BioTown, USA
Everyone's heard about individual survivalists rejecting modern society and, instead, living off the land. But how about an entire town? The tiny town of Reynolds, Indiana, won't be building barricade and polishing shotguns. However, it's still a first, a "biotown" that will power itseflt using modern devices with renewable resources such as biodiesel, human and animal waste.
The state originally presented the idea to the conservative town of 533. Hesitation quickly gave way to passionate support as townsfolk experienced rising gas prices which they blame on Middle East countries. Residents have purchased nearly 100 flex-fuel vehicles while the town government has replaced its three vehicles with those that can run ethanol or bio-diesel. And officials are looking into a plant that is fueled by animal and human manure. Many of the funds to support these costly technologies are provided by the Department of Energy. The town and state are also looking to private investors for many of the projects like a future methane plant.
There are a lot of barriers with some as simple as the cost of installing ethanol tanks in the town's only gas station. Personally, I hope they succeed. But even if BioTown fails, there will be plenty of data for future experiments.
[Source: New York Times]
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