Biodiesel the next energy crisis?
A story on Komo 4 news today touting biodiesel as our oil crunch savior. Rob Elam of Seattle-based Propel Fuels says,
From Economagic, total domestic petroleum field production for January 05 was 7,698,613 barrels per day. Total domestic petroleum exports were 983,774 barrels per day for January 05. This gives a net domestic product of 6,714,839 barrels a day. For January 05, total imports were 12,862,935 barrels a day. This gives us a total daily domestic consumption of 19,577,774 barrels a day. Therefore, the US produces 34.3% of its petroleum products domestically. Not great, but not terrible.
The USDA tracks US and world crop supply. For soybeans and other oilseed products (sunflower, cottonseed, and canola), US production for 2005/06 is projected to be 89.2 million tons. World production for 2005/2006 is projected at 378 million tons. The US produces 23.6% of the world's soybeans.
In 2000, the US consumed 30% of the world's soybeans (see table 10 in the link). However, only 8% of the total soybean production went to produce soy oil products.
From Practical Biodiesel,
Some quick math. We get approximately 19 gallons of gasoline for every 55 gallon barrel we produce or import. So roughly 34% of imported oil becomes gasoline ~ 371,977,706 gallons per day or 135,771,862,690 gallons per year. If we were to completely replace gasoline with biodiesel, we would require 1,357,718,627 acres per year dedicated to producing soybeens only for fuel.
According to the USDA, soybeans were planted in 72,415,000 acres in the US in 1998. That would have to stay in production to meet demand for soy meal, the beans themselve and other products currently in use. To meet our demand for new fuel source and our current soy demands, we would require 2,121,435 SQUARE MILES planted in soybeans. That is nearly two thirds of the entire land area of the United States.
It is a physical impossibility for the United States to produce enough biodiesel to meet its own possible demands.
Just as with oil, the increased demand on soybeans will drive up the price. We will see cartels start to emerge. Instead of Saudi Arabia, China will become an energy powerhouse.
Third world countries will definitely see economic benefits. But in all likelyhood, gains made by reduction of CO2 emissions will be offset by those third worlders reducing rainforests, wetlands and other 'critical habitat' to raise oilseeds.
If biodiesel is the standard, we still fall under the thumb of foreign interests.
"When have you ever had a chance to say 'no' to foreign oil, or 'no' to gasoline?"But will biodiesel cut our dependence on foreign energy?
From Economagic, total domestic petroleum field production for January 05 was 7,698,613 barrels per day. Total domestic petroleum exports were 983,774 barrels per day for January 05. This gives a net domestic product of 6,714,839 barrels a day. For January 05, total imports were 12,862,935 barrels a day. This gives us a total daily domestic consumption of 19,577,774 barrels a day. Therefore, the US produces 34.3% of its petroleum products domestically. Not great, but not terrible.
The USDA tracks US and world crop supply. For soybeans and other oilseed products (sunflower, cottonseed, and canola), US production for 2005/06 is projected to be 89.2 million tons. World production for 2005/2006 is projected at 378 million tons. The US produces 23.6% of the world's soybeans.
In 2000, the US consumed 30% of the world's soybeans (see table 10 in the link). However, only 8% of the total soybean production went to produce soy oil products.
From Practical Biodiesel,
"oilseed crops such as canola, soybeans, sunflowers, safflower and crambe are capable of producing up to 100 gallons of fuel per acre..."
Some quick math. We get approximately 19 gallons of gasoline for every 55 gallon barrel we produce or import. So roughly 34% of imported oil becomes gasoline ~ 371,977,706 gallons per day or 135,771,862,690 gallons per year. If we were to completely replace gasoline with biodiesel, we would require 1,357,718,627 acres per year dedicated to producing soybeens only for fuel.
According to the USDA, soybeans were planted in 72,415,000 acres in the US in 1998. That would have to stay in production to meet demand for soy meal, the beans themselve and other products currently in use. To meet our demand for new fuel source and our current soy demands, we would require 2,121,435 SQUARE MILES planted in soybeans. That is nearly two thirds of the entire land area of the United States.
It is a physical impossibility for the United States to produce enough biodiesel to meet its own possible demands.
Just as with oil, the increased demand on soybeans will drive up the price. We will see cartels start to emerge. Instead of Saudi Arabia, China will become an energy powerhouse.
Third world countries will definitely see economic benefits. But in all likelyhood, gains made by reduction of CO2 emissions will be offset by those third worlders reducing rainforests, wetlands and other 'critical habitat' to raise oilseeds.
If biodiesel is the standard, we still fall under the thumb of foreign interests.
posted by Charlie Brown at 12.5.05
1 Comments:
1. I assume you are referring to volumetric efficiency?
2. If I'm not mistaken, currently the main source of biodiesel is soybeans. Algae based biodiesels do have a significant potential for reducing the landmass footprint. UNH physicist Michael Briggs estimates a footprint of only 15,000 square miles for biodiesel production from algae. Briggs also proposes using farm waste as a nutrient source. I think there is far more potential for sources such as these, however, they still unproven from a commercial and large scale production standpoint.
Post a Comment
<< Home