Gas Station Owner Finds Ultimate Marketing Ploy

In a brilliant move to draw business to his station, Harvey Pollack, owner of Towne Mobil Market in Mequon, Wisconsin shut off his pumps for one day to "protest high gas prices". This move, costing him a mere $1500 for the full day, has brought him national free coverage lasting several days.

Winner of the coveted "Energy Idiot of the Week" title, Maria McClory, gives her performance in the CNN article linked above:

Maria McClory, 38, drove 10 miles out of her way to buy a diet soda from Pollack's station after seeing local television coverage of the protest.

"I just wanted to support them and thank them for making a statement," said McClory, who drives about 100 miles a day for work in her sport utility vehicle.

This dim bulb (incandescent, I'd wager) drove an extra ten miles to buy a soda, in her gas-hog SUV, which she "drives for work". I wonder, is she transporting half a dozen workers in that SUV? Or just her overladen handbag?

Perhaps she'd have made a stronger statement by ditching the SUV for something a bit more efficient, eh? Or not driving ten miles for a soda!

Kudos to the unnamed CNN reporter who made sure we all knew that Ms. McClory likes to complain about gas prices while simultaneously using as much as possible . . . without this information, she'd not have been able to win her title.

Self-Degrading GE Corn? No self-esteem issues here.

Corn's had a tough row to hoe lately. One of the world's leading food crops for generations, it's rapidly being diverted into ethanol production. The simple sugars in the kernels can be fermented into ethanol much faster than the cellulose in the stalks. With a new, self-degrading genetically-engineered corn plant, that's all about to change.

According to this LiveScience article, Michigan State University genetic engineers have developed a strain of corn which develops its own cellulase, an enzyme needed to break down cellulose into simple sugars. The plant sequesters the cellulase until the stalk is crushed and heated.

Cornstalks which can produce their own cellulase means the corn grain can continue to enter the food chain, while the stalks -- usually waste material -- become feedstock (feedstalk?) for the fuel chain.

No word yet on a timetable for further testing and availability of this product.

The wise engineers, sensitive to biodiversity concerns (and patent management), are making a point of ensuring that the cellulase-production genes cannot be passed through simple reproduction.