Mario Cavolo

Next time you sit down to your favourite seaweed wrapped sushi rolls consider that you may find that seaweed both in your stomach and your gas tank someday. Turns out that algae is a much preferred biofuel compared to palm oil or corn for a number of reasons.

The advantages of algae over other types of biofuels, such as palm oil, are significant and help explain the enthusiasm it is generating.

First, algae don't compete with other crops for agricultural land and can even be grown in polluted water. Second, their production consumes large quantities of carbon dioxide, which is a big plus for an industry trying to become carbon-neutral by 2020. Third, algae can be blended with traditional kerosene without the engine or any pipes needing to be significantly modified.

The byproduct of algae production is a high-protein mixture that could eventually be sold for use in pharmaceutical or cosmetic products, thereby helping make the whole project more commercially viable. Last but not least, it has been estimated that algae produces up to 15 times more oil per square kilometer than other biofuel crops.

Complete Article Here at MarketWatch

This just in at the Mad Hedge Fund Trader's site on China's planned massive expansion of nuclear energy...

"Uranium traders have been stunned by a sudden Chinese effort to corner the supplies in an effort to fuel the world’s most ambitious nuclear program. The once moribund market now suddenly sees buyers everywhere as the Chinese ramp up their purchases to 5,000 tonnes this year, double their current consumption. The emerging nation plans to build ten new plants a year for the next decade, boosting their electricity supply up from 9.5 to a massive 85 gigawatts. That will make China the world’s largest nuclear power generator. Uranium peaked at $136 a pound in 2007, and collapsed during the financial crisis to as low as $26. High prices also brought a flood of new mines, with 27 coming on line in the past decade. Last year, the total uranium market amounted to 50,572 tonnes. China will need a third of that in ten years, and India another fifth..."

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Consider noting the EURO's rally to the 1.26 level against the USD could be considered to have met technical resistance, not to mention the fundamentals are still a disaster. At the same time, the USD has been consolidating without showing any serious relative weakness. So we could see this play start moving with the EURO resuming its decline and the USD continuing back into its uptrend. MarketClub's latest video focuses on the currency market, specifically on the USD, clearly identifying the consolidation and technical retracement to important Fibonacci points, check it out.

USD Consolidating For Next Move Up?

As a trainer and coach mostly on communications-related needs, health and fitness is also a topic that clients occasionally ask for guidance on. I am personally committed to good health, running 20-30km each week, watch my diet and am very familiar with wellness practices including all forms of exercise, fasting, cleansing, mind and breathing practices such as the various meditations available. Running for health and playing jazz piano as a part-time professional musician are the ways I balance against the business stresses of life.

Fake Blog Internet Scam: Endorsed Acai Berry Diet

With that quick background, I wish to alert our readers to how deceptively sophisticated fake web/blog pages have become including this recent one I found offering acai berry diet programs. They look quite genuine at first glance, promoting products and services which should be avoided because they don't work as claimed and cost way too much. It is easy to get fooled.

Take a look at this acai berry diet "blog" page to see what I mean.

http://www.newyorkchronicle.org/?t202id=423278&t202kw=ads

Fortunately, when you find nasty sites online like this or any product/service you are interested in, you have a powerful defense.

Simply type a keyword string into your search engine to quickly find out the genuine story. The internet is a neutral monster machine tool that often exposes the good and bad we need to know with just a few minutes of digging around.

For example I googled "acai berry diet channel 7 new york chronicle scam or ? " and quickly discovered these fake blogs that don't look so fake at first glance. Well they're not so much fake as grossly misleading and deceptive. There are plenty of obvious complaints about these sites to know to avoid them like the swine flu.

Here in China buyers have serious issues with www.taobao.com, China's version of Ebay. There are millions of legitimate sellers with "taobao shops" but it is another dangerous place because it is still way too easy for scammers to put up fake/copy shops just to get you to be stupid enough to "click to buy now" without first confirming the site is legit. China is a very visual-oriented society, so if it "looks" good, people are too easily lulled into a false sense of comfort and credibility.

The Easy and Better Way To Be Naturally Healthy

Acai berries are a dark, purple colored berry which like any other fruit in the berry/cherry/grape family is wonderfully healthy for you. If you want to go on a simple yet natural two week diet/cleanse type program, simply start eating much more of these foods daily and reduce the level of "American diet" foods such as white breads, cakes and oily/fried foods, plus junk foods.

For example, replace all junk food snacks such as prepackaged cookies/crackers/potato chips with fresh cherries, an apple, peach or banana. Simple. No crazy dieting, no drastic changes; just a couple of food substitutions like that and your body will feel the difference. Instead of buying any pre-made sugar softdrinks, buy fresh lemons, make fresh lemonade and store it in the refrigerator. Yes add sugar! Fresh squeezed lemons with some added sugar is a helluva lot more healthy than a bottled drink with chemicals, additives and zero fresh fruit nutrition, right?

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Let's give a encouraging nod to the NEI, brought to my attention recently in a timely article by American Chamber Shanghai Chairman Robert Roche. His article in the monthly magazine to AmCham members which I now receive with our decision to move back to Shanghai and wisely join AmCham Shanghai again, points out how getting past politics to economic reality should be alot easier than it is.

"In fact, our exports to China more than doubled between 2004 and 2008 and since China joined the WTO in 2001, American exports have jumped more than 260 percent."

However, American companies are facing stiff competition in China from the EU, Japan, Korea, Canada and other nations that have well-established, aggressive and government-backed trade promotion programs..."

American Products Are Great Products

What do those of us who live in China for many years know? We know that Chinese truly admire and appreciate and want American brands. In Chinese, the word for America is "Mei Guo" which literally means "beautiful country". Indeed in many ways, that is an accurate reflection of a typical Chinese' sentiment toward most things American. Here is not the place to talk about America's issues. The fact is that in our 11 years living here in China, it is easy to see China's love for all brands American, which are infused with the original, classic American values of freedom, wonderful marketing and branding practices, and world class innovation.

Competition is Fierce

While the quote below on China's interest in Japan tells us that competition from other countries is formidable, the more focused and personal interest in American values and American brands remains unique. Chinese cherish great American values, the image and brand of America in their minds is often far above any other country and that is not without cause.

(June 29, 2010, AP) For years, Japanese auto and electronics companies have been expanding in China as its economy boomed to offset slow growth at home. But now, Japan's languishing economy is getting a lift from hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists who are eager to flaunt their newfound wealth by purchasing brand name goods...Last year, a record 481,696 Chinese tourists visited Japan, up nearly 20 percent from 2007, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Should we be proud of American brands such as KFC, Hersheys, HP or Disney as famous American exports? Of course we should and there are countless other brands which are deeply admired and desired by the new rich of rising China. To say KFC fast food junk food and bad for the world because American's are overweight is one-sided bloviating. When I was a child growing up in NY and our family headed to Orchard beach on the weekends, what did my grandmother cook up? Her amazing fried chicken. And my aunt in upstate New York? Her amazing honey fried chicken. We know about admonishments to eat healthy; don't eat deep-fried foods very often, eat lots of veggies, to have a balanced diet and exercise. Don't blame the Colonel or Pizza Hut or McDonald's or Hershey's chocolate because your own healthy lifestyle lacks discipline and wise choices. Meanwhile, these companies are enjoying unprecedented growth and admirable success in China and Asia.

Mr. Roche goes on to make the step by step case outlining steps to move the NEI program aggressively forward. Amen. America needs to get back on its feet. American innovation and entrepreneurship can create new product export initiatives to help make that happen.