Fact On Renewable Energy
I was relaxing at the beach a few weeks ago, and it struck me: thousands of people in the Gulf can’t visit the beach this summer because of the oil spill. Beaches are soiled, wildlife is under siege and livelihoods have been ruined.
So when are we going to do something to make sure a disaster like this doesn’t happen again?
Big Oil is like a pusher who wants to sell us one more hit, and who wants us to believe that the alternative isn’t worth it.
Well, it’s time to tell the pusher we’re going clean. Our oil addiction is preventing us from finding clean energy solutions that could stimulate our economy and make us world leaders in clean energy technologies.
Yes, the pusher is going to continue to propagate the myths we’ve been hearing about offshore drilling: that it will lower the price of gasoline; that it will make us energy independent; that it’s safe; that we need the energy; that its jobs are irreplaceable.
We shouldn’t believe the sales pitch, instead let’s look at the facts.
The Energy Information Agency (EIA) showed that allowing drilling on all of our coasts would only lower gas prices about three cents per gallon, and not until 2030. The EIA has also shown that we only reduce imports from about 60% to 58% if we open the remainder of our coasts. That’s not even close to energy independence.
Building a clean energy manufacturing base in the Gulf of Mexico could provide even more jobs than offshore drilling, and this technology can be exported globally, to strengthen our economy. And it doesn’t spill.
Instead of listening to the pusher, we should be asking ourselves: Do we need the energy offshore drilling provides, or could we get it another way, and alleviate the risks of drilling?
Here’s the deal — the Gulf of Mexico provides about 8% of our oil. That amount could be replaced through conservation, energy efficiency programs and clean energy. If we stop offshore drilling now, ongoing production in the Gulf of Mexico could serve as a bridge, while these new programs get underway.
What would it take to cut our oil use by 8%, or 1.6 million barrels of oil per day? Here’s one example of a way to do it in five-steps:
- Using fuel more efficiently in shipping could save 108,000 barrels of oil each day. Studies from the International Maritime Organization show that operational and technical changes available today could achieve these reductions and more.
- Shifting 25% of homes from oil heat to more efficient electrical heat could save 213,000 barrels of oil each day.
- Replacing oil in power plants with clean energy such as offshore wind could reduce demand by 210,000 barrels of oil each day.
- Replacing about 10% of the cars on the road today with electric ones could save 576,000 barrels of oil each day.
- Advanced biofuels derived from non-food sources like algae and switchgrass could ultimately replace all of the oil we get from the Gulf of Mexico. But even if we used just 15% of that projection that could supplant oil demand by another 600,000 barrels per day.
These five steps can be varied to emphasize one or the other more or less to get us an energy plan that would make Gulf drilling unnecessary. The additional electricity demands it creates could be satisfied by clean, carbon-free energy. We could have 20 Gigawatts of offshore wind capacity installed by 2020. Together with solar power, land-based wind and other solutions, we can get more than enough clean energy to cover the additional demands on the power grid.
Although innovation is a powerful force, those that benefit from the status quo have the resources to influence public opinion and public policy. But we, the people, still have the final say. Let’s stop listening to the myths and start taking common sense steps to break our oil addiction.
Join the more than 135,000 people who have signed the petition to stop offshore drilling.
One of the biggest concerns during early research was the fact that burning this algae fuel still released CO2 into the air. Nonetheless, the burning varies much so in that it doesn't produce any new CO2 emissions like that of fossil fuels. This was a minor concern however, as the fuel was never really able to be inexpensively mass produced.
Now, there are definite signs of hope in the field of algae-based biofuels, as a number of firms and fortune 500 companies are delving into the research, investing billions of dollars. Alternative energy and carbon emission reduction efforts are widespread, funded by large collaborate organizations like the Clinton Global Initiative. Fathered by Doug Band, the CGI has made large strides in the San Fransisco Bay area, reducing fleet emissions in large. Even more recently, Google made an astounding investment of $38 million dollars into wind farm production.
Ultimately, Exon Mobile has been one of the largest cooperators/investors into algae-based biofuels, setting aside nearly $600 million dollars as of 2009. In their quest for alternative energy, they joined with Synthetic Genomics Inc., to research and develop next-generation biofuels produced from sunlight.[1]
But why algae? Here are some major reasons why algae would be a great substitute:
- Grows in a wide range of climates
- Lower water intensity than corn or cellulosic ethanols
- Ability to potentially mitigate CO2
- Liquid fuels formed are the only one of their byproducts
- Byproducts are potentially the most valuable
All in all, the 40 percent lipid yield of some species (according to some studies) can produce up to 10,000 gallons of oil per annum (1 acre). This is far more productive than Soy or cellulosic ethanol, which range between 50 to 2700 gallons. [2]
As in any study, there are drawbacks, and for most companies, it's the failure to indentify the right strains of algae for high lipid concentration. Also, there are elements like contamination or predation, and dealing with the complicatedness of de-watering and oil withdrawal; all processes which have yet to be perfected.
On July 1, the department of energy (DOE) announced the investment of $24 million for approximately 3 different research groups. Their mission is to target all these obstacles in the mass production of algae-based biofuels. Sustainable Algal Biofuels Consortium, Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization and Cellana LLC Consortium will all perform separate tasks in hopes of igniting an algae fuel based society.
Jack Lundee – Follower of all things green and progressive.
Jack LundeeWebmasterhttp://everythingleft.wordpress.com/http://twitter.com/j_lundee
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