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Oil Alternative Wiki Bio-Fuel Introduction It has become a well-documented fact that the world has a limited supply of fossil fuel to power the world economy. In recent decades governments around the world have been looking for alternative solutions. For the U.S. ethanol and other bio-fuels have attracted the most interest. This began after the fuel shortages of the 1970’s, people began to understand the fuel shortage problem. Corn based ethanol was selected as a feasible solution because of the nation’s vast available crop land. This nation can produce far more corn than it needs. In recent years, during the Bush Administration, ethanol gained the government’s attention again. This time it was put into several laws mandating production goals and subsidies. This increase in production has had adverse effects on other areas of the country’s social land scape. Also the use of corn as a fuel has also changed the lives of many around the world with higher food prices. History Ethanol was original the primary fuel for American cars. The original Model T was designed to run of corn base ethanol. It was seen as the cheapest fuel source for the nation because of the large agricultural potential. This was then changed when Standard oil began to put pressure on the government to ban ethanol production during Prohibition. With this move petroleum became the main source of transportation energy. Ethanol played a minor role in the transportation industry for many decades after this. For a short time ethanol was used as an oxygenate, it was mixed with gasoline to increase octane ratings and decrease knocking in engines. This was later stopped when other oxygenates were found, such as lead and MTBE. During the 1940’s the U.S. army began to take interest in ethanol production, however it was never sold to the public. Then after the fuel crisis of the 1970’s ethanol began to receive large government support. This support came in large government subsidies and investment. These subsidies have continued to today, they are currently about 45 cents per gallon totaling about $10 billion a year. This funding has been continued by President Bush. He signed laws mandating the increase in production of ethanol. By 2022 the law requires that 36 billion gallons of ethanol be produced. This is enough to offset 15% of the fuel used in the nation. Bio-Gasoline is a different method of storing energy for biomass. It consists of transforming the plant mater into complex hydrocarbons instead of ethanol. This process has been know about for many years but only recently has it become economical. The process of converting cellulose into fuel has been under development for decades. During WWII the Germans tried to develop a process using different combinations of acid and heat. Today there are several companies developing different process that take advantage of the cellulose and create a gasoline equivalent. However none of these companies have a working full scale facilities, they are all in research or small scale pilot plants. Stakeholders The issue of depleted fossil fuels and global warming will affect the lives of every person on the planet. It is therefore in the world’s best interest to find economic and environmentally friendly solutions. These two proposed solutions have their benefits that meet these goals however there are severe costs associated with each that are not generally looked. There are groups of people that pay a disproportionate price for these bio fuels. With increased production of almost any biofuel there will be an increase in the price of food. This goes for almost all food because the food supply’s dependence on inexpensive grains. This may not matter too many Americans, but for those who do not have a disposable income this can be a devastating blow. Also the farmers that must produce these crops, for many these will change their profitability. Many farmers will be economically pressured into corn production when it may not be feasible in their area.  Many of these changes are being backed by government funding and subsidies. The government subsidies the production of corn heavily, also it provides money to the facilities that mix the ethanol with gasoline. This totals about 45 cents per gallon of ethanol produced and a total of about $10 billion a year. Also there is a great deal of support from traditional oil companies, one example is Shell providing a great deal of funding for the Wisconsin start up Virent.  ||
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 * “The bill calls for U.S. ethanol to be at least 3 percent cellulosic by 2012 and at least 44 percent by 2022.” Bush energy bill H.R.6, 2007

Impact and trends The price of oil has steadily increased over the past several years, this is a good economic setting for the growth of ethanol and other biofuels. Corn based ethanol production has been shown to be profitable when oil is over $40/bbl. Also the public has become more educated on the issues that face the world. There has been growing interest in renewable energy and conservation. This can be seen in the auto industry, Chevrolet has Flex Fuel vehicles for almost a decade. These are cars that can run on both ethanol(E85, 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). This has affected the market very little because of the lack of E85 stations around the nation. The ones that do exist are predominantly in Midwestern states near the ethanol producers. Also the introduction of hybrid cars, these are moves toward conservation that has not been seen since the late 1970’s. The increase in fuel prices has also caused the number of miles driven each year to stagnate. People are finding ways to drive less each year. <span style="height: 33.45pt; left: 0px; margin-left: 91.25pt; margin-top: 225.9pt; mso-height-percent: 200; mso-height-relative: margin; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 400; mso-width-relative: margin; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; text-align: left; v-text-anchor: top; visibility: visible; width: 229.1pt; z-index: 251663360;"> ||  Politic have a great influence on the further development of bio-fuels. In 2007 the Bush Administration passed laws that mandated the development of ethanol. This set goals for each year for production numbers. By 2022 the country is to be using 36 billion gallons of ethanol this includes 44% from cellulosic ethanol. These laws also mandate that there be at least 3% of 2010 supply provided by cellulose, however there are currently no full scale production facilities. With current production methods it will be difficult to meet these goals. There will need to be a significant increase in farm land, about 129,000 acres. If corn is continued as the main feedstock for ethanol production world food prices will continue to increase putting more pressure on already impoverished areas. <span style="height: 33.45pt; margin-left: 100.45pt; margin-top: -35.45pt; mso-height-percent: 200; mso-height-relative: margin; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 400; mso-width-relative: margin; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; v-text-anchor: top; visibility: visible; width: 229.1pt; z-index: 251665408;"> || During the fuel crises of the 1970’s the nation began to look for new fuel sources and increase efficiency. President Carter made several laws that increased car efficiency standard to 25 MPG. This is where they stayed until the Bush laws. The national average has actual gone down because of trucks and SUVs being exempt from these regulations. Changes regarding bio fuels began during the Carter Administration, these were motivated by the recent fuel shortages. Also at this time the effects of other fuel additives was becoming common knowledge. Before this time lead and MTBE were added to gasoline as an oxygenate to reduce engine knocking and promote good combustion. It was found that both these caused severe health issues in the public. Ethanol was found to be a suitable replacement. There were also other state regulations and mandated that encouraged the growth of biofuels. Several states, primarily corn producing states, made their own regulations to promote the use of ethanol. Also states made their own regulations for fuel efficiency standards, California has historical lead the way in regards to car pollution and efficiency. There is a great deal of complicated economics contorting the biofuel market. Also there are aspects of the future biofuel system that are not in place yet. Under current conditions it is most profitable to produce corn sugar base ethanol, or soy bean bio diesel. Both of these fuel types receive heavy government subsidies to make them competitive with fossil fuels. The economics of these fuels depend on food prices because they are based on food crops. In recent years the price of food around the world has increased. This is partial to do several years of natural disasters that destroy crops in many countries. The price of corn has gone from $4.30/bushel in 2007 to $7.50/bushel in 2011.  The future biofuel market will depend on a larger number of commodities. In the future fuel will be made using cellulose form plants rather that the food portion of the crop. This opens the biomass sources to a great deal of other waste products. New sources would include logging residue, household waste, paper mill byproducts, farm byproducts and new energy crops. All these sources currently do not have a system of transport and sale because there is no demand. The economics of each will need to be analyzed based on energy density, ease of processing, and distance to market. Another issue is depleting the land of nutrients, this has not been studied but is a potential problem that will need a solution. These feed stocks are much less expensive than corn and they have little effect on the price of food. However the processing of these materials into useful fuels is currently more expensive. As of 2008 ethanol could be produced from cellulose for about $6/gallon, the price has gone down in recent years to similar price as conventional gasoline. Projects U.S. Corn Ethanol As discussed earlier there has been interest in mixing ethanol into gasoline for many years. During the Bush administration this was encouraged in an effort to offset foreign oil imports. It was thought that there would be a sufficient amount of corn in the nation to have a noticeable impact on the price of oil. This was done with large subsidies to corn growers and the facilities that mixed the ethanol with gasoline. This has resulted in around a 7 cent decrease in gasoline prices. The laws passed by President Bush mandated production goals for each year until 2022, ending with 36 billion gallons per year. Also there were regulations of car efficiency, 35 mpg for sedans. There are also large amounts of money for funding of new biofuels for the future. Since these mandates have been implemented ethanol provides around 10% of the nation’s gasoline supply. Corn ethanol was chosen as the best choice for an alternative fuel because of the large amount of corn that this nation can produce. There are other choices that are economical in other countries, Brazil produces almost 80% of its fuel needs form sugar cane ethanol. For many years there was a large surplus from the corn produced in this country. Most of it was exported to other nations around the world. This corn was also heavily subsidized to keep the farmers in business, making the price very low. These low prices forced food growers in other nation out of business because American corn was much less expensive. Now that the price of corn has increased people can no longer buy it but there are no farms left in their area. This has led to recent food shortages and riots in less stable nations around the world. American farmers are now benefiting from the higher prices, now many of them are more profitable than ever. There are other problems with this form of ethanol production besides the food shortages. It has been shown that corn production in factory farms is very destructive to the environment. This is the way a majority of corn is produced in this country. Factory farms consist of large fields that only ever have one crop set up in rows to allow machines to care for their growth. This involves a large amount of fertilizer and machine maintenance. The fertilizer, pesticides, and machines all consume oil, furthering the problem that they are trying to solve. In several studied done in the late 1990’s there was evidence that corn ethanol consumed more oil than it was able to displace after production. These farms also contribute to land erosion, which has become a major concern. The pesticides are also contaminating the oceans creating algae blooms that kill off marine life. This project has done well in increasing the production of ethanol in this country. Also it has raised the level of knowledge about the subject and science of biofuel production. Corn ethanol has become an energy positive fuel crop. This knowledge can be used to further the advancement of other of bio fuel production. Already there are significant signs that cellulosic ethanol will become economical in the near future. Production prices for algae biodiesel have also dropped in the past couple years. The project has been successful in developing the ethanol industry but there is still a debate weather this is the direction the nation should invest in for the long therm. Also there are debates weather tax money should be invested into subsidizing fuel production. Virtent [] VIrent is a new startup company based in Madison Wisconsin. They have developed a new process that produces bio-gasoline from a variety of feed stocks. This allows them to use non food biomass and other waste products to fuel the process. They have recently opened a pilot plant that will produce 10,000 gallons for fuel per year. This plant will be used to show the viability of such a process. With this technology the price of bio fuel could be dramatically reduced. This process has the ability to accept a broad range of biomass for production of fuel. Other processes are very selective of their biomass. Also this can break down cellulose, normally a very thought molecule that stores most of the energy in the plant matter. Cellulose makes up the woody fibers in all plant matter, traditional ethanol production systems cannot break this down to a useable form. The Virent process has another advantage over other systems, it can produce a specific fuel type. The system can produce any fuel from jet fuel to gasoline. This is can be changed to meet the needs of the area. The fuel that is produced can also be used in chemical and plastic production where ethanol cannot. The fuel that is made can be directly implemented into current infrastructure in high concentrations. Ethanol must be transported separately and only mixed close to distribution. This is such a new process that much of the science supporting it was developed only recently by Virent employees. The idea started several years ago at the University of Wisconsin. New techniques were needed to develop the specific catalysis to break down the plant matter. If this project succeeds, there could be a new future for Shell, one of Virents major supporters. Conclusion There are many more oil alternatives with the potential to be major players for the energy needs of the country. Corn based ethanol will probably never provide a significant amount of the energy consumed by this nation because of its land needs. The nation’s farms cannot produce enough corn. The Virent process is untested and new, however it shows more potential to provide energy in large quantities in an environmentally friendly fashion. Although the energy demands of this country are too large for any one source. The age on only using petroleum based fuels is over, the future will hold an array of fuel sources. Further research is needed to find the sources that will be economical viable. Also the manner resources are consumed in this country needs to be changed. This is for all resources not only oil. In the past there have been many situations where the manufactures were unsure which direction an industry would go in until one breakthrough product. One example is the early auto industry, companies made cars powered by steam boilers, batteries, gasoline engines, and compressed air until the Model T showed that world that the gasoline engine would be the most profitable. This is true for the alternative fuel industry, there are many ideas but there has been no breakthrough to show which ones will be profitable in the future. This is the cause on much of the uncertainty in the industry and the hesitation to investment. People and governments need to invest to develop the next fuel sources.
 *   ProjectAmerica.org
 *   Mandates from Bush’s H.R.6
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