And the jet skis are bio deisel as well. Riiiight.

No conformation on if it did run on biodeisel or not. The amount of times you need to fill up depends on use and size of the gas tank. If it just sits all year a 500 gallon tank gas may last all year. If you drive the floating trailer around, not so much.

By the rep. on 08.06.08 7:01 am

How does burning bio-deisel make a difference in your carbon footprint? The products of the combustion are still carbon dioxide and water even if you are burning bio-deisel. I never understood how using bio fuels was supposed to combat global warming.

By Jim on 08.06.08 7:10 am

Ahhhh, good point, Jim. Good, good point.

By Terry on 08.06.08 7:16 am

[...] Terry Frank points to WKRN’s report on Al Gore’s new “energy-efficient” boat: WKRN News Channel 2’s Jerry Barlar has a great piece on Al Gore’s houseboat.  Discounting the amount of carbon emitted in the 70 mile trek from Nashville to Smithville where the boat is docked, the Bio-Solar One is supposed to be the “Prius” of houseboats. [...]

By *Solar Panels Not Included : Post Politics: Political News and Views in Tennessee on 08.06.08 9:06 am

I think this is indicative of the what Pelosi is trying to sell us by not allowing any drilling. Wishes, dreams and fantasies don’t float. This is obvious when it comes to this story. Oil, coal and convention fuels are at work here and Al refuses to admit it.

By BCB on 08.06.08 9:58 am

Jim, the short answer is that there’s a difference in emission to the atmosphere of carbon that is cycled through biological interaction and that which is released as formerly sequestered as petroleum and bituminous deposits. The latter exists in the closed system we call Earth, but the sequestered carbon is effectively locked away until released by burning. In other words some carbon goes round and round in a biological cycle and some old carbon is added when we burn it.

Gore has an opportunity here to show how even millionaires with houseboats can contribute to the stewardship of our environment and the judicious use of our resources.

By SemiPundit on 08.06.08 10:11 am

Semi – if instead of burning these plants, they were eaten by people or animals, would the carbon contained in them ever enter into the atmosphere to the extent that processing them into fuel and burning them does?

By Jim on 08.06.08 11:00 am

Also, if we were to go to wood burning stoves in lieu of natural gas or coal fired electric heat would we be better off environmentally?

By Jim on 08.06.08 11:02 am

“Gore has an opportunity here to show how even millionaires with houseboats can contribute to the stewardship of our environment and the judicious use of our resources.”

Good Gosh, I hope that’s sarcasm and not a defense of this hypocritical idiot.

By Ty on 08.06.08 11:13 am

Once the solar panels are completely installed (by weeks end), they will fully power the boat when it’s in use. When the boat is not in use, the solar panels will feed renewable energy back into the grid at the marina.

Bio-Solar One uses about 4 gallons of biodiesel on a typical weekend, depending on use. This is about 20-25% more fuel efficient than other boats this size. Tennessee is a leader in the production of biodiesel fuels.

There are 16 batteries that store the energy, each weighing 167 pounds. That’s more than a ton of batteries. The power that is not used will be enough to power 4 or 5 other boats at the marina.

More here: nashville talking

By you're green (with envy) on 08.06.08 10:48 pm

Yeah, we’ll see. I wish I could believe it. But history isn’t a good judge with Big Al.

Al Gore installed solar panels at his home to the tune of thousands and thousands. He SHOULD be feeding back into the grid as you say he will on his houseboat, but he’s not.

TCPR pulled his records. He actually used 10% MORE electricity than last year. How do you do that!

See more here: TCPR and specifically here.

I have to wonder about Al’s sincerity when it takes a media discovery to encourage installation.

Come on. Al sells his earth only has 10 years stuff because it lines his pocket. I’m all for new ideas. But don’t parade him around as an example. How much fuel does he burn in the limo getting to the BS One. It’s about an hour to the boat from his Belle Meade mansion and an hour back. I get tired of being lectured by the political class.

By Terry on 08.07.08 5:07 am

How long has he had the boat? He obviously either had it worked on or ordered it to wear that moniker. That would lead me to believe that he wasn’t going to put those solar panels on until he had to or he already would have had them on. Well, he got caught so he has to now. I cannot understand how ANY combustion would be compatible with his outlook on carbon foot printing. And this is for leisure only! It’s not like he has to have this to get back and forth to work. His carbon footprint from that boat on a weekend trip is probably bigger than my footprint all week. Just think of the climatic impact he has to relax! What would Gaia say to him when he dies and is planted six feet deep in her bosom? So when he or anyone else has the unmitigated gall to tell me to cut back, I must respond in a crass and off-color manner that would not make my mother happy to hear.

What a hypocrite. What a fraud. What a lying criminal to try to impose unreasonable standards on us that he himself not only can’t adhere to but won’t even try!! This man should step out of my wallet, and out of my regulations.

By BCB on 08.07.08 12:28 pm

If Al ever cuts back on anything, I’ll just take that as a credit for my household.

By Donna Locke on 08.07.08 10:52 pm

“By you’re green (with envy)” I”ll bet you buy ocean front property in Arizona too!!

By ANN on 08.08.08 12:48 pm

Is it acceptable for a person to use as much energy resources as he or she can afford to pay for?

By SemiPundit on 08.08.08 5:10 pm

Semi, it is just as acceptable as expecting them to work just as hard as they can. Look at what YOU have to deal with here. I am making a few assumptions here Semi, so bear with me. I apologize for any incorrect assumptions I may make. On the one hand, you have Al Gore telling you what is wrong and not only demanding that YOU change, but that the government look over your shoulder and PUNISH you if you don’t make those changes. The very person demanding that YOU change is a bigger problem that YOU are and refuses to make those changes himself. Quite the contrary, he goes on to be a much bigger problem than YOU are on probably your best day! Why should we expect YOU to adhere to these standards? Because we assume that YOU are a Semi-responsible [pun intended ] person and therefore we can hold YOU accountable for these new standards. But lets look at all of those that aren’t being held to that standard. I’m not going to talk about the international aspects of this “green movement” since we can’t make China do a damn thing anyway. Let’s just look here at home. Will we hold the people on fixed incomes just as accountable? Will we demand that those that are on government assistance go green to continue to receive those (cough-cough wink-wink) entitlements?

What these standards will do is exempt the lower class from any and all regulation; causing a further divide in the great liberal cause of “unification” which will not only allow them to not change their living standards like YOU have to but will end up being an excuse to give them more money to “make” these changes. And by the way, that means higher taxes that YOU will have to pay also. While the poor, poor underclass is being propped up with “green” subsidies, the rich will have no problem with these new “standards” that will be imposed through the “color of law.” I don’t have to give any examples since Al himself has done this so nicely for me.

Bottom line: the poor will not change and only cost more, the rich will not change and only spend more. Those of us that are too “rich” to get grants for the their kids to go to college and just go to work everyday to pay our bills and don’t have a rich daddy to leave us a trust fund will be put in a tighter squeeze financially. Since additional taxation will not make me richer, it will only force many of us to move from the middle class to move down the ladder. And since the libs ALWAYS run on the government giveaway platform, that is what they want. I guess I will see YOU there. At what point do I get to give up? I want my government-subsidized houseboat with solar panels like that elitist Al Gore has. Is that right for HIM to consume as much as HE can pay for? He doesn’t think YOU should.

By BCB on 08.09.08 9:29 am

[...] terryfrank.net » Al Gore’s Houseboat. No Comments Leave a Commenttrackback addressYou must log in to post a comment. [...]

By Al Gore’s carbon boatprint « Right Minded Online on 08.11.08 8:54 am

How much harm to the enviroment did it do building the boat?

By Tim on 08.12.08 9:20 pm

How much has all the hot air that Al’s people are putting out contributed to climate change? A lot I would guess.

By BCB on 08.17.08 7:52 pm

There is no Biodiesel near that lake where his houseboat is located.

By Jack on 12.13.09 9:06 pm