Biodiesel

Bioethanl Lab

Organic bio mass=bioethanol

wast=paper+ethanol biofuel

Biodiesel 

"Biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that is reducing U.S. dependence on foreign petroleum, creating jobs and improving the environment. Made from a diverse mix of feedstocks including recycled cooking oil, soybean oil, and animal fats, it is the first and only EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel in commercial-scale production across the country and the first to reach 1 billion gallons of annual production. Meeting strict technical fuel quality and engine performance specifications, it can be used in existing diesel engines without modification and is covered by all major engine manufacturers’ warranties, most often in blends of up to 5 percent or 20 percent biodiesel. It is produced at plants in nearly every state in the country."http://www.biodiesel.org/what-is-biodiesel/biodiesel-basics

Steps for Homemade Biodiesel 

1. get used oil from fast food restaurants 
2. filter out all the particles
3. treat filtered oil chemically: mix at a specific temperature with the equivalent of drain o
4. can produce a side product: glycerin (used to make soaps and candles)

The Benefits of Urban Gardens!!!!!!

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/urbanag/steps.htm

Needs & Concerns

• Most people are not aware of how to work a garden or the benefits of a garden
• Lack of education 
• A way to empower people
• Concern that there may be contamination in the soil of urban gardens because of the pollution in urban landscape

Societal Benefits

• Increase a sense of community ownership and stewardship
• Foster the development of community identity
• Create unity across a vast variety of backgrounds
• Builds community leaders
• Effective crime prevention
• Educational tool for youth
• Food Production
• Green space reduces stress and increases a sense of wellness

Environmental Benefits

• Heighten appreciation for living things and nature
• Filters rainwater keeping streams, rivers, and lakes clean
• Restores oxygen to the air reducing air pollution
• Recycles natural foliage and waste back into the soil
• Creates an oasis from urban life

Soils & Rocks

12 Soil Orders of the World
1. Gelisols-soils with permafrost within 2m of the surface
2. Histosols-organic soils
3. Spodosols-acid forest soils with a subsurface accumulation of metal-humus complexes
4. Andisols-soils formed in volcanic ash
5. Oxisols-intensely weathered soils of tropical and subtropical environments
6. Vertisols-clayey soils with high shrink/swell capacity
7. Aridisols-CaCO3 containing soils of arid environments with subsurface horizon development
8. Ultisols-strongly leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay accumulation and <35% base saturation
9. Mollisols-grasslands soils with high base status
10. Alfisols-moderately leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay accumulation and >35% base saturation
11. Inceptisols-soils with weakly developed subsurface horizons
12. Entisols-soils with little or no morphological development

http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm

Soil Types of Georgia
Sand, clay and loam make up the three main soil types of Georgia.  There are, however, combinations of these three with various additives, such as salt, rock and various sediments.
Georgia's primary soil order is ultisols.  Within this order there are 5 suborders: Aquults, Humults, Udults, Ustults, and Xerults.

Micaceous Schist (Metamorphic Rock)
Mica Schist is mostly composed of more than 50% tabular and elongated minerals with grain sized coarse enough to be visible to the unaided eye.  Schists have a developed tendency to split into layers.  It is made up of many layers and if this rock is struck it will break along a particular cleavage; thus the word schist is derived from the Greek word meaning 'to split'.

Tree Identification

During our Tree Identification Lab, we took a tour of campus while recognizing different trees that were scattered across Mercer's campus.  For the purpose of this blog, I will focus on four specific trees:
1) Poplar
2) Pecan
3) Sycamore
4) Crepe Myrtle

Poplar

Populus tremula

Some interesting facts concerning the polar tree include that many poplars are grown for ornamental purposes. They grow very big and very fast. The majority of the these trees grow from clippings or fallen branches that take root in the ground. Poplars have very vigorous and invasive root systems stretching up to 40 m from the trees.

Pecan

Carya illinoinensis
The pecan tree is a large deciduous tree, growing to 66-130 ft in height. The fruit of this tree is the pecan which we use for multiple uses.  Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops.  Today, the U.S. produces between 80% and 95% of the world's pecans, with an annual crop of 150-200 thousands tons from more than 10 million trees. 

Sycamore

Platanus occidentalis

A sycamore can grow to massive proportions, typically reaching up to 98 to 130 ft high and 4.9 to 6.6 ft in diameter when grown in deep soils.  The bark of all trees has to yield to a growing trunk by stretching, splitting, or infilling; the sycamore shows the process more openly than many other trees.  the explanation is found in the rigid texture of the bark tissue which lacks the elasticity of the bark of some other trees. 

Crepe Myrtle

Lagerstroemia 

These flowering trees are beautifully colored and are planted for both private and commercial use. These trees bloom in the summer months and can produce many different colors of flowers. There consist of both tropical and subtropical species that are used in different landscaping projects. 

Mystery of the Megaflood

The mystery of the megaflood is an interesting topic that has baffled geologists and has challenged the scientific community's view on how the world changes over a period of time.  The video goes through the process of how the Scablands were produced not over a long extended period of gradual change, but rather by the immediate change of intense glacier flooding.  To be specific, the video describes a 4 step process that creates the changes we observe in the Scablands.

The first is super cool water.  This water is below the freezing point but remains a liquid because of the pressure within the glacier leaves no room for expansion.  The water then forces its way through fractures in the glacier, melting the ice, and causing weakness in the glacier's stability.

The second is the collapse of the ice dam.  Because of the immense amount of pressure built up by the super cool water, the glacier or ice dam collapses causing a surging flood.

The third step is the rush of water, up to 60 mph, toward the scablands. This wall of water was up to 800 feet deep.  It gorged out miles of rock, carved cliffs and canyons (dry falls), created underwater tornados which blasted out potholes, and it deposited random boulders that had accumulated in the glacier over the Scab Lands that were randomly thrown aside as the flood lost its momentum.

The fourth step is the amount of time it took the water to surge out to sea in the Pacific ocean.  Within a few hours all evidence of the dramatic flood had vanished and had left behind only the confusing landscape of potholes, erratics, dry falls, ripples, and multi-layerd sediment.

The video ends by saying that there was not only 1 giant flood that caused the formations of the Scablands, but it was the result of multiple floods; a cycle of giant floods rocked the Scablands!

Visit these sites for more information:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/explore-the-scablands.html

Ocmulgee Heritage Trail

The Ocmulgee Heritage Trail is a fundamental community resource in Macon that helps create a sense of unity among community members.  It is used for recreational purposes and it serves as an outlet from the hustle & bustle of urban lifestyle.
http://www.maconga.org/listings/index.cfm?listingID=3990&menuID=39&hit=1

This is the transect line that represents the elevation change along the riverbank at this specific point.

The importance of parks and river walks and the role they play is to offer and build a sense of community.

Elizabeth Dugan, an instructor from South University Online, says, "Dugan says that people living in towns with parks and recreation centers feel a stronger sense of community than those living in areas without these facilities." To find out more about the role that river walks play and their importance to the unity of a community visit this website:
http://source.southuniversity.edu/parks-and-recreation-centers-bring-communities-together-59072.aspx

Topographic Map of Pike's Peak

Here is my topographic map of Pike's Peak in Colorado.  This map represents elevation from 9,000 feet to 13,000 feet.

Key
Pink=9,000 feet
Orange=10,000 feet
Blue=11,000 feet
Green=12,000 feet
Yellow=13,000 feet