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Biofuels just one piece of energy puzzle
Researchers
say fuel source has pros and cons
H&N
photo by Ty Beaver Tom Chester, director of the
Oregon Renewable Energy Center at Oregon Institute of Technology,
says there are no easy answers to the energy dilemma.
Imagine a box half a mile long, half a mile wide and half a mile deep filled with oil. That’s how much the United States uses each year.
More than half of that oil comes from foreign suppliers and that is one reason for efforts to expand production of biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. Other reasons include energy security, economic potential and environmental impact.
But the biofuels boom isn’t all green fields and cleaner air. Researchers say biofuels are only one option to the energy crisis and there are others worth exploring.
“There are no easy answers to our energy dilemma,” said Tom Chester, director of the Oregon Renewable Energy Center at Oregon Institute of Technology.
Biofuels are not a new concept. The first combustion engines were engineered to run on peanut oil, and the Ford Model T could run on ethanol as well as gasoline. But it didn’t pay to be green. The price of peanut oil and ethanol far exceeded the cost of petroleum, and economics won the battle.
“It’s an old concept, but it was put on the back burner during several decades of cheap petroleum,” said Rich Roseberg, an extension agent with the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center.
Roseberg and Chester said those days are nearly gone. Companies are spending more money and resources searching for oil supplies. Meanwhile, demand is rising, especially in the U.S. and in developing industrial nations such as China and India.
Benefits, drawbacks
Both researchers note that biofuels have definite benefits.
Unlike oil, a finite resource, the crops that produce biofuels are renewable. They don’t release toxins when used. They also could provide the agriculture community with a profitable crop.
Those benefits don’t hide the drawbacks to growing energy, though.
Corn, currently the primary source of ethanol, is an inefficient crop, demanding large amounts of water, nutrients and many sunny, warm days.
Roseberg said such a crop isn’t sustainable on a commercial basis in the Basin. Chester said even if corn was a viable crop throughout the nation, it could never replace the energy supplied by oil. Also, oil is still cheaper to use at the moment and is more energy efficient.
A more likely candidate for biofuel production in the Basin would be biodiesel, Roseberg said. The fuel can be produced from canola, a crop that can grow here and has a simpler production process than ethanol. But using the fuel could be problematic as it tends to gel at temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit, requiring additives or petroleum to keep it a liquid.
Chester said it is a social and moral imperative to pursue advancements in biofuel production. But if the United States wants to break its dependence on oil, it will have to look at other solutions as well, from other energy sources such as wind and solar to better energyuse practices.
“Ultimately, we’re going to have to use less energy,” Chester said. “We need to understand the road ahead won’t be easy.”
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml