Bloomberg reports “As
Corn Devours U.S. Prairies, Greens Reconsider Biofuel Mandate”. I can
only say “What took you so long?” To wit:
“Environmentalists
who once championed biofuels as a way to cut pollution are now turning against
a U.S. program that puts renewable fuels in cars, citing higher-than-expected
carbon dioxide emissions and reduced wildlife habitat.”
According to Bloomberg, several non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) including Friends of the Earth, the National Wildlife
Federation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are now bemoaning
the detrimental effects of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
How times have changed
For example, the U.S.-based NRDC, counting more than 550,000
members, in their lengthy 2004 report on “GROWING
ENERGY” had such glowing statements for biofuels like:
“The United States does not have to rely on oil to drive our
economy and quality of life. We can replace much of our oil with biofuels—fuels
made from plant materials grown by American farmers.”
and
“Biofuels
can clean up the environment.”
None of
that was true—nor will it ever be. If it had been or were, studies would have
been able to show that. Instead, the few studies by independent investigators
all showed the opposite to be true. Between sowing and reaping the harvest,
converting, distilling and distributing the product(s), no energy was “saved,”
the environment was not “cleaned up” but rather destroyed, and the economy did
not improve either. In short: a giant boondoggle all around. I called it the Biofuel Curse in
another post, published two years ago. Even the great oracle of time, former
U.S. - V.P. Al Gore has admitted to being wrong in pushing the biofuel
(bio-ethanol) idea, already years ago. Still, many of the activist groups like
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, 350.org, WWF, etc. were all in favour of
biofuels (including ethanol from corn kernels) until recently.
Bio-ethanol
from Cellulose
This idea is to use waste products from agriculture, such as
corn stover (cobs, husks, stems and leaves) to produce ethanol. Another idea
touted by NGOs was growing switchgrass, a native grass of the prairies. Either
one was to solve all fuel needs and make “lots of hay” for the farmers to boot.
There only a handful of cellulose-to-ethanol
plants in operation in the U.S. actually use corn husks and stalks to
make ethanol.
However, the ethanol production from cellulose is fraught
with technical problems. Not surprisingly, the companies involved recently
filed a response to Environmental Protection Agency’s “Renewable Fuel Standard
Program: Standards for 2017 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2018” in which
they ask to be permitted to use corn starch
as source for the “cellulosic ethanol” too. Starch, of course is
primarily in the kernels, not the corn cob or stem. In my mind, that request is
a tacit admission that the ethanol production from corn stover does not work
very well. It also reminds me of the Ivanpah solar power plant that produces
now about one half of its “solar power” electricity from burning natural gas.
Of course,
the whole biofuel idea was based on false accounting of energy input vs.
output, misunderstanding of cause & consequences, and—most
importantly—government prescribed subsidies, “renewable fuel credits” and
related costs that every fuel consumer has to pay for, one way or another.
Most recently though, still barely perceptible, some sanity
seems to come into the picture; a new dawn, a dawn of truth.
New Dawn of Truth
In September 2016, a conference on the New
Dawn of Truth is being planned to take place at London, UK. The
120-page information booklet with extended abstracts is available online.
Perhaps it will bring an end to the “Thermageddon” cult that seems to pervade
western main stream thinking these days. Perhaps, it’s wishful thinking as most
of the media are still full of “climate doom.”
The New
Dawn of Truth conference comes hard on the heels of the “CLEXIT” (Climate-Exit) campaign, officially
announced on Aug. 1, 2016. The Clexit movement is spreading world-wide and has
the support of scientists from numerous countries. Below, a salient quote from
the CLEXIT summary statement:
“We must stop this futile
waste of community savings; cease the destruction and dislocation of human
industry; stop killing rare bats and birds with wind turbine blades and
solar/thermal sizzlers; stop pelletizing trees and shipping them across the
world to feed power stations designed to burn coal; stop converting food to
motor vehicle fuel; and stop the clearing of bush and forests for biofuel
cultivation and plantations.
Carbon dioxide does not
control the climate. It is an essential plant food and more carbon dioxide will
produce more plant growth and a greener globe.”
May sanity prevail, once again!