The Role of Biofuels in U.S. Energy Independence
Environmental Impact of Substituting Foreign Gasoline with Biofuels
Oct 23, 2008
In his introduction to Freedom from Oil by David Sandelow, published by McGraw-Hill in 2008, Senator Richard Luger says “We should start by establishing a national goal of making competitively priced biofuels available to every motorist in America.” But in Biofuels for Transport by the Worldwatch Institute, published by Earthscan in 2007 it states “if prairie grassland is converted to corn or soy, treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and refined with coal and natural gas, the resulting fuel could have a greater impact on the climate over its life cycle than do petroleum fuels.”
The Potential of Biofuels for Transport
Biofuels, especially those usable for automobile use such as bioethanol and biodiesel, offer the best hope of fossil fuel displacement, greenhouse gas reduction and a move toward energy independence.
- In Biofuels for Transport: An International Perspective, published by the International Energy Agency in 2004 it states “For example, the US imported $106 billion of crude oil and petroleum products in 2000 (some 48% of consumption), accounting for almost one-third of the total US trade deficit in goods and services.”
- “Environmental, Economic, and Energetic Costs and Benefits of Biodiesel and Ethanol Biofuels” by Jason Hill et al, and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 103, shows that in 2005, corn produced ethanol supplied only 1.72% of U.S. gasoline use, while soy produced biodiesel replaced just 0.09% of U.S. diesel.
- The Ethanol Fact Book published by the Clean Fuels Development Coalition in 2007 states “The U.S. ethanol industry now has the capacity to produce an estimated 7 billion gallons per year of high octane, clean-burning motor fuel. Nearly 10 billion gallons of annual operating capacity is projected to be on line by 2008.
Environmental Impact of Biofuels
Although biofuels do have a very positive greenhouse gas emission impact, the most currently used first generation biofuels, made from corn, soy, sugarcane and palm oil, have other environmental negative impacts.
- Figures from Table 6.5 of Biofuels for Transport, published by the International Energy Agency in April 2004, shows that displacing only 10% of US gasoline use with biofuels would require 43% of US cropland.
- In the Executive Summary of Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Products by Rainer Zah et al and published by EMPA it states “It is true that reductions in GHG emissions of more than 30% can be obtained with many biofuels; however the most of the production paths display higher impacts than petrol in various other environmental indicators.”
- Biofuel Support Policies: An Economic Perspective published by the OECD in 2008 states “With full implementation of the recently enacted US Energy Independence and Security Act and currently proposed new EU Directive for Renewable Energy, close to 20% of global vegetable oil production and more than 13% of world coarse grain output could shift to biofuel production.”
- A report titled “Biofuel Demand Pushes Up Food Prices” by Valerie Mercer-Blackman of the IMF and published on their website in October 2007, states “Until new technologies are developed, using food to produce biofuels might further strain already tight supplies of arable land and water all over the world, thereby pushing food prices up even further."
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