An Alternative Perspective on Biodiesel

1
An Alternative Perspective on Biodiesel
Presented by Robert Nelson Jan 8th, 2008
2
(No Transcript)
3
Why Are People Attracted to Biodiesel?

• They believe making their own fuel is a cool way
  to be self-sufficient.
  
• They believe promising technology will negate
  biodiesels problems.
  
• They believe it represents a non-corporate energy
  future.
  
• They believe it is cleaner than fossil fuels or
  carbon-neutral.
  
• They believe it makes energy independence
  possible.
  
• They believe it is one of the silver BBs that
  could solve peak oil.
  
• They believe it could smooth the curve of
  depletion and thus soften the collapse.
  
• They believe it wont harm the ecosystem or
  compromise food and water supplies.
  
• They believe it could be done on marginal lands.
• They believe well need some biofuels in the
  future, so we should develop it now.

4
Biodiesel claims you may not hear anywhere else

• Energy Independence is fundamentally incompatible
  with personal automobiles.
  
• Biodiesel cannot replace much oil.
• Without a collapse or reform of the monetary
  system, biodiesel will change nothing about our
  predicament.
  
• Biodiesel is not carbon-neutral.
• Biodiesel is no solution it is only a delaying
  tactic.
  
• Biodiesel delivers false hope that paralyses
  efforts at real change.
  
• Biodiesel will expand the industrial model to the
  remaining areas of the planet.
  
• Biodiesel will increase corporate control of the
  Earths surface.
  
• Biodiesel could be a harbinger of famine and
  death for millions.

These claims rest on the idea that all 10 of the
previous common beliefs may be completely false.
5
Belief 1 Making your own fuel is a cool way to
be self-sufficient.
Critique Well, yes. It is cool, but we dont l
ive in a vacuum! So, we have to see
what happens when EVERYONE does it, not just on
e person in a vacuum.
6
Belief 2 Promising technology will negate
biodiesels problems.

• Critique
• What are the inputs?
• Energy Returned?
• Where will the materials come from?
• What do the waste profiles look like?

• Millions of acres outfitted with this equipment?
• How often does it need replacement?
• Where does the water come from?
• What oil price makes this economical?

As with Nuclear Fusion, the big breakthrough is
always just around the corner.
7
"Solazyme Unveils Renewable Biodiesel Derived
from Algae via Scalable Process"

• http//www.prnewswire.com/mnr/solazyme/30888/
• Transcribed from a video on that page _at_ 137
• We don't actually produce oil through a direct
  sunlight process.
  
• We actually feed sugar to the algae.
• They are a thousand times more productive at
  making oil when you feed them sugar than feeding
  them sunlight.
  
• The process works on non-food feedstocks like
  corn stover, switchgrass, wood chips and sugar
  cane.
  
• This is a much cheaper way to make renewable
  energy.

8
(No Transcript)
9
Belief 3 It represents a non-corporate energy
future.

• Critique
• This is not going to be a bunch of permaculture
  farmers growing soybeans and huckleberries.
  
• Palm plantations like the one at right are
  already common.
  
• Leading cause of deforestation in Malaysia and
  Indonesia.
  
• Biodiesel from palm plantations produces 33 times
  more CO2 emissions than regular diesel fuel.

10
Belief 4 It is cleaner than fossil fuels or
carbon-neutral.

• Critique
• Deforestation for palm plantations isnt
  carbon-neutral.
  
• Growing crops requires electricity to pump water
  and natural gas to produce fertilizer.
  
• Refining uses methanol and other products and is
  not a clean, toxin-free process.
  
• Biofuels pollute like fossil fuels, but different
  pollutants.
  
• Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), which creates smog
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

The Inescapable Fact Running millions of cars
is a DIRTY PROPOSITION!
11

• 2008 US Ethanol production
• 31 of US Corn Output
• 25 of US Grain Output
• 5 of World Grain Output.

Belief 5 It makes energy independence possible.

• Critique
• Not without a severe reduction (70) in per
  capita consumption, which amounts to collapse of
  our monetary and economic systems.
  
• Even 147 oil only cut 0.9 mbd of US demand in
  2008. It would take the end of the economy as we
  know it for demand destruction to help here.
  
• Energy Independence would mean one thing for
  sure few personal cars
  
• or else maybe a massive famine.

Global Food and Fuel Production Profiles
US Oil Consumption 2007

US Oil Consumption after 2008 Demand
Destruction

United States Energy Independence gap
Compare to the entire world food supply
US Oil Production (and still in decline)
2008 US Corn Ethanol Production
12
Belief 6 It is one of the silver BBs that could
solve peak oil.

• Critique
• There is no solution to peak oil because our
  monetary system is designed to require infinite
  growth of resource availability and consumption.
  
• That system cannot be changed by agreement, so it
  will only be changed by collapse.
  
• This silver BB only extends the current system
  and delays the inevitable.
  
• Meanwhile, it takes resources away from
  productive responses that could actually help.
  
• Help how? Help envision and build a replacement
  system that is local, human scaled, and thus
  somewhat resilient to the collapse of globalism.

13
Belief 7 It could smooth the curve of depletion
and thus soften the collapse.

• Critique
• It doesnt smooth anything. It only shifts the
  depletion curve farther into the future or
  changes the overall shape a bit.
  
• This only helps if the time is used to make
  appropriate preparations.
  
• That seems unlikely, since were not working on
  those projects right now.
  
• If it brings famine and drought at the same time
  as the depletion curve descends anyway, that
  makes things WORSE, not better!

14
Belief 8 It wont harm the ecosystem or
compromise food and water supplies.

• Critique
• Food and water supplies are already threatened by
  overextending ecosystems to meet growing demands
  from industrial cities.
  
• The last thing we need is more demands on
  freshwater supplies.
  
• New deforestation strategies are not green,
  clean, responsible or renewable.
  
• Unfortunately, they are proving to be scalable
• so far.

15
Belief 9 It could be done on marginal lands.
Critique
Definitions of marginal land Land which, in
its natural state, is not well suited for a
particular purpose, such as raising crops.
Land that is too hilly, wet, or contains soils t
hat are fragile and of lower quality for crop
production. Land which barely pays the cost of
working or using.
16
Belief 10 Well need some biofuels in the
future, so we should develop it now.

• Critique
• The U.S. is still the 3rd largest oil producer.
• Americans still have more than our share of oil,
  so why do we need to add biofuels?
  
• Why does the rest of the world need so little?
• With 85 million barrels of oil produced per day,
  why do we need to add more production?
  
• Do we actually need to expand industrialization,
  deforestation and resource depletion?
  
• Id say what we really need is learn to live on
  seven percent or less of the worlds energy!

17
Recap Why Are People Attracted to Biodiesel?

• They believe making their own fuel is a cool way
  to be self-sufficient.
  
• They believe promising technology will negate
  biodiesels problems.
  
• They believe it represents a non-corporate energy
  future.
  
• They believe it is cleaner than fossil fuels or
  carbon-neutral.
  
• They believe it makes energy independence
  possible.
  
• They believe it is one of the silver BBs that
  could solve peak oil.
  
• They believe it could smooth the curve of
  depletion and thus soften the collapse.
  
• They believe it wont harm the ecosystem or
  compromise food and water supplies.
  
• They believe it could be done on marginal lands.
• They believe well need some biofuels in the
  future, so we should develop it now.

18
Why Should We Eschew Biodiesel?

• Burning Stuff is not as cool as thought. Weve
  been doing it thousands of years

Hmm, What else could we burn?
?
?
?
Where do we draw the line?
19
Why Should We Eschew Biodiesel?

• Burning Stuff is not as cool as thought. Weve
  been doing it thousands of years.
  
• It does not solve the problems people think it
  will solve.

Oil Wars Big Oil Companies Are Too Powerful
No Transportation
Food Wars? Replace Them With Big Ag? No Food
?
20
Why Should We Eschew Biodiesel?

• Burning Stuff is not as cool as thought. Weve
  been doing it thousands of years.
  
• It does not solve the problems people think it
  will solve.
  
• Injects new momentum into an industrial system
  that is friendly to corporations, but hostile to
  people.
  
• It is neither clean nor carbon-neutral.
• It damages already endangered ecosystems.
• It threatens famine and drought in the future, on
  top of energy depletion problems.
  
• It gives corporations incentive to buy up the
  best farmland, threatening any future for
  sustainable, locally-owned food production.
  
• It commits sorely needed resources away from
  useful change and towards continuing the
  industrial lifestyle and the car culture.
  
• (Some of those resources may be sitting here
  right now!)

21
The Myths of Biofuels

• Filmed Seminar by San Francisco Oil Awareness in
  2007
  
• http//www.sfbayoil.org
• View the Film Free Online
• Or download a mpeg4 file Online
• http//www.archive.org/details/Myths_of_Biofuels
• Speaker David Fridley
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• San Francisco Oil Awareness, and author of the SF
  Peak Oil Resolution
  
• Former Oil Industry Professional with Caltex
  China
  
• Many of the Same Conclusions!
• Offers a lot more scientific detail that I have
  left out here
  
• Raping our environment to change nothing
  (5534)
  
• We can offset one year of post-peak decline with
  several decades of effort, but we cant offset
  the second year (5721)

22
Hard Questions to Ask Ourselves

• How can we come to terms with the fact that
  personal cars are fundamentally incompatible with
  energy independence and true sustainability?

23
Hard Questions to Ask Ourselves

• Can we do anything to escape from the global
  growth economy?
  
• If we are not able to respond outside that
  system, are we really making any difference?

24
Hard Questions to Ask Ourselves

• Is it realistic to think that green advocates
  can gain or maintain control of policy around
  biofuels, and thus prevent destructive outcomes?

25
Takeaways

• Biodiesel is a strategy to save the cars and the
  growth economy.
  
• Worthwhile strategies would protect food and
  water supplies and support human civilization on
  less energy.
  
• Popular biodiesel strategies will not accomplish
  the former, while endangering the latter.
  

26
Questions Discussion