[Greenbuilding] bio fuels and ethanol

[YankeePerm at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/11/07 3:40:48 PM, roncascio at verizon.net writes:


> I'm not sure of the energy return
> ratio for ethanol these days but it's 1:3.7 for biodiesel, which is a net
> energy gain of 2.7 BTUs, and that calculation includes farming inputs and
> transportation. It's easy and often that the two distinct biofuels are
> lumped together, but they are as different as night and day.
> 
> It would pay to do a little research.
> 
> 
> Ron Cascio
> Chestnut Creek
> 

Indeed it would.   For example, if one really researches the topic, s/he 
learns that soybeans are a real soil killer, returning far less organic matter to 
the soil than they use up and resulting in large losses of soil to erosioin as 
the roots do not hold soil and the canopy offers little protection from sun 
and rain.   Also, yield per acre is low,   as nitrogen fixers have to divert 
photosynthesis into fixation of N into energy rich forms that function as 
fertilizer.   Moreover, if we divert large acreages to soybean cultivation, we 
further jack up the price of food.   If you figures are correct (and I'm skeptical 
about any industrialized crop that claims to contain more energy than used to 
produce it), then the incentive to produce transport fuel for the rich will 
further take food from the poor.   As the price of corn goes up (because it is 
fermented and distilled and/or because less is grown to produce soybeans), 
fewer people worldwide will be able to afford to eat.   This is real.   If the US 
were remotely food self-reliant, the ethical issue would be moderated, but of 
course we are not.   We export calories, and import protein, vitamins and 
minerals.   So the real question is, is it better for even more people to die each 
year from undernutrition causes so we can drive 'affordably,' continuing to 
create air pollution, causing massive soil losses, and eventually threatening 
our own food security, or is it better for the price of gasoline to rise to the 
point where people are forced to drive much less, often not at all, and 
undertake as much conservation as they can?   

Again, as I said before, there is a place for biodeisel and ethanol, 
especially on farm as a way to sop up surpluses in good crop years. But it should be 
just a tiny fraction of our energy mix.   

Dan Hemenway



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