Tag Archives: Ethanol

Biofuel, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Navigating a New Energy Reality

Richard Ha writes:

Here in Hawai‘i, Robert Rapier is probably our foremost resource for energy knowledge, and I tell that to as many policy people as I can. He’s a good friend of mine.

Robert rapier

He has the important ability to break down complex issues so the average person understands it. He was the lead speaker on the second day of this year’s Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conference.

Robert is fearless. He calls it like it is.

The 2011 ASPO conference video is still current and it makes common sense. In it, Robert talks about why field-grown biofuels are likely not a solution to our energy problems. The video is well worth watching:

Robert Rapier: Navigating a New Energy Reality – Concepts and Principles

Robert has three main tenets.

  1. We must transition from fossil fuel with urgency. For electricity, the Big Island’s best bet is geothermal and biomass-firewood.
  2. We need to develop systems with a much lower fossil fuel dependency. That is why field-grown biofuel crops are such a problem. They depend on fossil fuels so much that their breakeven point moves further away as oil price rise. People who analyze field-grown biofuels call that “the receding horizon.
  3. We must take care of our topsoil.

It sounds simple, but there is a lot of deep thought behind what Robert says.

Read more detail about his three tenets here: Setting the Ethanol Record Straight

Food and energy are intimately intertwined. What solves our electricity problems are biomass and geothermal; both result in stable, low-cost electricity that is not tied to fossil fuel. Low-cost base power for electricity beats high cost electricity every time.

Things may change in the future. But for now we need to remember that proven technology is proven.

Biofuel, Geothermal, Renewable Energy Sources

Study: U.S. Should Reconsider Biofuel Policy

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Now there’s a study out saying it is basically wrong to pursue our present biofuel policy. I agree with it completely.

In the 1930s, you could get 100 barrels of oil with the energy from one barrel. In the 1970s, this had decreased to 30 to 1. Now, oil’s Energy Return on Investment (EROI) ratio has decreased to 10 to 1, and it will steadily decline as oil is more and more difficult to harvest.

To sustain our society, we must have an EROI of at least 3 to 1. Biofuels only have an EROI of 2 to 1.

Geothermal, however, is 10 to 1, and that ratio will stay steady for centuries.

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy took a strong stance in the following article, and it goes against everything that is taking place in Hawai‘i today. Lots of the biofuel companies are benefitting from the new stimulus money, which is pushing biofuels that have ex-HEI folks in their organizations.

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)–The U.S. government needs to rethink promoting ethanol as a way to enhance energy security as production of the fuel is costly for taxpayers and poses economic and environmental risks, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report by the Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy notes that in 2008 the U.S. government spent $4 billion in biofuel subsidies to replace 2% of the U.S. gasoline supply. The average cost to the taxpayer of those substituted barrels of gasoline was roughly $82 a barrel, or $1.95 per gallon on top of the retail gasoline price, according to the study.

“We need to set realistic targets for ethanol in the United States instead of just throwing taxpayer money out the window,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, a senior fellow in energy studies at the Baker Institute and one of the report’s authors.

Here are the names of leaders in the Baker Institute for Public Policy. I especially trust Colin Powell, who seems balanced and credible to me.

Personnel
•    James A. Baker, III Honorary Chair,
•    Edward P. Djerejian, Director (former American Ambassador to Israel and Syria and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs).

Board of Advisors
•    William Barnett
•    David Leebron
•    Colin Powell
•    Madeline K. Albright