Fossil fuel has gotten us into all sorts of trouble lately. Gas production and consumption has caused international conflict, wrecked havoc on our planet, and lightened our wallets at the gas pump. Why not turn to plants? They get their energy from the sun; and with a little smart science, they can pass on their clean green energy to our cars. In this episode producer Catherine Girardeau takes us to San Francisco and Tempe, Arizona, where researchers rely on abundant sunshine to grow marine life that can be turned into fuel. And we’ll get the recipe for making biodiesel out of leftover cooking oil. Chemical Agent: Cellulose.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:24 Chemical Agent: Cellulose
04:01 Chemistry in Your Cupboard: Biodiesel
06:52 Feature: Algae as Fuel
11:00 Closing Credits

Resources and References

For everything you want to know about biodiesel, including how to make it, where to buy it, and the latest news, visit the National Biodiesel Board.

For a digest of information and articles on biodiesel, including debate over the ethanol, visit the New York Times’s special topic section.

Visit Solazyme to learn more about their quest to turn marine microbes into renewable energy.

Credits

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is: ”Paparazzi French Fries,” by Schmee, and  ”Soma Magnet,” by Pablo Perez.

This week’s image shows algae tubes in Milton Sommerfield’s lab at Arizona State University. Photograph provided by Rene Gutel.

To help president-elect Barack Obama celebrate his inauguration on Tuesday, January 20, Distillations is taking a look at the presidential side of chemistry. First we learn about stem cells and the controversy surrounding their research. Next we find out why 21-gun salutes are safe and not so smoky in Mystery Solved! And finally, CHF’s Jody Roberts shares his wish list for the new administration and congress. Chemical Agent: Stem Cells.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:01 Chemical Agent: Stem Cells
03:30 Mystery Solved! Smokeless Gunpowder
06:32 Commentary: A Planet in Peril
11:05 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Visit the National Institutes of Health to find out more about stem cells and the research ethics for studying them.
For more about smokeless gunpowder, check out this helpful Wikipedia page.
Go to The Center, CCHP’s blog, to read Jody’s series, “A Planet in Peril.”

Credits

Jennifer Dionisio, Nicole Rietmann, and Jody Roberts researched this episode.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is: ”Curiosity,” by Nalts; “Comical Salute,” by Siberian Newspaper; and “The Presidents,” by Jonathan Coulton.

This week’s image is from Barack Obama’s Web site.

We are marking the one year anniversary of Distillations this week! To celebrate we’re looking back at the year 2008 and its noteworthy occasions. First we learn about boron, whose 200th birthday was this year. Next up is the Nobel Prize. This year’s Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three men who discovered the green fluorescent protein. And finally we find out what you, our listeners, thought was the most important chemical moment of the 2008, according to our survey. Element of the Week: Boron.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:07 Element of the Week: Boron
03:20 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
06:49 The Most Significant Chemical Moment of 2008
10:20 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Check out this Chemical Explorers video, all about your top pick for most important chemical moment of 2008.
For more information on boron, see the Los Alamos National Labs web site.
Also of interest is this January 2008 article in the New Scientist about boron nanotubes.
If you want to learn more about the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, or any other Nobel Prize, visit the Nobel Prize web site.

Credits

Special thanks go to Eleanor Goldberg and Chi Chan for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is “Happy Birthday,” by Craymo and ”Green,” by Ambient Light.

This week’s photo is by Don White, courtesy of MIT. The image depicts the new catalyst that MIT researchers discovered this year which creates carbon-free electricity.

The first cars didn’t run on gas—they ran on electricity. Over a century later, the high cost of fuel has finally forced automakers to take the possibility of battery-powered cars seriously. On today’s show we look at three kinds of batteries that have been proposed as transportation solutions. We start with nickel hydride batteries, the key component of contemporary hybrid cars like Toyota’s Prius. Next, we look at the technology behind hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Producer Devin Browne wraps up the show with an exclusive visit to GM’s battery lab in Warren, Michigan, for a close-up look at the future of lithium-ion battery cars. Element of the Week: Nickel.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:13 Element of the Week: Nickel
03:08 Mystery Solved! Hydrogen fuel-cell cars
06:38 GM’s lithium-ion battery lab
11:13 Closing Credits

Resources and References

We learned about the Electrovan from “An Electrovan, Not an Edsel,” The New York Times 17 November 2002.
For information on fuel cells, we relied on G. Hoogers, Fuel Cell Technology Handbook (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2003).
You can learn more about electric car batteries from this online article.
For information on the development of the Chevrolet Volt, visit the company’s official home page.

Credits

Special thanks go to Chi Chan for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network and the Internet Archive. Additional music is “Fire and Ice,” by Briareus, “Delorian,” by The Atomica Project, “Moving Picture,” by JayDenton, “Preschool 2040,” by Podcast Troubadour, “Pure Imagination,” from the Willy Wonka Soundtrack, “At Sundown,” by Artie Shaw, and “allmyfriendslistentoelectro,” by DJ Scratchin’.

This week’s image is a publicity shot of the Chevrolet Volt, by GM.