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Over the years, we’ve ridiculed Congress’s cellulosic biofuel mandates and associated penalties (for example, here and here) which were enacted as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2007. Cellulosic biofuel is mostly ethanol sourced not from corn but from switchgrass, wood pellets and other non-food sources. Refiners who missed mandated targets of cellulosic biofuel were required to purchase credits to cover their shortfall. Effectively, it was a fine.

Problem was, cellulosic technology was slow to make it out of the lab and into commercial plants. As the Energy Information Administration has noted, biofuel production costs are higher than fossil fuels and market resistance is the same as ethanol from other sources. Back in 2010, when the EPA started levying its penalties, cellulosic ethanol was unavailable because no plants were producing it.

A court decision in early 2013 found the EPA mandate-setting process "did not take neutral aim at accuracy" and "was an unreasonable exercise of agency discretion." Forced by the court, the EPA reduced the 2013 target to 6 million gallons from the original 1.0 billion gallons. Just this week, the EPA retroactively reduced the 2013 mandates to the amount actually produced (810,185 gallons), effectively negating the penalty.

(For those keeping score, actual production for 2013 was a whopping 0.08% of the original goal. Or to put another perspective on 810,185 gallons, the U.S. consumes that volume of beer roughly every hour.)

The picture is even more ridiculous for 2014 (see chart). The original mandate called for production/consumption of 1.75 billion gallons. Since the court decision, the target has been cut to a still-quite-ridiculous 17 million gallons. Through the first quarter, actual production has been just 75,000 gallons; a neutral observer might agree that we have a way to go.

The target volume for 2022 is 16 billion gallons.

Cellulosic biofuel is a case of the Congress thinking it could create a market presence for a product by sheer force of will and legislation. Bad idea.

Cross-posted.

The post Great Achievements in Central Planning: Cellulosic Biofuel appeared first on RedState.

What's that odd shape, you ask? That's the world's thinnest nanowire -- and it could be the key to a future wave of flexible devices. In blasting single-layered, semiconducting materials with an electron beam, Vanderbilt University student Junhao Lin...

If you’re a gamer, lag is one of your worst enemies. But what would it be like if you experienced lag in real life? Imagine how frustrating that would be!

Introducing Living With Lag — a cute experiment put on by an internet provider called Ume. Using an Oculus Rift development kit, a Raspberry Pi, noise cancelling headphones and a webcam, Ume’s thrown together a fun social experiment. The webcam captures both audio and video and repeats it to the Oculus Rift via the Pi at a variable delay to show the effects of slow internet speeds.

They attempt four different scenarios. Ping pong is pretty much impossible. Dance class is just embarrassing. And attempting to cook or eat is absolutely hilarious. They even try bowling, which also proves more difficult than you could imagine!

Stick around to see for yourself.

In the end it’s still a commercial, but heck — good job Ume!

[Thanks Brandon!]

Filed under: Virtual Reality

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Dying for a cup of coffee? Created by design shop Hundred Million, these ghastly sugar skull spoons are equal parts fun and functional. Now available in the Colossal Shop.

Previously: Cats Getting Stuck in Things

[submitted by mrfunnymals]

Related: Hamster Stuffs Five Baby Carrots Into His Mouth

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otherworldlythings:

Nirvana on TotP, in 1991. The band was not happy when they were told that they would have to sing live vocals over a pre-recorded track. This resulted in 3 minutes of hilarity. Best. Fuck. You. EVER.

If you want a good laugh, watch the video here.

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[link] [704 comments]

"Kids" (1995)

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It looks like the legend might be true after all. Microsoft has uncovered intact copies of E.T. for the Atari 2600 at a New Mexico landfill, supporting claims that Atari buried legions of unsold cartridges in the desert after the movie-themed game...

submitted by chumpynut5 [link] [127 comments]

Taco Bell is the last fast food restaurant you’d associate with the fancy pants crowd, but CEO Greg Creed is aiming to change that by opening a new, upscale fakey Mexican food restaurant called the US Taco Co. and Urban Taproom.

If the ridiculously long name isn’t enough of a mouthful, chew on this-Greg says their aim is to attract customers who are "edgy in how they live their lives but not necessarily in how they eat."

The first two overpriced taco varieties they have announced are the “one percenter”-lobster and garlic butter taco with cabbage slaw, and the “winner winner”-a chicken taco with brown gravy.

Taco Bell may be movin' on up like the Jeffersons, but will their new demographic accept them with open arms, or send them back to Junk Food Junction?

-Via Geekosystem

You would be forgiven for first thinking this is one of those “30 years later” photo recreations, but no. The phone is a giveaway. Redditor perianderson took his son’s Facebook profile picture and recreated it with his wife. The resemblance is uncanny. He’s already ordered a poster-sized version of this picture to give to his son. Someone did a face swap between the generations, and you really couldn’t tell any difference in the father and son. The resemblance between the mother and the friend is coincidence -or is it? A fine attempt at enjoying one of the great rewards of parenting -embarrassing your kids. If the son is not embarrassed when he sees it, that just means he is as cool as the rest of the family.