your state and federal representatives know that you are tired of your gas bill. You support wind, solar, geothermal energy and the conversion to an electric automotive fleet. If you talk, they’ll listen.

Once you get past the appalling nature of applying a dollar value to a human life, this becomes nothing more than a fairly standard cost-benefit analysis, which is used successfully in business all the time. The problem with government managing by these figures rather than with common sense and logic is that numbers, like these, are easily manipulated to achieve an end as charged in this case.

As a businessman, I agree with the practice, but in this case, disagree with the application. I wonder if anyone has considered, in all of the US government’s wisdom, that it might be possible that the mere act of polluting could have severe repercussions, which at present, are immeasurable due to the myriad unknown contributing factors.

Consider the example provided by the author: a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion
to enforce but will prevent 2,500 deaths. At $7.8 million per person
(the old figure), the lifesaving benefits outweigh the costs. But at
$6.9 million per person, the rule costs more than the lives it saves,
so it may not be adopted.

Ignoring the fact that the government, as illustrated in this example, expects to pick up the tab of enforcement rather than using the profit motive of the private sector as enforcement, this practice of governing, in my humble opinion, cannot and therefore does not take into consideration the unanticipated costs to the economy such as productivity loss due to illness, natural disasters and other often difficult to predict occurrences. I’d also argue that money spent to alleviate those events, like buying drugs when sick and rebuilding New Orleans after a hurricane (wait, you’re telling me that never happened?), should also be included in the cost because those funds could be allocated to otherwise productive activities, rather than simply digging out of a hole.

A more appropriate approach, would be to govern with logic. If it’s unnatural and harmful to people and the environment, then we should limit the emission of these pollutants into our fragile, unpredictable and irreplaceable ecosystem. All it takes is a bit of faith in human ingenuity and acknowledgment of our own limitations: that we don’t know what we don’t know and that what we don’t know can hurt us. Besides, other businesses, jobs and industries will sprout up to replace "lost" productivity from polluting firms. Don’t believe me? You probably would have agreed that mass production would result in fewer jobs as well.