Bio Energy in the Lowcountry
Posted by Chad Norman June 20th, 2007 .Yesterday, more than a few friends and readers pointed me to the Post & Courier article about how International Bio Energy is considering building a new ethanol plant here in the Lowcounty. This would be a real sign that our region is serious about a greener future, provide people with a fuel alternative, and bring a few more jobs to the area. Sounds good, right?
I’m not convinced. The theory that we can use ethanol as a viable fuel alternative has problems. I blogged about this last year, and was shocked by some of these facts:
- If we used all the corn produced in the United States to produce ethanol, it would provide only 7 percent of our total vehicle fuel use.
- If every car in America was fully powered by ethanol, it would take 97 percent of U.S. soil to grow enough corn to support it.
- About 30 percent more fossil energy is required to produce a gallon of ethanol than you actually get out in ethanol.
- Corn causes more soil erosion in the United States than any other crop.
- Corn uses more nitrogen fertilizer than any other single crop, and it’s the prime cause of the dead zone down in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Corn also uses more insecticides and herbicides than any other crop.
- Each acre of corn drains 500,000 gallons of water over three months.
The thought of wasting all these resources creating an ethanol infrastructure that will never solve our problems is crazy. Where is SC going to get all the corn? As mentioned in this article, we are a corndeficit state - meaning we consume more corn than we grow. So where is International Bio Energy going to get the corn for their ethanol plant?
The corn would be bought from domestic suppliers, including South Carolina farmers, Starnes said, and also from overseas.
Talk about NOT going local. My gut tells me this effort is an energy net-loss. Bringing in corn from other states and countries can’t be cheap, and neither can shipping off the ethanol after refinement. This does not seem to be a viable model, and doesn’t seem to have local interests in mind.
However, I did read something positive in that article. At the very bottom, Southeast BioDiesel is mentioned because they are building a plant on the old navy base that will convert used cooking oil from local restaurants into a non-toxic fuel alternative. I’m not sure biodiesel is any better than ethanol as a viable, long-term solution, but at least their model solves a local waste problem by reusing cooking oil.
I really want to see people, government, and businesses actually working to reduce our dependence on driving, not oil. With no viable alternative fuel in sight, and peak oil looming, it is clear to this blogger that we need to drive less. We need to change our habits, not what we put into our gas tanks - and articles like this touting miracle fuel alternatives (OK, I’m being dramatic) only distract us from working on real change.
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Two comments:
On your figure that corn uses more fertilizer, insectides and herbicides than any other crop. I have heard the same said of cotton.
Ethanol is also unsustainable because we the taxpayer are paying a subsidy to produce ethanol of .51 cents a gallon. Just today Congress voted not to eliminate the tariff on imported ethanol which serves as a further subsidy to the ethanol industry.
I’ve read that sugar cane is a better alternative to corn, and I wonder if SC’s climate could sustain those crops.
I agree that ethanol seems like a disaster. I think that biodiesel actually has a lot to offer as we transition to driving less. Keep in mind that biodiesel replaces petrodiesel fuel, which is used mostly by 18 wheelers, public transportation buses, school buses, railroad engines, and cargo ships. Shifting to biodiesel, particularly if we go to B50 or B100, will dramatically reduce air pollution, and it also easily biodegrades in the water, so it is much less harmful for marine uses. I haven’t done all the numbers, but I think that it is worth pushing for changes to require use of at least B20 (20% biodiesel/80% petrodiesel). It will immediately reduce our use of petrodiesel, make modest improvements in air quality, and start biodiesel on the road to becoming a competitive product so that switching to B100 on a massive scale would be more feasible and economical.
For instance, why shouldn’t CARTA and our school buses convert right away to B20 with a plan to convert to B100 within a year? This would reduce the exposure of our children and many other folks to the pollutants from petrodiesel. While biodiesel is slightly more expensive now (and I know that budgets are very tight), gradually increasing the demand for it will help encourage the supply end as well, and hopefully bring down prices in the long run.
Great stuff Kristen. I like your idea about getting CARTA and the school buses using biodiesel. I wonder if the increase in cost could be covered by donations or grants…which is exactly why we need to turn Go Green Charleston into a 501(c)3.
All of the school buses in the state are moving towards B20. Additionally, a bill passed this year that will require all state-owned diesel pumps to contain at least 5% biodiesel by January 1, 2008. These two measures alone will increase biodiesel consumption by 3 million gallons in South Carolina - nearly double what was sold in the state in 2006. Biodiesel has an excellent energy balance of 3.2 units of energy for every 1 unit put in. Additionally, biodiesel production facilites are capable of creating zero-waste because there are techniques to capture and use every by-product such as glycerin (soap), water, and methanol.
Ethanol has its merits as well. Everyone is down on corn ethanol and obviously it has its downsides, but the fact of the matter is that corn farmers in the United States have not had such a good price on their product for a long time! Also, by creating demand now for corn ethanol we are creating markets for more risky ventures such as cellulosic ethanol facilities. In fact, there is a company who wants to make ethanol from wood chips that is interested in locating in South Carolina! Cellulosic ethanol is far more attractive and has much more potential. We haven’t even begun to discuss the merits of renewable fuel for the environment and for energy security. Lets not judge too quickly…