I’ve been a huge fan of Biodiesel as an alternative fuel since I first learned about it in 2002. When the war in Iraq began I could no longer stomach running my car on petroleum-based fuel, so even though I had a brand new Saturn that I loved I sold it and bought a Jetta TDI turbo-diesel and have been running it on Biodiesel ever since. 55k miles later the only thing my mechanic says about it is: "Wow, your engine is totally clean...not like most of these I see."
But this diary isn’t a testimonial about the wonders of Biodiesel. This diary is about problems now being created by increasing production of biodiesel and some very exciting developments suggesting that a shift in direction could make biodiesel a realistic alternative for every vehicle in the country.
If we don't change direction on biofuels we will do more harm to the environment and world economies than to oil companies' profits
A big part of the reason I went to the trouble and expense of using Biodiesel was to put the "Powered by Biodiesel" sticker on the back and demonstrate to every person on the freeway that they didn’t need to use oil any more. I wanted to help build demand for Biodiesel to encourage the supply-side infrastructure to grow so that Biodiesel could become a mainstream fuel – as readily available as petroleum diesel. Mission, more or less, accomplished. I now pass a B99 station on my way to work, there’s another down the hill from me and at least one gas station selling B20 in my part of town. Demand for Biodiesel is, ironically, becoming a problem.
If Biodiesel is to become a serious alternative to petroleum we need a lot of it. A WHOLE lot of it. To replace every drop of petroleum burned in automobiles in the US, we need about 141 billion gallons of Biodiesel (assuming everyone converts to a diesel engine over time). This is a problem, since production of feedstock for Biodiesel is already bumping up against limits, and we haven’t replaced but a small fraction of the petroleum diesel (let alone all petroleum fuels) used in this country. Demand for Biodiesel and ethanol has been so great that price pressure on crops such as corn and soy has had a noticeable impact world-wide. Through increased demand or reduced supply due to farmers switching to the pricier crops, food prices are starting to rise, including those most critical to their native lands such as corn for tortillas in Mexico, and
barley for beer in Germany. This is getting serious – WE’RE TALKING ABOUT BEER HERE, FOLKS.
In the short term I feel this issue will be mitigated. US crop subsidies are flooding the market in third-world countries and putting native farmers out of business As the prices for these crops go up we can logically expect more farmers in third-world countries to be able to profitably grow their crops which will reduce upward price pressure. This, at least initially, is a good thing. Long term, however, the increased use of soy or canola for Biodiesel will outstrip the world’s agricultural capacity and thus seriously affect food prices.
The larger and more frustrating problem from an environmental perspective is that rainforests are being torn down to grow palm for its oil, and US Biodiesel producers are importing it. As an environmentalist this makes me tear my hair out. Removing forests releases CO2 and reduces the planet’s capacity to absorb CO2 – a double-whammy. We can’t reduce CO2 emissions by burning Biodiesel made at the cost of rainforests. There are other environmental concerns with oil palm agriculture and taking land to grow palm is creating political strife. Bottom line – oil palm is the most efficient crop for producing feedstock for Biodiesel – and it’s a lousy option.
Actually, oil palm is the second most efficient crop. The most efficient oil source also happens to be the most efficient photosynthetic engine nature has to offer: algae. Some algea strains contain over %50 oil and grow extremely quickly, using salty or brackish water and consuming CO2. When it comes to comparing the per acre, per year productivity of algae to other crops the numbers are stunning. Soy produces about 48 gallons of oil per acre/year, mustard: 61, rapeseed: 127, oil palm: 635. The lowest estimate I’ve seen for Algea is 5,000 gallons per acre, per year. Estimates being made by researchers of highly efficient algae bioreactors is 15,000 gallons. Using no rainforest land, no agricultural land and no fresh water, we can produce between 8 and 23 times the Biodiesel we can by figuratively ripping out the earth’s lungs to grow oil palm.
With algal Biodiesel we can replace every drop of petroleum burned by an automobile with home-grown, renewable, fuel.
So here’s my call to action. Right now in state legislatures across the country, bills are being passed giving tax breaks to farmers, seed crushers and Biodiesel refiners in a well-intentioned effort to encourage Biodiesel production. They need to know about algal Biodiesel NOW as an area demanding serious investment of tax dollars for research and tax breaks for development. It is also critical that lawmakers give no tax subsidies or funds to refiners using palm oil!
I’ll continue to post diaries on this topic and how it affects the environment, the economy, security and most importantly....beer.
SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/..., http://biofuels.usu.edu/..., http://www.unh.edu/...
Full disclosure: I am a minor shareholder in a firm that is performing R&D on algal biodiesel production. They are Green Star Products, INC. (NYSE: GSPI). Right now their stock is worth seven cents.