You may have read articles—perhaps even in Grid—touting biofuels as a viable source to meet our energy needs. However, the science of biofuels points to one conclusion: They just don’t work.
The key concept is energy return on investment. Agrifuels—fuels derived from monocrops like corn or sugar—barely produce more energy than it
story by Marisa McClellan
For years, yeast was a mystery to me. Though I grew up in a household that made its own granola each week, and canned jams and applesauce every summer, we relied exclusively on store-bought breads, bagels and pizzas.
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story by Dana Henry | photo by Albert Yee
Laurie Jenkins, owner of Shady Apple Goats Farms, dreams of having many goats and growing her own hay for rotational grazing. While her backyard dairy farm, nestled behind a busy suburban street in Flourtown, may not offer the expansive landscape Jenkins
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story by Jennifer Rezelli | contributions and edits by Summer RezeliThe inspiration for the great gelato caper naturally began during a trip to Italy with my twin brother, sister-in-law and niece. Among the highlights of our trip was a particularly rugged hike, during which my niece, who was nine years old
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story by Bernard BrownOne nice thing about snorkeling in Philadelphia rivers is that you generally don’t have to think about sharks (the occasional, adventurous bull shark notwithstanding). But carp scare me, or at least startle me. More than once I have been nearly shocked out of my flippers by carp (which
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story by Tenaya Darlington, madamefromageblog.comThis spring, Pete Demchur of Shellbark Hollow Farm debuted a new cheese he calls Maysiola—a moon pie of pasteurized goat’s milk named after Masie, one of his favorite Nubian goats, and with nods to robiola, an Italian cheese. Maysiola has a grassy scent and custardy innards, and
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story by Lucas HardisonThe night brings respite from the assaults of the day, and we celebrate with glass tulips of cloudy dark amber ale brewed on the banks of the Schuylkill in nearby Manayunk. Nocturnum boasts a malty, fruity flavor of plum/fig/blackberry with a spicy Belgian bite. While there’s only the
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Organic waste in University City can now stay local thanks to the opening of The Dirt Factory, a neighborhood composting center. With help from a local property owner and the University of Pennsylvania’s donation of two Earth Tub composting systems, residents will have a place to bring their organic waste and,
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story by Dana HenryAlmost 10 years ago, Sandor Katz, the self-proclaimed fermentation fetishist, wrote and published the ‘zine-turned-book, Wild Fermentation, a DIY bible for making food with healthful bacteria. After a second book and years of touring, educating and meddling with microbes, Katz is back with his third and most comprehensive text
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There’s a new renewable energy source in town and it’s coming from a surprising place: our sewage. In April, NovaThermal Energy, a Philadelphia-based company, installed a wastewater geothermal system at the Philadelphia Water Department’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant. This is the first facility in the country to have a system of this kind.
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