"Would this work for used motor oil as well?" Eh, probably not. Motor oil is made up of hydrocarbons, which aren't as readily broken down as the lipids in vegetable oil. There just aren't that many microorganisms out there that have the necessary enzymes to break down hydrocarbons, which is why they're pollutants and lipids are not. It could also be that they're just harder (slower, more energy expensive) to break down even with the appropriate enzymes, but that's beyond my knowledge. Burning for heating purposes is an EPA-approved form of recycling for used motor oil, though. Here is a link that might be useful: uses for used motor oil

I think a lot of jar manufacturers changed the threading on their jars to keep people from using them for canning. Maybe liability issues? I have lots of old Classico jars and don't use them in the pressure canner, but do a lot of my HWB canning in them. I love them, but they have a smaller capacity than the standard quart jars. And that's perfectly fine for some things I don't really need a full quart for. I use lemon juice for tomatoes as well. Am satisfied with the taste. If it tastes too sour, you may add sugar safely. It masks the acidity, but supposedly does not affect the acidity of the product at all. I have never been one for electric kitchen gadgets, but the rationale behind the vacuum sealing for freezer products is very valid. If you are using zip lock bags for irregularly shaped products like breads, where you cannot get the bag to fit them without air space, there is no reason you cannot wrap the product in plastic wrap first and then bag them. Freezer burn is such a wasteful thing.

I read an article in my Sunday paper (we only get Sunday) a few weeks ago about alternative heating solutions. These are very simple, renewable resources used much like a wood or pellet stove, but which are fueled with grains or seeds. In fact, I think it even said some of the models could use pellets or grains. Corn and sunflower seeds are the two main fuels that were mentioned. The oil content of sunflower seeds make them especially good fuel. I don't know how much space you would need to grow all your own fuel (depends a lot on where you live and how much you need to heat, I suppose). Anyone know the average per acre yield for sunflower seeds? I am currently planning for a world devoid of fossil fuels. I HOPE it will be a world of our own making rather than one forced upon us by the disappearance of said resource. Either way, I bought my husband a bike for Christmas, and hopefully I will get one soon also. I started working at a place very close to my home. I am developing a garden which I hope can yield a lot of the food we will need. Basically, thinking about design, inputs and outputs. How to minimize inputs that require fossil fuels. We hope to go totally solar some day, which will also mean cooking with electricity instead of gas (oh, well). That may happen sooner rather than later if the CA gov't passes these new subsidies (they get smaller every year according to the plan, so the sooner you do it, the more $$$ you get back), and also because, well, solar panels are high-tech and high-input to produce and may not be produced in a fossil-fuelless world. Thankfully, they are fairly easy to deal with and maintain once you have them. BUT, we also have to think about living without electricity altogether. The Amish, I think, are good role models to look to in planning for energy descent. Wondering where to get a hand-operated grain mill or non-electric washing machine? Try Lehman's (link below). They have been serving the Amish with non-electric goods for many years. They even sell wood-burning cookstoves. (hey, it's okay to post links like this here, right? i promise lehman's did NOT pay me for this plug ;) ) Here is a link that might be useful: Lehman's

Biofuels are a troubled territory. And they have been like that for the past few years. At the same time, they are such an incredibly important area, with the world having almost 1 billion vehicles depending on oil to run! Don't biofuels then deserve a huge amount of attention and priority even if they are going through troubled times right now? As the following post from the EAI Blog says, in large countries like India, biofuels simply are not getting the same kind of attention that solar and wind power are getting, even though India is a large importer of oil and there is a critical need for the country to be self reliant in oil: "Most power in India is produced by coal and hydroelectric power � both of which are available in plenty within India (yes, we import about 10% of our coal requirements, but we actually have reserves that will last us about 100 years at current levels of consumption). On the other hand, we have much less oil and import about 70% of our requirements (though it is nice to know that there have been some significant oil finds in the recent past by Cairn Energy and more recently by Reliance). If our dependence on foreign countries is much higher for oil than for electricity, one would expect an equally high thrust to be provided by the government for the progress of biofuels as it is provided for renewable electricity. But I do not find an equal thrust. True, there are blending mandates and slightly increased buy-in rates for both ethanol and biodiesel, but nothing of the sort that is being provided to solar PV and thermal where the government plans to provide incentives that is almost 80% the total cost of production." I am surprised why not just India, but many other countries in the world are not putting in huge research dollars into this? True, they talk a lot about it, but even the USA I understand puts in much more into solar than into biofuels. (Countries like Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia are the only pleasant exceptions). A billion vehicles is a heck of a lot. And believe me, it is going to take many decades, if at all, before the cars in their current IC engine design are going to be overtakes by electric cars. What do we do in the meantime. For all you know, oil might cost $150 plus within the next few years. I think biofuels is the only answer, even though there are many environmentalists who doubt the greenness of biofuels. And for biofuels to become sustainable, it is a must for the governments to bear part of the R&D cost and efforts through significant subsidies and incentives. True, the investments will take some time to bear fruit, but such is life. What do you think? Here is a link that might be useful: Equal Priority with Renewable Energy