Mean Green

I am just back from spending a week with 250 agricultural journalists from all over the world. The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congress is an annual event that meets each year in a different country. This year we visited Austria and Slovenia – next year the congress will come to the United States and we will entertain the group in Fort Worth, Texas. It is always interesting to get perspectives on agriculture from other countries. Biofuels production was a big topic of discussion and many people that I talked to were very interested in the progress being made in the US toward cellulosic ethanol. We visited a wood biomass plant in Austria, but their focus is using that for energy production, rather than liquid biofuels. Of course, food versus fuel was a topic of discussion. The organizer and president of this year’s congress was former European Union agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler, who is a native Austrian. He calls the food versus fuel controversy “unfair.” “They don’t differentiate between food price and agriculture price and the agriculture price is usually only a small component of the final food product,” Fischler told me during an interview about biofuels production in Austria. Fischler says that second generation biofuels will be key in meeting long term renewable fuels goals for all countries, but it has to start with first generation ethanol from corn. “That’s why we have to start now,” he added. Austria has ten biodiesel plants but so far only one ethanol plant. “It seems to me that biodiesel is the most difficult concept as far as sustainability is concerned,” Fischler said, mainly because soybeans and other oilseeds are less economical to grow in that region, compared to corn.

ght (c) 2009 Wes Fernley

The recent breathtaking spike in oil prices has finally awakened professionals in the energy field to the very real need for alternatives. As a result, we are seeing liquid fuels developed from plant materials entering the market. Sugar components of various plant materials if fermented will yield an alcohol called bioethanol. Even cellulosic biomass (trees and grasses, for instance) can be used to produce this kind of biofuel. Ethanol, widely used in Brazil as well as in the United States, can, actually, be used in a pure form; however, it is used more as an additive to boost octane in addition to reducing emissions.

Biodiesel, on the other hand, is made from oils—vegetable or animal. Very often, greases are recycled and used for biodiesel. Like ethanol, it can be used in its pure form for diesel engines but is more often treated as an additive. This is the most common biofuel in Europe. The process for producing it from fats and oils is called transesterification.

In 2008, 1.8% of the world’s transport fuel was biofuel. Investment in the production of this new approach to fueling transportation vehicles for the world is expanding rapidly. It was $4 billion in 2007. The liquid biofuels are the most popular ones for these purposes because they can be pumped, and they can directly replace gasoline. Not only do internal combustion engines run cleaner on biofuels, but pollution is also minimized. Biofuels are generally classified as first generation, second generation, and third generation.

First generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats. Grains such as wheat are fermented into bioethanol; sunflower seeds are pressed to yield vegetable oil for biodiesel. The most common first generation biofuels:

- Bioalcohols

- Biodiesel

- Vegetable Oil

- Bioethers

- Biogas

- Syngas

- Solid biofuels

Second generation biofuels are made from non-food crops such as waste biomass, stalks of wheat, corn, wood, and certain grasses. To avoid the political issues that have arisen from the use of food that is needed for humans and animals to produce fuel, the pressure is on to develop more of these sources. Some of the second-generation biofuels under development:

- Biohydrogen

- Biomethanol

- DMF

- Vio-DME

- Fischer-Tropsch Diesel

- Biohydrogen Diesel

- Mixed Alcohols

- Wood Diesel

Third-generation biofuels are made primarily from algae, which can produce up to 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans. However, they have not yet been produced commercially. These are biodegradable and will not harm the environment if they happen to be spilled. Algae can be grown agriculturally. It’s estimated that 15,000 square miles of algae would meet all the needs for petroleum fuel in the United States.

- Agricultural Algae

- Ethanol from Living Algae

- Helioculture (collection of carbon dioxide from the air using solar power)

For the non-scientist, this seems somewhat complicated, but more and more professionals in the appropriate fields are switching to this quickly-emerging industry, and we can hope that many of the problems the world faces now in obtaining energy without jeopardizing our environments will see solutions in the coming years.

ght (c) 2009 Wes Fernley

Most people are skeptical about these ventless wonders. They remember how often a chimney for a wood-burning fireplace gets clogged and how miserable it makes everyone. If anyone in the house has a compromised breathing system, the consternation is even deeper. It’s hard to believe that there can be a fire that gives out warmth and looks inviting without also spewing fumes.

Well, if the room is reasonably ventilated, the ventless fireplaces work well. You usually need to have one window open just a bit, but you’ll find that the warmth it puts out is very nice and you’ll probably not notice any fumes at all.

But wait! It gets better! If you choose a ventless fireplace that burns biofuel, there are essentially no fumes at all. There’s a little steam and a minuscule amount of carbon dioxide, not enough to be concerned about, and not enough that you will smell it.

It’s very good news that there are many of these on the market right now. You don’t need a fireplace with a chimney at all. You can even hang one of these on a wall. You can have two or three around your house to make your living spaces more comfortable and more gracious and heating them less costly. You can be certain that you are not contributing to the environmental gases that are leading us to a global-warming disaster in the not-too-distant future.

Where can you find these? Many dealers are currently marketing them. Some are dealers who are already in the fireplace business. However, there are many new dealers in the marketplace, so look around and do your research.

Just how do these wonders of the 21st century work?

Ethanol is sometimes called grain alcohol or ethyl alcohol and has a unique scent. The reason it is so apropos for a fireplace is that it’s very flammable. However, before it comes to you it will be denatured with additives and will be toxic for human consumption, so you’ll want to be careful where you store. It is ideal for fuel because of its high efficiency.

Even if you live in a small apartment, you can use one of these. The mess and maintenance of wood-burning fireplaces are a thing of the past. The ethanol fireplace is highly appropriate for the age when we live such active lives and are unwilling to allow them to be unnecessarily cluttered. They cost less to operate than the electric fireplaces that have become so popular in recent years and are bound to become more popular as the word gets out.

To find dealers online, just google ethanol fireplace and you’ll find many dealers and will be able to compare models and prices. You can also find the fuel online.

By the way, if you have an outdoor fire pit, look into an ethanol burner that will work in it. You’ll reduce the fire danger from an outdoor wood fire and you’ll have a convenient means of heating your patio.