A bill being introduced in Congress could double the number of gas stations in the United States that sell E-85 ethanol fuel. The GLRC’s Erin Toner reports:
Transcript
A bill being introduced in Congress could double the number of gas stations in the United States
that sell E-85 ethanol fuel. The GLRC’s Erin Toner reports:
Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan says the federal government should subsidize new
ethanol pumps at gas stations. Ethanol is made from corn or other kinds of plants. Rogers says it
would cost 20 million dollars to double the number of gas stations selling E-85; a blend of 85
percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline:
“Our big three – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – are building total almost a
million E-85 cars, so they’ve done their part. Now we need to do our part and get these
gas stations out across America selling E-85 gas.”
Rogers says the government should also boost subsidies for ethanol research to improve the
production process. He says if that happens, within five years, ethanol fuel could cost drivers
one dollar a gallon. But critics say taxpayers would be footing the actual cost of making ethanol.
As the price of gasoline rises, many states are looking for alternatives. One of those alternatives is the ethanol blend, E-85. But, some states (like Ohio) are not keeping up with the trend. (Photo by Lester Graham)
The federal government is focusing new attention on research and development of ethanol. Some states – especially those in the corn belt – are getting into the act too. The GLRCs Karen Kasler reports:
Transcript
The federal government is focusing new attention on research and
development of ethanol. Some states – especially those in the corn belt –
are getting into the act too. The GLRC’s Karen Kasler reports:
Now that gasoline is near or above three dollars a gallon, ethanol seems
to be everywhere. The Renewable Fuels Association says more than a
third of the gasoline in the U.S is blended with ethanol, an alcohol based
fuel made with the sugar found in corn and other grains. A 10 percent
ethanol/gasoline blend can be used in every vehicle on the road, but
many politicians and consumers are very interested in the 85 percent
ethanol blend – E-85 – as an alternative fuel for cars and trucks. But
getting E-85 to drivers who have cars which can use it isn’t that easy.
Tadd Nicholson with the Ohio Corn Growers Association, says part of
the problem is the big oil companies have banned E-85 pumps under the
canopies at branded stations.
“Oil companies don’t own ethanol production. They own oil refining,
and so that’s their profit center and that’s where they get their fuel and so
they have a lot of control over that. They don’t own ethanol. I don’t
know why. They should, but they aren’t in the ethanol ownership
business yet. I say ‘yet’.”
The governors of Wisconsin and Minnesota have asked the big oil
companies to change their E-85 policy, and some states have been
encouraging independent gasoline dealers to put in E-85 pumps for a few
years.
But others, such as Ohio, have been lagging behind in the trend. Only
recently has Ohio launched a new energy action plan that sounds
ambitious, when it comes to providing access to ethanol to drivers.
LeeAnn Mizer is with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“The goal is to triple the amount of E-85 pumps available to Ohio
consumers by the end of 2006.”
That sounds like a lot – but it’s not, says Dwayne Seikman heads up the
Ohio Corn Growers Association.
“Tripling’s a nice start. There’s six… that would go to 18. But with over
150,000 vehicles in the state of Ohio, that’s not enough to cover the
effort.”
Since corn is Ohio’s top crop… it would seem to make sense. But unlike
other states in the corn belt, there are no ethanol plants in operation in
Ohio, though there are at least three under construction, and ethanol
supporters say the state is way behind its neighbors when it comes to
getting ethanol pumps at service stations.
Sam Spofforth is executive director of Clean Fuels Ohio.
“I’ll be honest, we’d like to see a lot more and we think a lot more is
certainly very possible. Indiana, they’re up to about 25 to 30 stations.
Illinois has over a hundred. Minnesota has almost 200 at this point.
Even places like Arizona are putting in E-85. They don’t make any corn
in Arizona. We think Ohio can do a lot more.”
Some critical studies have found that ethanol has a high energy cost with
low benefits – ethanol supporters say that’s been debunked. Whether
ethanol makes economic or ecological sense or not is still not certain.
But one thing is certain – cars using ethanol blends need to fill up more
than those using regular unleaded gasoline.
Robert White with the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition says that’s
offset because typically ethanol-blended fuels cost less than regular
unleaded gas.
“Well, no doubt the fuel economy is the only negative with E-85, and we
tell folks that is where the price differential hopefully is there to make
E-85 use a wash.”
Part of the reason the price is lower is because the ethanol industry is
heavily subsidized by the government. Those lower costs would quickly
disappear if the subsidies were removed. Because ethanol is cleaner
burning, many support further development and use of the renewable
fuel.
General Motors is increasing the number of vehicles it produces that can
burn ethanol. Ford already produces E-85 burning cars and trucks.
However, many believe for ethanol production to be truly efficient,
farmers will have to start growing crops such as switch grass for ethanol
because corn requires too much fossil fuel based fertilizer and other
inputs to make it a permanent solution.
Some governors want a high-ethanol blend of gasoline called E-85 to be more easily available to customers. That’s touched off a dispute with the oil industry. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
Some governors want a high-ethanol blend of gasoline called E-85 to be
more easily available to customers. That’s touched off a dispute with the
oil industry. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
E-85 is 85 percent ethanol made from corn and 15 percent gasoline.
Because of tax subsidies, its pump price is much lower than gas, but only
certain vehicles can burn the fuel. The number of gas stations that offer
E-85 is small.
Some politicians from corn-growing states want more E-85 pumps – right
next to where traditional gasoline is available, but petroleum industry
spokesperson Erin Roth contends some consumers might put E-85 in the
wrong type of vehicle. He also says many stations can’t add another
underground storage tank.
“Or they’re gonna have to get rid of say mid-grade or premium and put in
E-85 and there’s just not the demand for it right now.”
But if gasoline continues to sell for around three dollars a gallon, ethanol
producers and their political allies say the public will push for more
alternatives.
In the next six years, the amount of ethanol production is expected to double. With more corn ethanol plants coming online, the distillers are looking for ways to sell one of the by-products.
The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports ethanol distillers are selling the corn mash left over from turning corn into ethanol:
Transcript
In the next six years, the amount of ethanol production is expected to
double. With more corn ethanol plants coming online, the distillers
are looking for ways to sell one of the by-products. The GLRC’s
Lester Graham reports ethanol distillers are selling the corn mash
left over from turning corn into ethanol:
The mash, called distillers grain, is a good livestock feed. It’s
higher in protein than the same amount of corn. Since most of the
ethanol plants are being built in the corn-belt, the distillers are
trying to get nearby livestock operations to buy the distillers grain.
Jim Hilker is an agriculture marketing expert at Michigan State
University. He says that works… up to a point…
“It depends on whether the livestock is near. It appears, as many
plants are going up, that we’re going to saturate some areas. They’ll
have to be shipped somewhere.”
That means drying the distillers grain… and shipping it… both adding
to the cost. The trick is to keep the price the same or cheaper than
corn… to keep it competitive. With 97 plants operating and another 34
under construction to meet the government’s call to produce a lot more
ethanol… there could soon be a glut of distillers grain.
Every few years, the amount of corn being used to produce ethanol doubles in the United States. That’s causing concern that too much of the country’s corn crop is being taken out of food production. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:
Transcript
Every few years, the amount of corn being used to produce ethanol
doubled in the United States. That’s causing concern that too much of the
country’s corn crop is being taken out of food production. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:
Demand for ethanol is increasing as more states start requiring the corn-
based fuel to be blended with gasoline, and Congress has required that
the amount of renewable fuel used in the U.S. triple in the next six years.
Keith Collins is chief economist for the USDA. He’s says he’s not
worried about a food shortage. He says there were record corn crops in
2004 and 2005, and there’s 35 million acres of cropland in reserve in the
U.S.
“Some of that has to stay there because its environmentally fragile land,
but some of it could come out if demand for food goes up, and demand
for fuel goes up. I think we have a very strong resource natural resource
base that can produce a lot more agricultural commodities, both for food
and for fuel.”
Overproduction has kept corn prices as low as they were in the 1950s,
but Collins expects corn to get more expensive over the next few years as
ethanol production increases.
Giant Miscanthus, a hybrid grass that can grow 13 feet high, drops its leaves in the winter, leaving behind tall bamboo-like stems that can be harvested and burned for fuel. (Photo by Kwame Ross)
Scientists have tested dozens of crops for their potential
as alternative fuels for cars or power plants. Now, researchers
hope a new plant might boost the biofuel industry. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee has the story:
Transcript
Scientists have tested dozens of crops for their potential as alternative fuels for cars or power plants. Now, researchers hope a new plant might boost the biofuel industry. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Shawn Allee has the story:
Stems of the grassy giant Miscanthus plant can grow up to thirteen feet tall and have lots of energy. So, researchers at the University of Illinois were delighted to find that miscanthus thrives in the Midwest. They’re hoping to turn miscanthus into an efficient biofuel.
But analysts say the biofuel industry needs more than just high-energy plants. Jim Kleinschmit is with the Institute For Agriculture and Trade Policy, a green think tank.
“A lot of these crops would require specific equipment that would have to be created, or have to be a market for it. And it’s not just for the harvesting; it’s for the baling, the transporting, the collecting, the storing.”
Kleinschmit says the infrastructure to support Miscanthus or similar biofuels is years away. In the meantime, the most widespread biofuel is corn-based ethanol. Corn yields less energy, but has established markets and proven farm equipment.
A new study takes into account the resources used to grow the corn that is used to make ethanol. (Photo by Ian Dun)
Despite its political popularity, a study suggests ethanol from corn is not as environmentally friendly as its supporters claim. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
Despite its political popularity, a study suggests ethanol from corn is not as environmentally
friendly as its supporters claim. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.
A new study published in the journal “Critical Reviews in Plant Science” shows producing ethanol
from corn uses more energy than the fuel provides.
Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley looked at the amount of energy used to plant,
fertilize, harvest and process corn into ethanol. Some studies have shown a net energy gain, but
this research takes into account the water and nutrients used to grow corn as well as the pollution
caused by fertilizers and pesticides.
The researchers say that makes this study a more accurate assessment of energy consumed to produce
ethanol. Supporters of ethanol say it’s the most environmentally-friendly replacement for MTBE,
that’s a gasoline additive used to reduce ozone pollution.
MTBE is being phased out because of concerns that it can contaminated groundwater sources.
A landfill is full of things people don't consider useful anymore. One group begs to differ. (Photo by Roberto Burgos S.)
The landfill is often seen as the end of the line… the burial ground of our trash. But one company says there’s still something to gain from that buried garbage. It’s planning to build a new plant to retrieve one final product from all of our trash. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kasler has the story:
Transcript
The landfill is often seen as the end of the line… the burial ground of our
trash. But one company says there’s still something to gain from that buried
garbage. It’s planning to build a new plant to retrieve one final product from
all of our trash. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kasler has the
story:
You probably don’t think of landfills as “green.” But Steve Wilburn does.
Wilburn is the president of FirmGreen. He says he knows different ways to
turn byproducts of landfills into useful energy.
First, capture the methane that’s produced when all that garbage stews
underground. Second, use it as fuel to generate electricity. Third, turn it into compressed gas for trucks. And finally, mix
it with soybean oil to make soy diesel.
Steve Wilburn says it’s an ambitious project.
“This is the first of its kind in the world. The Green Energy Center concept is
something I came up with about four years ago, and as we explored for ways to
implement it, we needed a centerpiece, a technology that was missing, and that
was to clean up the landfill gas in a very cost-effective way.”
FirmGreen is building what it calls its Green Energy Center right next to the
landfill in Columbus, Ohio. Mike Long is with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio – SWACO for short. Long says right
now, there’s no practical use for the methane and carbon dioxide produced by the rotting garbage in the landfill.
“Currently, SWACO’s control technology is to have a flare where we burn off the
gases to keep it from getting up into the atmosphere. But the new technology,
we will take that gas and make it into energy and consumer products rather than
just simply burning it and exhausting it.”
Instead of burning those landfill gases, they’ll be redirected a small
electric generator operated by FirmGreen. The electricity will be sold back to
SWACO to power its main office and its fleet garage. That’ll start in just a
few months.
Later, FirmGreen will convert methane into compressed natural gas. That will
be used to fuel SWACO’s vehicles, which could save the waste authority an
estimated 100 thousand dollars a year.
FirmGreen’s President, Steve Wilburn says the final part of the project is the
real profit maker for his company: turning methanol into biodiesel.
“When we create
methanol, we then have the bridge to the hydrogen economy because ethanol is an
excellent hydrogen carrier. It’s also used in the manufacture and production of
biodiesel. Ohio is a large soybean producing state. So we’ll take our green
methanol and we’ll blend that with the soy oil and we’re going to create
biodiesel.”
When the FirmGreen biodiesel processing facility is up and running, it will
need 69 thousand acres of soybeans to produce 10 million gallons of biodiesel
annually. FirmGreen already has a contract with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical
Company to provide 6 million gallons of biodiesel a year. FirmGreen also hopes
to interest the growing hydrogen fuel cell industry.
“Biofuels” have their critics, who are concerned that it takes as much energy
or more energy to create biofuels than they produce. Mike Long at SWACO says
he’s heard that before, but it doesn’t apply to this project.
“The
energy is already here, and is being flared off right now at our landfill. There’s no recovery of the energy, no beneficial
use. So for those who argue that this process would be a consumer of energy, it’s not a net consumer, and right now, we’re wasting energy.”
Long and Wilburn point to statistics from the U.S. EPA. They says the data show
the Green Energy Center will have the same effect as reducing oil consumption by
more than twenty thousand barrels a year. They say that’s like taking 2,000 cars off the road.
Sam Spofforth is with the Central Ohio Clean Fuels Coalition. He says even
when factoring in the fuel used by trucks transporting the methanol to the
remote biodiesel processing facilities, the project still looks green to him.
“In terms of biodiesel, it’s about three point two energy units out for every one energy
unit in. What is even more exciting about this project – methane
gas is about twenty times as potent as a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide. So the
fact that they’re using methane that would otherwise be vented into the air
makes the net emissions of those greenhouse gas even more positive.”
The Green Energy Center in Ohio is the first in the nation, but a second one
is planned to be built near Saint Louis, Missouri. With giant landfills venting
off methane in places around the country, if these two make money, it’s a
pretty sure bet others will be built in the near future.
Researchers have found what they believe is a more energy-efficient way to produce bio-fuel. (Photo by John Davis)
Researchers continue to look for a more energy-efficient alternative to ethanol. A team of Midwest engineers is having some success with turning plants into an additive for diesel fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:
Transcript
Researchers continue to look for a more energy-efficient alternative to ethanol. A team of Midwest engineers is having some success with turning plants into an additive for diesel fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison are taking the carbohydrates found in corn and other plant matter and putting them into what they call a “four-phase reactor.” Out comes a sulphur-free liquid suitable to be an additive in diesel transportation fuel.
Much attention has been paid to processing corn into ethanol, but Wisconsin professor John Dumesic says he and his colleagues have a more energy-efficient system.
“To make ethanol from an energy point of view, it takes one unit to make one unit. If you look at our process, in a very preliminary sense, then for every one unit you put in, you get two units out.”
Dumesic says the carbohydrate-based diesel fuel additive could be ready for consumer use within a few years. His research is published in a recent issue of the journal Science.
Ethanol often is made from corn, and one of the by-products, distillers grains, can be eaten by cows (Photo by Scott Bauer, courtesy of the USDA Agricultural Research Service)
From cows come dairy products and beef, the by-products of the cow - manure - can be anaerobically "digested," and the by-products of that process can be used to carbonate soft drinks. It might seem like an environmental and economic dream, but some are not supportive of this idea. (Photo by Bram Dejonckheere)
It’s rare when a factory and a mega-farm can help reduce pollution. But a project planned in the Midwest promises just that. The project would produce a fuel additive that is thought to reduce air pollution; provide a market for farm goods; create scores of jobs… all while not harming the environment. The Ohio project is getting millions of dollars of help from the state and federal governments. But some people doubt the project will accomplish all it promises. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamara Keith
reports:
Transcript
It’s rare when a factory and a mega-farm can help reduce pollution. But a project planned in the Midwest promises just that. The project would produce a fuel additive that is thought to reduces air pollution, provide a market for farm goods, create scores of jobs – all while not harming the environment. The Ohio project is getting millions of dollars of help from the state and federal governments. But some people doubt the project will accomplish all it promises. Tamara Keith reports:
The project is called Harrison Ethanol. It will include an ethanol factory, using millions of bushels of corn to produce the gasoline additive. At the same location, thousands of dairy and beef cattle will live in fully enclosed barns. And then there’s the small power plant, which will be fueled by manure produced by the cattle. Wendel Dreve is the project’s director.
“I think the nicest way of describing our project is it’s a vertically-integrated, agriculturally-based industrial development.”
Dreve began working on the project nearly 4 years ago. He’s retired from the oil and gas industry and built a home in eastern Ohio farm country. His neighbors approached him about starting up a corn-powered ethanol factory – something that has not existed in Ohio in a decade.
“I told them that I didn’t think we could build a ethanol plant in Ohio because there are no state subsidies, so we had to figure out a way to raise the revenue streams internally and the only way we could figure out to do that was to employ animals.”
The 12-thousand cattle housed on site, will eat the main byproduct of ethanol production, a corn mush called distillers grains. The cattle will generate money too, from sales of milk and meat. But the cattle will create manure… lots of manure… about 50 million gallons of it a year. Dreve has a solution for that, too: a power-generating anaerobic digester.
“It eliminates nearly all of the odor, it processes all of the wastes from the entire facility. So it’s like an industrial waste treatment plant on site.”
60 times a day, manure will be flushed out of the animal barns and into the digester. A large, cement structure, where the manure is broken down by microbes.
“And at the other end, you get water and methane and carbon dioxide and some solids.”
The methane will run power generators, creating “green energy,” which can be sold at a premium. The carbon dioxide from the manure will be sold to make carbonated sodas. This would be the first anaerobic digester powered by cattle manure in Ohio, and one of only a handful nationwide. Dreve says his digester will be much better for the environment than open-air manure lagoons, the cheaper method most commonly used by farmers.
But not everyone agrees. Bill Weida is an economist and director of the Grace Factory Farm Project which opposes large concentrated animal farms. Weida says most anaerobic digesters are paid for with some kind of government assistance. Harrison Ethanol is no exception. The project received a 500-thousand-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help pay for the digester.
“No one in their right mind who is looking for an economic investment would build a digester. The only reason you’d build one is if you had some sort of a government subsidy that would help pay for it.”
Harrison Ethanol also is receiving seventy-million dollars in financing assistance from the state of Ohio. In fact, the company indicates it got some very good legal and accounting help, to find the perfect location for the project to take advantage of state and federal tax credits. Add to that federal ethanol subsidies and federal subsidies for corn production, and Harrison Ethanol is getting plenty of help from taxpayers.
Ken Cook is executive director of the Environmental Working Group. He says ethanol might reduce air pollution and reliance on foreign oil, but it is not economically viable without those huge taxpayer subsidies.
“The worry is that what we’re really doing is bailing out failed agriculture policy with heavily subsidized energy policy. We’re going into the corn industry with another set of subsidies to basically turn corn, that would have been exported at a loss, into corn that is used to make fuel at a loss to taxpayers.”
That’s not how state officials see it. Bill Teets is a spokesman for the Department of Development which has been working to bring several ethanol plants to Ohio.
“We think that this is a great project because you help farmers, you create manufacturing, you have something that helps benefit the environment and it seems to be a good type of project that we can really benefit from.”
And if everything goes as planned, Wendel Dreve will build 2 more ethanol and cattle operations in Ohio. He’s already secured tax dollars from state and federal sources for those plants.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tamara Keith.
