I find it ironic that although we live in a time when efficiency appears to be the key to our survival, inefficient fuel options have prevailed. Corn ethanol, which has attracted heavy investment, unfortunately uses more energy in its creation than it physically produces upon combustion.
It’s not just corn either, as a University of California-Berkeley study found that many crops intended for plant-based fuels (soybean, switch grass, sunflower, etc) were using between 27 to 118 percent greater amounts of fossil energy than that produced upon their combustion. This is due to the energy intensive processes of making synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides to grow and maintain the crops, as well as the energy required in irrigating the crops, powering farm machinery, mechanically grinding the crop and transporting it to its final destination.
All hope for biofuels isn’t lost, however, as many varieties still present great opportunities for us. My favorite option is that of algae, one of nature’s fastest growing plants. Depending on the strain, these organisms contain up to 60% oil, can be used in present diesel engines, continually reproduce themselves, and are non-toxic and readily biodegradable. More importantly, they help us out in problematic areas besides that of fuel.
They can feed and develop on our ever-abundant stores of sewage, and agricultural/ industrial runoff (thereby cleaning our air and waterways), are able to survive in saltwater (eliminating the demand for freshwater), and can easily be grown in the desert and other vacant lands (freeing up more land for food production). The cherry on top is their ability to produce 30 to 250 times the amount of oil per acre than other biofuel crops! Check out Pure Energy Fuels to learn more on helping to shift this country from yellow to green.
image: algenol biofuels
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Amanda,
I recommend this piece to you as a broader look at biofuels and how they are best suited to smaller scale and local production.
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009226.html
Also, to this piece on Busting Ethanol Myths
http://alcoholcanbeagas.com/node/490
Algae is promising, but it can only work in a controlled environment. Blume suggests growing algae in nets off the coasts and in rivers, and harvesting the carbohydrates from the algae for ethanol, NOT biodiesel. Biodiesel from nuts or castor beans is cheaper anyway. As Blume writes, in looking at kelp for methane production, the American Gas Assn estimated 23 quadrillion BTU a year of methane from kelp from just the California coast. If it’s fermented first to make ethanol, then a second time for methane, about a third of that energy would be recovered as alcohol. The remaining two thirds as methane would proviie alcohol plant process energy plus a surplus of gas/electricity. No farmland needed. Then send digested liquid kelp to farms to fertilize the heartlands of America. Who needs petroleum based fertilizer?
Quite a system, eh?
Thanks Mike for commenting and inviting us to look at other views. It’s true- many options exist amongst the “alternative fuels” currently in production. I have to disagree, however, that algal fuels are suited for small scale production due to the promising information I’ve received from my professors at UCSD researching algae as a fuel.
As National Geographic (10/07) quotes: “there is no magic-bullet fuel crop that can solve our energy woes without harming the environment says virtually every scientist studying the issue, but most say that algae…comes closer than any other crop…”. Moreover, I believe that the important point is to make sure that we have reliable options available to us earlier than later- so that the air can become cleaner sooner and a reliable option (not a debate) will exist when petroleum begins to run critically dry.