Ethanol Produces Less GHG Emissions Than Oil

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important  because it helps to keep our atmosphere clean and helps to prevent climate change.   Since the Industrial Revolution carbon dioxide emissions, the largest human contribution to the increase of greenhouse gases has skyrocketed.  One of the ways greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced is by using ethanol as a fuel.  Here is some background on greenhouse gases.

What are greenhouse gas emissions?

Greenhouse gases refer to a number of different elements that can absorb infrared radiation.  In our atmosphere the most abundant of these elements are water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrous oxide, and methane.  Greenhouse gases effect the temperature of the Earth, without them we would not survive, but they can also make a planet uninhabitable.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, but it is not the hottest planet in the solar system.  The average temperature on Mercury is 167 degrees Celsius (by comparison the average temperature on Earth is  7 degrees Celsius), but Venus is hotter with an average temperature of 460 degrees Celsius.  The reason why Venus has a higher average temperature is because Venus has the most greenhouse gas of any planet in our solar system.  These greenhouse gases trap the suns rays heating the surface of the  planet, turning it into a furnace.

Fuel and oil are some of the largest contributors to GHG emissions.  Using ethanol in place of oil based fuel has been shown to reduce GHG emissions.

Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology found that  ethanol has 59%  fewer GHG emissions in the Life Cycle Analysis compared to oil based gasoline.

Argonne National Laboratory documented ethanol reduced GHG emissions in 2007 by ten tons.  Argonne also predicted a bright future for ethanol stating that switch grass could reduce emissions by 94% and that stover and wood crops could reduce emissions by 100%.

Another large contributor to GHG emissions has been industry processes.  Ethanol and oil both fit into this category.  Compared to oil though ethanol has reduced production emissions by 59% by switching from coal fired plants to natural gas and alternative energy powered plants.

As we move further into the 21st century new technology and alternative energy sources will be needed.  Ethanol is one of the few economically viable alternatives to oil based energy today which is why it is important that myths around it creating more GHG than oil be debunked.

Sources:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html

http://icsusa.org/pages/icsusa-articles/november-2010.php

www.growthenergy.org

A Look at How The Energy Crisis of the 1970’s Propelled Ethanol Back Into The Fuel Market

1978-1979 were significant years in the history of fuel ethanol.  During these years the Iranian Revolution had gone underway, and during November of 1978 a strike led by 37,000 of Iran’s oil refinery laborers led to a significant decrease in oil production (6 million barrels a day to 1.5 million barrels a day).  The Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi had to flee the country and U.S. President Jimmy Carter ordered a termination of imports from Iran.

Realizing that the American energy supply was in jeopardy, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Tax Act that same month.  The purpose of this act was to promote energy conservation and to shift American energy away from oil and fuel towards renewable sources of fuel.

Despite passing this act, beginning in 1979 the most significant energy crisis had begun in the U.S., the price of oil had more than doubled ($15.85/barrel to $39.50/barrel) and long lines began to appear at gas stations in fear of a gasoline shortage.  However this energy shortage alerted the U.S. public to the need for alternative sources of energy, and would provide more popular support for future alternative energy bills that would be brought before Congress.

Once the Energy Crisis of 1979 subsided the long term benefits of the Energy Tax Act began to take hold.  The Energy Tax Act also gave 4 cents a gallon tax exemption on gasoline that contained 10% ethanol, which resulted in the first significant research in developing ethanol for fuel in the U.S. that gone underway in more than fifty years.

Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s ethanol production grew steadily as E10 became a common fixture in gasoline.  It wasn’t until 2005 that ethanol received its next big boost in the market place with the Energy Policy Act.  This act provided tax incentives and loans for various forms of energy production including: coal, biofuel, wind, ocean, geothermal, and nuclear energy.

In 2007 the Energy Independence and Security Act (a kind of extension for the Energy Policy Act) was passed and signed into law by George W. Bush.  This new act requires automakers to boost fleetwide gas mileage to 35mpg by 2020, offers incentives for the development of plug-in or hybrid vehicles, and that biofuel production increase to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022.

Between 2005 and 2010 (when these two Acts were first passed into law) ethanol production in the U.S. has more than tripled.  Ethanol has re-emerged in the market place, and right now ethanol production continues to be encouraged by the government and U.S. consumers with the recent mandate by the EPA to increase the amount of ethanol in gasoline from E10 (10% ethanol) to E15 (15% ethanol), and by the Obama administrations plans to install an additional 10,000 flex fuel pumps throughout the U.S. over the next 5 years.

Sources:

The Energy Policy Act:http://www.doi.gov/pam/EnergyPolicyAct2005.pdf

The Energy Independence and Security Act (CRC Report to Congress) a summary of the bill http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34294_20071221.pdf

http://www.agjournalonline.com/news/x1798431020/USDA-to-fund-more-blender-pumps

http://www.davemanuel.com/investor-dictionary/1979-energy-crisis/

The Plant That Could Change The Future of Biofuels

Camelina is a crop that has traditionally been used to make
vegetable oil and other cooking oils as well as animal feed.  Over the past decade research done on this
plant has shown it to be a very cost effective and efficient plant in regards
to making biofuel.

Camelina oil’s potential as a biofuel stems from the fact that
it is cheap to produce and grow.  This
crop can be grown in the cold, and doesn’t require irrigation or that much
water to develop.   The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown
that Camelina can be grown in marginal lands with a limited use of
petrochemicals and fertilizer.  It has
low agricultural inputs and it has high oil content in its seeds making it
ideal for growing on marginal lands.  The high oil content ultimately allows
Camelina to generate more biofuel.

Camelina also shows potential as a rotational crop that
agrees with wheat.  It is also classified
as a second generation biofuel which means that Camelina is not edible, and as
a result it will not compete with food crops.

Camelina has tested well as a biodiesel producing fuel in
blends with petroleum and without.  Early
in 2011 the U.S. military successfully tested a 50/50 fuel blend of petroleum and a Camelina
based biofuel on one of their F-22 Raptors.
The plane was able to reach a speed of 1.5 mach without using the
engine’s afterburner.

Camelina also tested well without petroleum in its fuel blend and outside military testing.  In 2009 Japan Airlines tested a 100% blended biofuel in one
of their Boeing 747’s.  The pilots
performing the test reported that the biofuel fueled 747 ran more efficiently
than using 100% traditional jet fuel (kerosene).  The biofuel mixture used in these tests
contained 84% Camelina, further demonstrating this crop’s potential.

Successful tests such as these allowed the U.S. government in October of 2011  to give SarTec
Corporation a $500,000 grant to enhance the use of inedible crops in biofuel
production.  This biofuel project will
teach farmers how to grow Camelina and Pennycress with the goal being to find
an efficient way of producing these crops on a commercial scale.

Should the commercialization of Camelina oil as a biofuel be successful, more of it could be seen in the future.

You can read more about Camelina by clicking the links
below.

Sources:

http://www.consumerenergyreport.com/2010/05/06/is-camelina-the-next-jatropha/

F-22 Test http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110321006869/en/Camelina-Based-Biofuel-Breaks-Sound-Barrier-U.S.-Air

Japan Airlines Test http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/japan-airlines-finds-biofuel-more-efficient-than-petro-fuel-in-test-flight.php

SarTec  Corporation
Biodiesel Project  http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/05/3963162/sartec-corporation-awarded-500000.html

A Look Into How Military’s Use Desiccants in Gas Masks and Medical Equipment

Desiccants are used all over the world and military’s around the world are no exception.

The first widespread use of desiccants by any military occurred during the First World War.  This war is famous for the use of chemical gases as a weapon, and armies that were afflicted with a barrage of gas containing shells needed protection in order to avoid being poisoned.

This led to the first gas masks being mass produced.  The material in the gas mask canisters that absorbed potential toxins was silica gel, and this helped to reduce the effects of poisonous gas attacks that opposing armies faced throughout the remainder of the war.

During 1915 ,while World War I was on-going, Russian scientist Nikolay Zelinsky improved upon the gas mask by creating a filter that used activated carbon, another desiccant.  Today activated carbon is the standard desiccant used in most modern gas masks.

The activated carbon filters in gas masks didn’t start getting used until after World War II.  During this war silica gel was replaced as the primary adsorbing material in gas mask by asbestos… which the world learned after the war caused serious illnesses like mesothelioma and malignant lung cancer.

This paved the way for modern gas masks which use activated carbon filters in combination with aerosol filters to keep soldiers safe.  Activated carbon has a larger surface area than silica gel and can adsorb more potentially dangerous airborne chemicals, thus making it more effective filter.

Besides being used in gas masks, desiccants have recently found a new use in military medical technology.

Zeolites have been attached to gauze and recently been used by the U.S. military to help reduce the blood flow in wounded soldiers and civilians.  The pores in the zeolites are small enough to adsorb the water out of the bloodstream leaving only cells and platelets.

Platelets circulate throughout our blood stream looking to clot blood.  With all the water absorbed out of the bloodstream, thanks to the zeolites, the blood is allowed to clot a lot faster.  This has helped save many lives because it greatly speeds up the time for a wound to close and stop bleeding and it also reduces the chance of wound becoming infected.

The success of zeolites in gauze has allowed this product to be used in the commercial medical market and it is now being used by law enforcement and emergency response units.