That's the idea presented this morning by Stephen Jewell of Composite Energy Ltd, a UK firm. They are investigating whether it can be profitable to inject flue gases into the coal stratum underground, with the dual advantages of forcing out the methane that is found in coal deposits, which can then be burned, while depositing CO2 in its place.

It is a weed, also known as cardoon, also known at artichoke thistle. It has been around long enough that Homer cited it in the Iliad, as a fuel, no less. That is, according to Nicolas Danalatos of the University of Thessaly in Greece, who touted it as a prime source of biofuel.

Among its benefits, he pointed out that it needs no weed killers, "because it is a weed." He said it also requires no pesticides, will grow without irrigation, and is a perennial. He said in diesel equivalence, it costs one fifth the price.

I have at least 5 posts left over from the AIA show a couple of weeks ago, but this week, the parade of professional conclaves in Boston continues with the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries conference, which is sharing space with a nanotech show and a "tech connect" show. I can't say I love the show format, but I sure do the love what they offer, the chance to learn about new stuff at an almost overwhelming pace.

In writing my story on Boston-centric websites, I've been enjoying the style of Adam Gaffin — some of his posts are only one sentence, with a link embedded therein, of course. With this intro, I've already missed that mark of course, but I can dream...

I knew a guy once who smoked cigars in self-satisfaction for years, but felt he had to give it up when stogies became became the latest fad — it was anathema to him to be seen as going along with a fad. I thought of that again yesterday, when a pal suggested he might not want a Prius because it has become a Yuppie status symbol.

But as I've noted before, the Prius works, strictly at the level of utility, even if it also has become a Yuppie symbol. I know I'm burning less fossil fuel by getting 45 mph, even if some people might think I'm a status seeker.

As the previous post attests, I love to make fun of advertisers and marketers.

On my way back from visiting my grandmother yesterday, I spied a sign with an unexpected come-on at a used-car lot:

"Why overpay elsewhere"

I can't be the only one whose internal voice completes the question with, "... when you can overpay here?" It's not just me, right?

A strong tenet of the green lifestyle is to "buy local," since even if, say, you are staunchly committed to organic produce — because you understand the long-term danger to agriculture of heavy pesticide use, and you understand that many fertilizers are made with petrochemicals — you are undercutting your principles if the organic produce you buy is flown in from Chile or trucked in from California.

Also from the print press today is William Yardley's "Juneau Journal" in the Times, which details the crisis actions the Alaskan capital has taken to lower its electrical consumption.

The crisis was brought on not by global climate change but by a different natural devastator: An avalanche felled some utility towers that carried hydroelectric power to the city. That power cost 11 cents per kilowatt hour, while the diesel-fired power that replaced it costs 53 cents.