Ethanol & Bio-Fuel

Article

Biofuel ???

Biofuel: A fuel made from renewable biological sources. Biofuels include ethanol, methanol, and biodiesel. Biofuel sources include, but are not limited to: corn, soybeans, flaxseed, rapeseed, sugarcane, palm oil, raw sewage, food scraps, animal parts, and rice.

In Terms of "Independence From Foreign and Domestic Oil"... There are Few Things that I Would Want More. And If I Thought that Ethanol & Biodiesel Would Significantly Contribute to That End... without Creating More "New" Problems... and Be Ecological Sound... Then I Would Be Jumping Up & Down For It... like Everyone Else Appears to Be Doing!

The "Promise" of Independence from Petroleum through The Production of Ethanol & Biodiesel Sounds Really Great. It Is The Big Thing on Capital Hill and In Many States and Many Regions. The Midwest is "On The Band Wagon" Big Time...

Total Government Support for Ethanol:
$6.3 billion to $8.7 billion per year!

Only... Neither Ethanol or Biodiesel are The "Saviors" that We All Hoped They would Be. With Biodiesel... there are Reasons to Fund Research and Development. With Conventional "Starch Based" Ethanol... In Some Instances the Pros Might Outweigh The Cons... but for The Most Part... We Would Be Best to Admit it's an Albatross... and Kiss It Goodbye! It had Great Hopes... and If Science had known Years Ago what they Know Now... We Wouldn't have Wasted so Much Time and Energy and Money on The Technology.

We Know Now... that It Takes almost as Much Energy to Create Ethanol as We can Get Out of It. Plus... Ethanol Production Uses "Food Crops" that Could Be Used Elsewhere and In Many Other Ways... Would Have a More Sensible, Humane, and Productive Outcome.

Corn is One of The Planet's Most Energy-Intensive Crops. It Not Only Contributes to Soil Erosion and Water Pollution... but Increases Greenhouse-Gas Emissions. It Requires Huge Quantities of Synthetic Nitrogen Fertilizers (derived primarily from Natural Gas) and Petroleum-Based Pesticides like Atrazine, a Known Endocrine Disrupter. Soybeans Need Less Nitrogen, but Farmers douse bean fields with Other Nutrients and with Chemicals like Roundup to keep them Pest-Free. According to the Worldwatch Institute, Soy has the lowest fuel-yield per acre of any major biodiesel crop. - Grist Zine

In Terms of Sustainability... Conventional Ethanol Gets a Big Fat Zero! There was a Valiant Effort Made in getting Us to This Point of Understanding... and Much Credit should Be Given to All Those (Including Politicians) Who Supported The Endeavor. But that is What Research is About... finding Out "What Works" and What Don't. Ethanol Don't... and We Should Move On.

Biodiesel, on The Other Hand... at This Time is Worth Pursuing Further. It is Not The "Best" Alternative to Petroleum Based Energy... but In Many Cases and Situations It Is a Practical and Useful One.

From Biodiesel... We Get about 3 Times The Energy "from" It as it takes to Produce It... Making It a Feasible Energy Alternative. Plus... Non-Food Sources can be used to Produce Biodiesel. While Soy Beans are a Common Source of Biodiesel Production... they could be used when there is a Surplus and not When Needed for Food. Also... a Real Big Advantage of Biodiesel is that Switchgrass and Industrial Hemp could be used... and That Makes It a Very Attractive Proposition for Farmers and Environmentalists alike...

Pure Biodiesel Emits about 78% less CO2 than Conventional Diesel. Also, Biodiesel Reduces Emissions of Smog-Forming Hydrocarbons and Particulate by about 50%... and Emissions of Sulfur Oxides and Sulfates by 100%. Some Big Pluses!

Ultimately though, Biodiesel should not be Considered an End In Itself. It is Simply The "Lesser of Two Evils"... Petroleum Being The Greater One. We simply "have" to Wean Ourselves Off "Oil" and End Our Destructive Relationship with The Oil Industry. If Biodiesel Will Do That... Then Let's Use It in The Interim.

Cellulosic Ethanol:

At this time... three Fuels have emerged to lead The U.S. Biofuels Pack: Corn Ethanol, Cellulosic Ethanol and Biodiesel. Of these... Cellulosic holds The Most Promise.

Cellulosic differs from grain ethanol in that the fuel comes from the fiber in the plant, rather than the starches in the grain. Any type of plant material can be a source of cellulose, and even cow manure could be processed into fuel.

Using Corn or Soy or Any Food Product to Produce Biofuel is In The Long Term Not a Wise and Sustainable Approach to Weaning Ourselves from Foreign and Domestic Oil. Environmentalist Agree... "It Is More 'Fool's Gold' than EcoTreasure".

Cellulosic Ethanol (on the other hand) is Worth Pursuing... even if The Technology for Its Production is in The Development Stages... and Won't Be Practically Feasible for Many Years Into The Future. While it too can Only be considered a Partial and Interim Alternative Solution to "Oil"... The Technology Can and Will Be Useful for Many Other Environmental and Industrial Purposes. Just in Terms of "Recycling"... Much of Our Waste Material could be Used for Ethanol Production... Up to and Including Human and Animal Excrement. Considering that "Cow Manure" is One of The Major Sources of CO2 Emissions... perhaps We Should Be Focusing More of Our Attention on "Cellulosic Ethanol" rather than Throwing Good Money After Bad on Conventional Ethanol Production and Research???

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, corn-based ethanol provides 26 percent more energy than is required for its production, while cellulosic provides 80 percent more energy. And while conventional ethanol reduces greenhouse-gas emissions 10 to 20 percent below gasoline levels, the reductions with cellulosic range from 80 percent below gasoline to completely CO2 neutral.

When Looking at The Big Picture... Obviously CO2 Emissions are a Critical Factor. Whatever "Alternative Energy" Technology America and The World Embraces... We Simply Have to Stop This March Toward Global Warming. It Literally could be The Beginning of The End of Life On Earth as We Know It... or even The End of Humanity Itself. Freeing Ourselves from Foreign and Domestic Oil is Very Important... but Ecological and Environmental Concerns are More Important. We Have to Have a Sense of Priorities in Working Towards Independence and a More Sustainable World.

Obviously... Biofuels may be a Partial Answer and Solution to Our Energy Problems... but in The Best Scenario, They Will Provide Only a Fraction of Our Energy Needs. And Ultimately they will only be a Stepping Stone to More Advanced and Earth Friendly Solutions to Our Justifiable Energy Requirements.

The Best and More Immediate Option is Simply to Conserve... and Use Less Gasoline. Another Relevant Option is to Fund and Promote Other Alternative Energy Technologies such as Solar Energy along with Wind and Hydro Applications... that are Less Destructive to The General Environment and The Landscape.

Tad Patzek, a professor in UC-Berkeley's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who's known primarily as a critic of corn ethanol, says what's happening in tropical ecosystems is much more serious than the biofuel situation in the U.S. "We've already destroyed the prairie, and the topsoil in the Midwest is going, going, gone," Patzek says. "But the expensive noise we're making here is being translated there into the total obliteration of the most precious ecosystems on earth."

While it would seem that Fuel from Plants would be More Benign than Petroleum-Based Fuels... the Ecological Impacts of Biofuel Production are More Complicated and Far Reaching than One Would Imagine. In Many Ways... there is a Net Zero Effect... where We Contribute Just as Much to Global Problems as We Resolve... Perhaps More. We are Raping Our Tropical Forests at an Unprecedented Rate. Clearing of Our Tropical Forests for Cattle Farming was a Serious Problem... but Soy Farming is Far Worse in Comparison. Considering that The Tropical Forests are Our Main Safety Valve for Atmospheric CO2 Absorption and Reduction... it Seems Rather Insane to Destroy It for The Purpose of Growing Soy for Ethanol for The Purpose of Reducing CO2 Emissions???

The Bottom Line... is that for Biofuel to Play a Serious Part in The Climate-Change Crisis... It's Political Economy Will Have to Drastically Change. The Decisions Involving Biofuel and The Associated Source Products such as Corn and Soy have to Be Made by Responsible Government and an Involved Public Sector. The "Interests" of The World and Humanity have to take Precedence Over Corporate Interests. Corporations like ADM have to be Brought In Line... and Politicians Who Serve Them Have to Be Replaced with Individuals Who Are Driven more by Environmental Ethics and Humanistic Concerns.

It is Simply "Our World"... and If We Don't Save It... No One Will!

For a Better Informed & Involved Public...

Lonnie J. Burris

Activist & Concerned Citizen

"Civilization is in no immediate danger of running out of energy or even just out of oil. But we are running out of environment - that is, out of the capacity of the environment to absorb energy's impacts without risk of intolerable disruption - and our heavy dependence on oil in particular entails not only environmental but also economic and political liabilities."

◊ Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, "Power to the People"

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Relevant Links:

Water for Energy: The Bad Bet for Biofuels

Will California Say No to Ethanol?

Ethanol Is a Disaster, But What About Other Biofuels?

Water: Ethanol's Achilles Heel