----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 10:03
AM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] From the BBC --
Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper?
Jason,
When you
say
"as for using fossil
fuels to harvest ethanol crops, i would say it is a nessecary evil until the
harvesting equipment can be fueled entirely by alternatives."
I wince a bit.
Why not run the tractors
on alternative fuels?
The cost of alternative
fuels such as BD and ethanol, includes the fertilizers used to produce the
feedstocks, the fuel used to run the tractors for tilling, planting,
harvesting, the energy is processing/distilling, anf the cost of
transporting and distributing the fuel.
The cost is often based
on the mistaken notion that the BD produced OR the ethanol distilled is the
only valuable product of the harvest. I compare this to raising beef cattle
only for rib eye steaks, or chickens only for their wings, and throwing
the rest out (paying to have it disposed of). If this were the case then the
cost rib eye steaks and chicken wings would be prohibitive (even more
prohibitive?)
What if:
1. Vegetable oils were
extracted and used for cooking, then recycled and, with animal fats ----->
BD to run the tractors/distill the ethanol, or use the WVO directly to run
generators/burn in oil-fired burners to distill ethanol.
2. The remaining starch from the
plant after pressing for oil was fermented and distilled (w/o using fossil
fuels).
3. Stems, leaves, roots
----> silage for grazing animals enriched by the protein that remains
in the feedstock after it has been pressed for oil and fermented for
ethanol.
4. Use biogas (methane) from the
animal manure to run generators, tractors, or burned for heat (including
distillation).
5. Methane gas (biogas)
production does not compromise the value of manure as fertilizer. Use the
manure for fertilizer after methane gas has been produced.
6. Recycle the glycerin
"cocktail" produced during BD production. If split w. phosphoric acid,
the excess KOH in the mix forms potassium phosphate a valuable fertilizer that
could be added to the manure. If split w. sulfuric acid the KOH forms
potassium sulfate (Nitrogen in the manure + Potassium, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
from process are the "big 4" in fertilizer. The manure already contains the
micronutrients).
After recovering excess
methanol, the glycerin from the mix not only composts well, but I've found
that it actually stimulates decomposition.
7. Do this on locally to
minimize transport costs/waste.
I've been told that
little is wasted in processing butchered animals. This mentality might be
applied to our crops. A given crop might one day be viewed as part food and
part fuels.
I'll leave it
to you to factor in the cost tax payers already pay for fossil fuel
subsidies, and what we all pay for health care, property damage,
& human suffering due to air pollution. What is the cost in tax
dollars, insurance premiums & human suffering for the disasters that
global warming brings? Feel free to add other "hidden" costs associated with
the current reliance on fossil fuels and I think we would agree that their
cost is prohibitive.
The above scenario may
well require some planning and restructuring. It probably will require
people from different backgrounds to work together towards a common
goal. Impossible .... for our children's sake, I hope
not.
Best to you and your family,
Tom
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 11:30
PM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] From the BBC --
Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper?
[OPINION] this is
crap.
[EDUCATED GUESS] this guy
assumes ethanol and soy are the only viable feedstocks.
[FACT] they are
not.
[OPINION] Mr.
McNeely has not looked into his options very well, /and/ biofuels are
only a stopgap measure to give us a few more decades to come up with a
decent working solution.
as for using fossil fuels to harvest ethanol
crops, i would say it is a nessecary evil until the harvesting equipment can
be fueled entirely by alternatives. there is by default going to be some
turnover time.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 2:18
PM
Subject: [Biofuel] From the BBC --
Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper?
Send your comments:
Jeffrey A McNeely
|
Biofuels could end up damaging the natural world rather
than saving it from global warming, argues Jeff McNeely in the Green Room.
Better policies, better science and genetic modification, he says, can all
contribute to a greener biofuels revolution
With soaring oil prices, and debates raging on how to
reduce carbon emissions to slow climate change, many are looking to
biofuels as a renewable and clean source of energy.
The European Union recently has issued a directive calling
for biofuels to meet 5.75% of transportation fuel needs by 2010. Germany
and France have announced they intend to meet the target well before the
deadline; California intends going still further.
This is a classic "good news-bad news" story.
Of course we all want greater energy security, and helping
achieve the goals (however weak) of the Kyoto Protocol is surely a good
thing.
However, biofuels - made by producing ethanol, an alcohol
fuel made from maize, sugar cane, or other plant matter - may be a penny
wise but pound foolish way of doing so.
Consider the following:
- The grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with
ethanol is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the petrol
tank is refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain required would
feed a hungry African village for a year
- Much of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil,
where the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans, and
Southeast Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying the rainforest
habitat of orangutans and many other species. Species are dying for our
driving
If ethanol is imported from the US, it will
likely come from maize, which uses fossil fuels at every stage in the
production process, from cultivation using fertilisers and tractors to
processing and transportation. Growing maize appears to use 30% more
energy than the finished fuel produces, and leaves eroded soils and
polluted waters behind
- Meeting the 5.75% target would require, according to one
authoritative study, a quarter of the EU's arable land
- Using ethanol rather than petrol reduces total emissions of carbon
dioxide by only about 13% because of the pollution caused by the
production process, and because ethanol gets only about 70% of the
mileage of petrol
- Food prices are already increasing. With just 10% of the world's
sugar harvest being converted to ethanol, the price of sugar has
doubled; the price of palm oil has increased 15% over the past year,
with a further 25% gain expected next year.
Little wonder that many are calling biofuels "deforestation
diesel", the opposite of the environmentally friendly fuel that all are
seeking.
With so much farmland already taking the form of
monoculture, with all that implies for wildlife, do we really want to
create more diversity-stripped desert?
Others are worried about the impacts of biofuels on food
prices, which will affect especially the poor who already spend a large
proportion of their income on food.
Biotech boost
So what is to be done? The first step is to increase our
understanding of how nature works to produce energy.
Amazingly, scientists do not yet have a full understanding
of the workings of photosynthesis, the process by which plants use solar
energy to absorb carbon dioxide and build carbohydrates.
Biotechnology, its reputation sullied by public protests
over GM foods, may make important contributions. According to the science
journal Nature, recombinant technology is already available that could
enhance ethanol yield, reduce environmental damage from feedstock, and
improve bioprocessing efficiency at the refinery.
The Swiss biotech firm Syngenta is developing a
genetically engineered maize that can help convert itself into ethanol by
growing a particular enzyme.
Others are designing trees that have less lignin, the
strength-giving substance that enables them to stand upright, but makes it
more difficult to convert the tree's cellulose into ethanol.
Some environmentalists are worried that these altered
trees will cross-breed with wild trees, resulting in a drooping forest
rather than one that stands tall and produces useful timber and wildlife
habitat.
In the longer run, biotech promises to help convert wood
chips, farm wastes, and willow trees into bioethanol more cheaply and
cleanly, thereby helping meet energy needs while also improving its public
image.
Public stake
But that is not nearly enough; bioenergy is too important
to be left in the hands of the private sector.
Many of the social and environmental benefits of bioenergy
are not priced in the market, so the public sector needs to step in to
ensure these benefits are delivered.
An easy immediate step would be to mandate improved fuel
efficiency for all forms of transport, beginning with the private
automobile. A 20% increase in fuel-efficiency standards is feasible using
current technology, and would save far more energy than Europe's biomass
could produce.
Governments also need to provide leadership in the form of
economic incentives to minimise competition between food and fuel crops,
and ensure that water, high-quality agricultural land, and biodiversity
are not sacrificed on the altar of our convenience.
Calculations of energy return on investment need to
include environmental impacts on soil, water, climate change, and
ecosystem services.
The bottom line is that biofuels can contribute to energy
and environmental goals only as part of an overall strategy that includes
energy conservation, a diversity of sustainable energy sources, greater
efficiency in production and transport, and careful management of ethanol
production.
Jeffrey A McNeely is chief scientist of IUCN, the World
Conservation Union, based in Switzerland
The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on
environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website
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