The False Promise of Biofuels
A:
The author is informing us on the situation of biofuels and the problem that is causing them to be held back. One way that we are able to get fuel is to use corn but there is a problem associated with this. Corn is not energy efficient and it also isn't carbon neutral. To get energy ethanol from corn cost a large amount of money and that is also a problem that comes with this. Using this as an energy source is getting less for what the money is worth compared to using regular gasoline. Biofuels provide only two out of the three energy. Another type of way is from algae. Algae power promises 4,270 gallons of oil per acre.
C:
My thoughts on this article are that we should not use biofuels because there are problems that are associated with it.
- Each day the facility would convert 1,000 tons of wood chips and waste from Georgia's vast pulp and paper industry into 274,000 gallons of ethanol
- The crop has spoiled in the ground
- As expensive equipment sits idle, the firm is searching for more funding to try to solve the problem
- Cilion in Goshen, Calif., Ethanex Energy in Basehor, Kan., and others have gotten out of the business of making biofuels from plant matter because it it too expensive
- Few years ago biofuels seemed like an ideal solution to two big US problems: dependence on oil and climate change
- Middle Eastern oil a particular liability, and raising average global temperatures underscored the need to find alternative fuels for automobiles and airplanes
- Because biofuels come from the atmosphere as they grow, burning biofuels in vehicles would in theory slow the build up of greenhouse gases, compared with burning fossil fuels
- The notion that biofuels technology is not living up to expectations may seem odd, given the rapid expansion in recent years of corn ethanol
- US production went from 50 million gallons in 1979 to 13 billion gallons in 2010
- How to justify equipment expense and keep algae from sticking to innards
- Biggest challenge may be the fact that producing hydrocarbons is algae's defense against long periods without sun to engineer them to respond to stress yet grow quickly
- Algae companies try to overcome obstacles by changing genetic code of microorganisms.
- Researchers started by tweaking the genes of E. Coli
- Institutes have turned E coli into an efficient biological factory that converts sunlight, CO2 and water into hydrocarbons like biodiesel.
- Engineered microorganisms may find it hard to produce hydrocarbons at volume or price that can compete with fossil oil.
- Problem: small genomes have hundreds of genes that scientists have no clue about function. They don't know which genes are needed t make a synthetic microorganism cheap to keep alive and able to produce oil in abundance.
- Viability will depend on cost of its food.
- Breakthroughs remain possible and scientific quest for a better biofuel continues
- Investors and politicians might be wise not to stake much money on a high-risk bet.
- Nations could electrify transportation to reduce fossil-fuel use
The author is informing us on the situation of biofuels and the problem that is causing them to be held back. One way that we are able to get fuel is to use corn but there is a problem associated with this. Corn is not energy efficient and it also isn't carbon neutral. To get energy ethanol from corn cost a large amount of money and that is also a problem that comes with this. Using this as an energy source is getting less for what the money is worth compared to using regular gasoline. Biofuels provide only two out of the three energy. Another type of way is from algae. Algae power promises 4,270 gallons of oil per acre.
C:
My thoughts on this article are that we should not use biofuels because there are problems that are associated with it.