Biofuels: Our Energy Future? Mark Lyford Department of Botany University of Wyoming ?
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Transcript of Biofuels: Our Energy Future? Mark Lyford Department of Botany University of Wyoming ?
Biofuels: Our Energy Future?Biofuels: Our Energy Future?
Mark LyfordDepartment of BotanyUniversity of Wyoming
?
Energy and Biofuels in Education
• Timely and relevant
Energy and Biofuels in Education
• Timely and relevant• Fits a wide range of content settings
Energy and Biofuels in Education
• Timely and relevant• Fits a wide range of content settings• Is a rich (i.e. complex) subject– Energy science content– Social connections (economics, politics,
environmental, human health)
Energy and Biofuels in Education
• Timely and relevant• Fits a wide range of content settings• Is a rich (i.e. complex) subject– Energy science content– Social connections (economics, politics,
environmental, human health)
• Fosters critical thinking and quantitative reasoning
Energy and Biofuels in Education
• Timely and relevant• Fits a wide range of content settings• Is a rich (i.e. complex) subject– Energy science content– Social connections (economics, politics,
environmental, human health)
• Fosters critical thinking and quantitative reasoning
• Challenges preconceptions about biofuels
Energy and Biofuels in Education
Peak Oil
Fossil Fuel
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel)
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel)
Biological, geological, chemical, physical processes
Considerable time
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel)
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel) Biofuel
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel) Biofuel
Biological, chemical, physical processes
Short time
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel) Biofuel
Fossil Fuel (Paleobiofuel) Biofuel
CH2O CH2O
Biofuels Production
Biomass
Solid Biofuels Gaseous Biofuels
Wood, sawdust, grass, charcoal,
manure, non-food crops
Liquid Biofuels
Ethanol, butanol, methanol, biodiesel
Methane
Liquid Biofuels Production
Biomass
Sugar, starch, cellulose Oils and lipids
Ethanol Biodiesel
Corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, switchgrass, wood
Soybeans, sunflowers, rapeseed, palm, algae
Ethanol Production
Ethanol Production
LIFE 1002: Discovering Science
LIFE 1002: Discovering Science
• Integrated Science Class
LIFE 1002: Discovering Science
• Integrated Science Class• Focuses on several issues including Energy Use
LIFE 1002: Discovering Science
• Integrated Science Class• Focuses on several issues including Energy Use• Biofuels piece from Discussion portion of the
course where students focus on Energy Use for ½ semester
LIFE 1002: Discovering Science
• Integrated Science Class• Focuses on several issues including Energy Use• Biofuels piece from Discussion portion of the
course where students focus on Energy Use for ½ semester
• Discussion is where we focus on the interaction of science and society and how we go about making decisions
Have you hugged something green today?
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• The U.S. currently imports a substantial amount of foreign oil.
Knowing that it is unlikely we can become energy independent by increasing U.S. domestic oil production, one proposed solution is increasing corn-based ethanol production to replace foreign oil. Thinking specifically about the production of gasoline for cars and given the information below, estimate how many gallons of ethanol would need to be produced on an annual basis to make up for the U.S. importation of oil.
• U.S. oil consumption: 21 million barrels/day• U.S. oil production: 6 million barrels/day• Approximately 20 gallons of gas can be produced from 1
barrel of oil
Ethanol and Foreign Oil
• 110 billion gallons gas/year
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• Unfortunately, ethanol does not contain the same amount of
energy per volume as gas. Given the information below, estimate how much more ethanol would need to be produced to make up for this energy difference. What is the total amount of ethanol required now?
• Gas: 131 MegaJoules/gallon• Ethanol: 90 MegaJoules/gallon
Ethanol and Foreign Oil
• 150 billion gallons of ethanol needed
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• Ethanol production requires substantial fossil fuel energy
inputs associated with the production and transportation of corn, as well as the processing of corn into ethanol. Estimates on the amount of fossil fuel energy required to produce ethanol range from roughly 60 MegaJoules/gallon to 105 MegaJoules/gallon. Which of these two extremes paints a good or bad picture for the future of ethanol production? If the optimistic estimate is correct, and we wanted to replace the use of fossil fuels for ethanol production with ethanol, how many more gallons of ethanol would need to be produced each year? How does this impact your total estimated production of ethanol?
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• If you only get 90 MagaJoules/gallon
with ethanol, using 105 MegaJoules of fossil fuels is an energy waste. We should just burn the fossil fuel instead of making the ethanol.
• 260 billion gallons of total ethanol needed
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• Given your estimate of the total amount of ethanol that
would need to be produced each year, we now need to determine how many acres of corn would need to be grown to support the production of ethanol. Use the following figures to determine how many bushels of corn would need to be grown each year.
• Ethanol production from corn: 2.5 gallons/bushel corn
Ethanol and Foreign Oil
• 110 billion bushels of corn
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• Given your estimate of the total number of bushels
of corn that must be grown, determine how many acres of corn would need to be planted assuming the current average production rate is 170 bushels/acre.
Ethanol and Foreign Oil
• 600 million acres of corn
Ethanol and Foreign Oil• Given the table below, determine if the current U.S.
corn production could support your estimated ethanol production needs.
State Acres in production (millions)
Ave. bushels/acre Total bushels
Colorado 1.0 145
Illinois 12.9 170
Indiana 5.4 167
Iowa 13.9 181
Kansas 2.0 165
Kentucky 1.1 158
Michigan 1.5 160
Minnesota 5.3 167
Missouri 3.5 180
Nebraska 7.5 163
Ohio 3.6 150
South Dakota 2.3 157
Wisconsin 2.2 164
Ethanol and Foreign Oil
• 60 million acres of corn in production• Order of magnitude less than what
we would need
Ethanol in Brazil
Ethanol in Brazil
Atmospheric CO2