Burn Clean Project

Last updated September 27, 2019

The Burn Clean Project is a volunteer organization providing sustainable energy solutions for the Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert.^[1]

Burning Man is an event held annually in the western United States at Black Rock City, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert of northwest Nevada, approximately 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. The late summer event is an experiment in community and art, influenced by ten main principles: radical inclusion, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy, and leave no trace. The event takes its name from its culmination, the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden effigy that traditionally occurs on the Saturday evening of the event.

The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe eco-region), of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt playa 100 miles (160 km) north of Reno, Nevada that encompasses more than 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of land and contains more than 120 miles (200 km) of historic trails. It is in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan.

The mission of the Burn Clean Project is to organize and energize Black Rock City's evolution from petroleum dependency to the affordable application of renewable energy resources. The ultimate goal of the Burn Clean Project is to see Black Rock City 95% free of fossil fuels before the close of this decade, while spreading the technologies and philosophies of renewable energy use to communities across the US.

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services.

In 2006, Burn Clean Project organized the biodiesel and biodiesel-friendly generators to power the Staff Commissary, the Greeter's Station, and the Man himself for the Burning Man festival with 99.9% biodiesel. (.1% blend of diesel fuel is required for federal tax incentives.) This B99 was processed from locally collected Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), from Bently Biofuels in Minden, NV. This was accomplished by founding member, Jenn "1-LUV" Breckenridge and partner, Dr. Ryan Wartena of MIT, with the aid of Blue, Facility Manager at Burning Man headquarters and BCP Liaison, Carlo Luri, General Manager of Bently Biofuels, and Don Gray of Kohler Power Supply. Large theme camps such as Entheon Village, Disorient, and Hookahville also took advantage of the deals struck with Bently, Kohler, and Burning Man, and fueled their camps with B99.

Biodiesel vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters.

What was accomplished by Burn Clean Project in 2006, created a paradigm shift in the fuel practices of Burning Man. In 2007, the BM organization, much encouraged by BM's DPW, fueled as many of their generators which was possible with B99, from the 50 kW generators on up to the massive 200 kW's. Cashman's and United Rentals, the two major generator providers of Nevada, have both considered changing their anti-biodiesel policies to accommodate Burning Man and to compete with Kohler Power Supply. Up until 2007, Kohler has been one of the very few national resources for authorized B100 use. Cashman's and United's adjustment at the corporate level, has been affected by citizens ready for positive change and willing to do something about it, supported by companies like Bently Biofuels and Kohler Power Supply, that believe renewable fuels are not something to be reserved for the distant future, but are realities ready to be utilized today.

At the close of the burn in 2006, Larry Harvey, founding member of the Burning Man community, announced that the theme for 2007 BM festival would be "The Green Man". The organization has taken on Tom Price as a full-time Environmental Manager of BM devoted to "greening the burn". Now Burning Man, already the largest Leave No Trace event in the US, has advanced to another level of environmental stewardship. The Earth Guardians, longtime protecters of Black Rock Desert and Alternative Energy Zone, longtime incubators of renewable energy technologies, have been joined by Burn Clean Project, Cooling Man, Evolutionary Center, Sustainaville, Greening the Burn, and a score of other eco organizations that are devoted to creating a way of harmoniously co-existing with the environment.

For Burning Man 2007, Burn Clean Project ran the BCP BioBus (space) Shuttle to Black Rock City from Reno International Airport. A biodiesel-fueled bus shuttled burners to and from Black Rock desert, helping eliminate the need for individuals to rent petroleum-fueled cars for an entire week to use for one four-hour round trip. The initiation of BCP's biobus pilot program is one more milestone in the long-term goal to eradicate the widespread use of fossil fuels in Black Rock City.

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A biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary processes from biomass, rather than a fuel produced by the very slow geological processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. Since biomass technically can be used as a fuel directly, some people use the terms biomass and biofuel interchangeably. More often than not however, the word biomass simply denotes the biological raw material the fuel is made of, or some form of thermally/chemically altered solid end product, like torrefied pellets or briquettes. The word biofuel is usually reserved for liquid or gaseous fuels, used for transportation. The EIA follow this naming practice. If the biomass used in the production of biofuel can regrow quickly, the fuel is generally considered to be a form of renewable energy.

Sustainable energy is the practice of using energy in a way that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

The United States produces mainly biodiesel and ethanol fuel, which uses corn as the main feedstock. The US is the world's largest producer of ethanol, having produced nearly 16 billion gallons in 2017 alone. The United States, together with Brazil accounted for 85 percent of all ethanol production, with total world production of 27.05 billion gallons. Biodiesel is commercially available in most oilseed-producing states. As of 2005, it was somewhat more expensive than fossil diesel, though it is still commonly produced in relatively small quantities. Due to increasing pollution control and climate change requirements and tax relief, the U.S. market is expected to grow to 1 to 2 billion US gallons by 2010.

Renewable fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels and Hydrogen fuel. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.for eg Sun,Wind etc

Biofuel is fuel that is produced from organic matter (biomass), including plant materials and animal waste. It is considered a renewable source of energy that can assist in reducing carbon emissions. The two main types of biofuel currently being produced in Australia are biodiesel and bioethanol, used as replacements for diesel and petrol (gasoline) respectively. As of 2017 Australia is a relatively small producer of biofuels, accounting for 0.2% of world bioethanol production and 0.1% of world biodiesel production.

The energy policy of Australia is subject to the regulatory and fiscal influence of all three levels of government in Australia, although only the State and Federal levels determine policy for primary industries such as coal.

Vegetable oils are increasingly used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Vegetable oils are the basis of biodiesel, which can be used like conventional diesel. Some vegetable oil blends are used in unmodified vehicles, but straight vegetable oil needs specially prepared vehicles which have a method of heating the oil to reduce its viscosity and surface tension. Another alternative is vegetable oil refining.

Renewable energy in Finland grew to 38.7% of total final energy consumption by year end 2014, achieving joint second position with Latvia in terms of renewable energy consumption by share amongst the EU-28 countries, behind its neighbour Sweden in first position on a 52.6% share. The 2014 share in Finland breaks down as renewable energy providing 52% of the heating and cooling sector, 31.4% of the electricity sector and 21.6% of the transport sector. By 2014 Finland had already exceeded its 2020 target for renewable energy use under the EU renewable energy directive as shown in the table of country targets.

China has set the goal of attaining one percent of its renewable energy generation through bioenergy in 2020.

Biodiesel is rapidly becoming more common in a number of developed countries and the environmental effects of using biodiesel either as a blend such as B20 or as a straight fuel stock may be different in various countries. This is because the allowable amounts of sulphur and other compounds vary from country to country. Additionally, the average temperature in a country will dictate the amount of biodiesel that can be blended into the fuel supply before the cold filter plugging point renders the fuel unusable. The national annex of BS EN 14214 specifies a maximum CFPP for B100 biodiesel of -15 °C in the winter and -5 °C for the rest of the year. As such, the benefits and disadvantages of biodiesel will vary from those in the United Kingdom.

The environmental impact of biodiesel is diverse.

Pennsylvania approved a bill that establishes a $500 million fund to support renewable energy projects. Special Session House Bill 1 authorizes the Commonwealth Financing Authority to borrow $500 million, most of which will be split into six funding sources relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy: $80 million in grants and loans for solar energy projects; $100 million in grants, loans, and rebates for up to 35% of the cost of solar energy projects at residences and small businesses; $165 million in grants and loans for alternative energy projects, excluding solar energy, at businesses and local government facilities; $25 million for wind and geothermal energy projects; $40 million to help start-up businesses involved in energy efficiency technologies; and $25 million in grants and loans to improve the energy efficiency of new and existing homes and small business buildings. An additional $65 million will go toward pollution control technologies and to help low-income families pay their energy bills.

There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues with biofuel production and use, which have been discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the "food vs fuel" debate, poverty reduction potential, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, effect on water resources, the possible modifications necessary to run the engine on biofuel, as well as energy balance and efficiency. The International Resource Panel, which provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of resource-related themes, assessed the issues relating to biofuel use in its first report Towards sustainable production and use of resources: Assessing Biofuels. In it, it outlined the wider and interrelated factors that need to be considered when deciding on the relative merits of pursuing one biofuel over another. It concluded that not all biofuels perform equally in terms of their effect on climate, energy security and ecosystems, and suggested that environmental and social effects need to be assessed throughout the entire life-cycle.

The use of biofuels varies by region and with increasing oil prices there is a renewed interest in it as an energy source.

There are a number of biofuels used in New Zealand.

Renewable energy technologies provide about 17% of Canada’s total primary energy supply and about 65% of its electricity production, as of 2016.

United States policy in regard to biofuels, such as ethanol fuel and biodiesel, began in the early 1990s as the government began looking more intensely at biofuels as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase the nation's overall sustainability. Since then, biofuel policies have been refined, focused on getting the most efficient fuels commercially available, creating fuels that can compete with petroleum-based fuels, and ensuring that the agricultural industry can support and sustain the use of biofuels.

Sustainable Oils is a Seattle-based renewable fuels company specializing in the research and production of Camelina, the only advanced biofuels feedstock with United States Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory approvals. Oil extracted from Camelina seeds can be processed into a number of renewable products including renewable jet fuel, green diesel, biodiesel, green plastics and renewable oleochemicals. The biomass that remains after oil extraction, generally referred to seedcake or meal, can be used as nutrient-rich animal feed. Camelina offers several advantages over traditional biofuel feedstocks like soy and corn, such as competitive oil yields and shorter growing seasons. Sustainable Oils has its primary operations in the state of Montana.

References

↑ Burkart, Karl (2009-06-15). "Burning Man strives to 'burn clean'". MNN - Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 2013-11-24.

External links

"Green Man 2007 - Can Burning Man Ever Be Green?". Internet Marketing for Changemakers. Retrieved 2013-11-24.

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[1] Burkart, Karl (2009-06-15). "Burning Man strives to 'burn clean'". MNN - Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 2013-11-24.