The Role for Biofuels

One of the many contentious issues in crafting clean energy policies is the role of biofuels -- particularly ethanol, which now primarily comes from corn. They help reduce the need for fossil fuels and foreign oil, but the process to create the fuel potentially contributes to global warming, damage to the land and increased food costs.

But as Al Gore noted [1] in an appearance promoting Live Earth [2] yesterday on CNN's Larry King Live [1], if executed carefully as part of a comprehensive energy strategy, they can be beneficial.

Gore responded to an email question, "Why is our country pushing so hard for corn fuel?":

...alongside the need to reduce global warming pollution, there is also the need to reduce dependence on foreign oil. And alcohol fuels grown from plants, including corn, can, if it's done the right way, give us a source of renewable fuels.

Once it's burned, yes, the CO2 goes up. But it's then recaptured in the next crop and recycled through the crops.

Now, people have raised questions about all of the energy that's used in processing that corn. And if it's not done right, you actually have a negative energy balance. If it's done the right way, we can save energy.

But what's most exciting, Larry, is there's a new generation of alcohol fuels. Within the next two to three years, there will be new ways to process it without using a lot of energy and heat from natural gas and oil, and instead using enzymes and some of the biotechnology breakthroughs.

Seperately, Blue Climate [3], in response to a European biofuels confernce underway, today made the case for responsible production of sustainable biofuels:

...it is not enough to substitute biofuels for petroleum-based fuels. The biofuels must be grown, processed and distributed in a sustainable manner that minimizes a range of environmental impacts and which does not drive the cost of food out of the range of what people can afford, especially poor people. Biofuels must also produce a significant net lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas emissions...

...It is important for government and industry to recognize early on that it is vitally important to include consideration of impacts on the environment and food costs from this burgeoning industry. It is not enough to only factor in the economics of biofuels relative to petroleum-based fuel or the impact biofuels can have on energy independence...

...Critics of biofuels from the environmental and social justice community also have a responsibility.

It is not uncommon to see criticisms of biofuels because of the negative impact biofuels can and in some cases currently are having on the environment and on food costs.

When these criticisms are intended to drive the biofuels industry to develop their products in a sustainable fashion they are understandable and constructive.

Unfortunately there are also intemperate denunciations of biofuels which are not constructive.

Corn-based ethanol is not the answer to our fuel problems. However it can serve a useful role in providing an intermediate supply of ethanol, which allows an ethanol infrastructure to develop, until a better ethanol feedstock is available.

Cutting down tropical rainforests to plant palm plantations for biodiesel feedstock is not a good thing. That does not mean that biodiesel is bad. It just means it has to be produced in a more sustainable manner...

...but let us recognize it will not happen immediately. It is short-sighted to expect that achieving sustainability won't take time.

It will take a lot of effort, including significant new fundamental and applied research as well as new guidelines and government rules, to get the biofuel industry to the point where it is operating in a truly sustainable manner with minimal impacts on the environment and food prices. Some (but not too much) patience is required.

The Apollo Alliance "New Energy for America" plan [4] offers a strategy for responsible development of biofuels, and the new Senate energy bill [5] mandates increased biofuel production with "20 percent fewer lifecycle carbon emissions compared to gasoline," and "protections to ensure that increased use of biofuels will not harm our air or water quality."

So there's some good progress on this front, but like so much of what's happening with environment, we need to keep a close eye on exactly how these policies are being implemented.