[Gasification] ABOUT CELLULOSIC ETHANOL

[Benjamin Domingo Bof]

> Fecha: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:44:47 -0500
> A: gwcc at lists.riseup.net
> De: "Raging Grannie (Wanda B)" <wsb70 at comcast.net>
> Asunto: [gwcc] Burning Forests to Feed Cars -- The
> Ecological Madness of
>  Biofuels, Take Two
> 
> From: "GlenBarry at EcologicalInternet.org"
> <GlenBarry at EcologicalInternet.org>
> Subject: EARTH MEANDERS: Burning Forests to Feed
> Cars
> Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:36:30 -0600
> 
> EARTH MEANDERS
> Burning Forests to Feed Cars
>    The Ecological Madness of Biofuels, Take Two
> 
> How cellulosic ethanol will fail, exacerbate the
> global forest
> and climate crises, and why it must be rejected
> along with
> other quick fixes in favor of an environmental
> sufficiency
> agenda
> 
> Earth Meanders by Dr. Glen Barry
> http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/
> March 15, 2008
> 
> If you thought burning food for fuel -- agrofuels --
> has been
> an unmitigated disaster, just wait until we start
> chopping up
> our last natural forest habitats for cellulosic
> ethanol
> biofuel. Much heralded second generation biofuels,
> to be based
> largely upon woody biomass, will be a resounding
> ecological
> disaster, and must be stopped now. It is a myth that
> enough
> unused forest and agricultural waste, and a surplus
> of land to
> grow various grasses and wood, exists to base an
> industrial
> energy source.
> 
> Humanity must stop seeking easy answers to perceived
> energy
> shortages that in fact are a result of
> over-population and
> ecological limits to growth. Agrofuels were heavily
> promoted
> for climate benefits and pursued at much expense,
> yet have
> been catastrophic to the world's food security,
> habitat, water
> and climate. The same will be true of ethanol
> production from
> trees. Cellulosic ethanol will be the ultimate
> deforestation
> biofuel, equivalent to dismantling and burning your
> home to
> keep warm.
> 
> Biofuel from trees a looming disaster
> 
> The promise being made is that wood can produce
> fuels to run
> our cars. A few years ago we were told corn,
> rapeseed, sugar,
> oil palm, soy and various other crops could be grown
> for
> biofuels while providing energy security and
> reducing
> greenhouse emissions. The reality has been far
> different with
> globally surging food prices, loss of rainforests
> and other
> important habitats, further depletion and poisoning
> of
> aquifers, and rampant human rights abuses -- all for
> little or
> no greenhouse gas emission reduction.
> 
> So called "second generation biofuels", including
> the use of
> woody biomass, is being given the same unthinking,
> ecologically bereft hype. I will focus upon the idea
> that a
> wide variety of woody plant materials -- including
> both waste
> and planted woody crops -- should be the basis of a
> cellulosic
> ethanol industry. Creating ethanol is trickier than
> with
> agrofuels, the cellulose more difficult to break
> down, but
> clearly it is possible to produce liquid fuels from
> woody
> biomass. But what of associated social and
> ecological issues
> that are again being ignored?
> 
> Second generation biofuels based upon woody biomass
> will
> clearly be an unmitigated disaster. As with
> agrofuels, a
> cellulosic ethanol industry will indirectly destroy
> forests
> and lead to more costly food by increasing land
> pressures upon
> natural forests and agricultural crop lands. We can
> expect
> more vast, lifeless, toxic and water dependent
> monocultures of
> genetically modified Frankentrees on stolen
> deforested lands
> at a net carbon loss. And the biofuels will be sold
> to us as a
> green product, perhaps certified as "well-managed"
> by WWF,
> FSC, and other forest sell-outs.
> 
> Global forest crisis the fundamental ecological
> problem
> 
> Forest waste is a euphemism for the materials left
> over when
> industrial forestry decimates a forest. The
> branches, bark,
> saw dust, etc. represent nutrients that are best
> returned to
> virtually mined soils to make new forests. There is
> certainly
> not enough such "waste" lying around unused to power
> industrial society. Just what the world's
> beleaguered natural
> old-growth and regenerating forest ecosystems need,
> another
> potentially limitless draw upon their growth,
> diversity and
> regeneration.
> 
> Once the infrastructure is in place to toss wood
> into vast
> choppers and have energy come out the other end, how
> long
> until meager switch grass harvests are supplemented
> with
> natural forest clearance? Let's skip the step of
> clearing
> rainforests to plant crops and just toss the chopped
> up
> liquefied rainforests directly into our gas tank
> instead. The
> use of wood biomass from natural forests is already
> occurring
> on a limited scale and will be ramped up. Such is
> the promise
> of cellulosic ethanol.
> 
> Natural forests and other habitats provide a thin
> layer of
> biological life that shields and acts in concert
> with other
> aspects of the Earth System to make advanced life
> possible.
> This human habitat is endangered, devastated in
> short order by
> the human locust. All major environmental crises are
> entwined,
> but my observation is that clearing of terrestrial
> ecosystems
> -- that is dismantling human habitats as resources
> to allow
> unsustainable growth -- is the crux of the human
> dilemma.
> 
> As if the world's forests, land base, ecosystems and
> habitats
> do not have enough demands upon them already, let us
> try to
> use them to power seven billion consumers in their
> drive to
> each have it all. Think this a needlessly harsh
> appraisal?
> Name one time the global economic system has
> demonstrated
> self-control in matching growth to underlying
> resources.
> Biofuels based upon wood must be rejected now,
> before it
> begins, to avoid the next ecological catastrophe.
> Given the
> scale of human energy demands and dismal state of
> global
> ecosystems, this one may prove fatal.
> 
> Time only for ambitious, sufficient global
> ecological
> responses
> 
> The Earth system is perilously close to failure and
> cannot
> stand more environmental solutions based upon
> greater and more
> intensive resource use for current, much less
> increased, human
> population and consumption. Most want an energy
> panacea that
> allows endless procreation and economic growth. None
> are to be
> had. There is a finite amount of energy that can be
> taken
> from, and waste put into, the global biosphere
> before it
> becomes uninhabitable. And we are reaching or have
> passed that
> point.
> 
> It is imperative that we embrace an environmental
> agenda based
> upon what is actually needed to maintain and restore
> ecological systems upon which all life depends. It
> is too late
> to put our efforts into anything else than the full
> package of
> societal and personal change necessary to maintain
> the
> biosphere. There are no solutions worth pursuing at
> this late
> date other than those that are ecologically
> sufficient.
> Anything less is more of the same disease that is
> assuredly
> destroying being.
> 
> Regular readers will know I have identified several
> major
> societal changes that could be implemented now at
> considerable
> but affordable cost and would make major headway in
> saving
> creation. These include immediately ending the use
> of coal
> that emits waste in the atmosphere; ceasing
> industrial
> clearance of natural habitats including ancient
> forests;
> investing major sums in renewable energy, energy
> conservation
> and efficiency; and providing incentives to reduce
> global
> population and sum consumption (more at
> http://www.ecoearth.info/ssi/ ).
> 
> These and other rigorous and sufficient measures
> will be
> pursued, or global ecological collapse is
> unavoidable. If part
> of your shtick is we can cut our forests, burn our
> fossil
> fuels, and continue to grow endlessly; you are the
> disease
> eating the Earth. Change sides and become part of
> the cure by
> rejecting reformist quick fixes such as biofuel from
> food and
> trees in favor of an environmental sufficiency
> agenda. Or we
> can all die looking for an easy way to have it all
> at the
> Earth's expense.
>  
> ********************
> Dr. Barry is founder and President of Ecological
> Internet;
> provider of the largest, most used environmental
> portals on
> the Internet including the Climate Ark at
> http://www.climateark.org/ and
> http://www.EcoEarth.Info/ .
> Earth Meanders is a series of ecological essays that
> are
> written entirely in his personal capacity. This
> essay may be
> reprinted granted it is properly credited to Dr.
> Barry and
> with a link to Earth Meanders. Emailed responses are
> public
> record and will be posted on the web site unless
> otherwise
> requested.
> 

       
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