Energy Independence Part 8

Bio-fuels are one component of the energy-independence equation. Back in January, in his State of the Union Address, President Bush mentioned ethanol from corn in particular, but also switchgrass. Typically, it was little more than a sound-byte. What he failed to say is, “I am launching an initiative to aggressively pursue the cultivation of crops suitable for bio-fuels. Starting tomorrow, the Federal Government, through the Departments of Energy, Commerce and Agriculture, will begin to develop programs aimed at encouraging, through incentives and grants, the cultivation and processing of crops ideal for bio-fuel use.”

Corn, though, isn’t ideal for bio-fuel. The net yield of energy is not nearly as large as other crops, notably the switchgrass mentioned by the president. While figures are imprecise, in general it takes one unit of energy to produce one and a third units of energy from corn. The potential for switchgrass is far greater.

But there’s one crop that’s never mentioned — hemp. Not long ago I posted a blog about industrial hemp — and its uses go far beyond biofuel. There are too many to mention in this posting, but check here for a comprehensive list. It’s worth pointing out, though, that right now there are several types of plastics being made from hemp. And as most of us know, petroleum has been an essential ingredient in the manufacture of plastic. Well, just imagine how much oil we wouldn’t need if we made plastics from hemp!

Why isn’t it legal to grow hemp in the United States? Well, back in the early 1920s, influential businessmen representing the paper, oil and chemical companies decided that help posed the kind of competition that could undermine their profits. So, they used their influence to persuade Congress to classify hemp as an illegal drug — and, with the help of a scare campaign against marijuana designed to influence the public, confused industrial hemp with its slightly hallucinogenic cousin, pot.

In the late 1990s, Canada legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp. It should happen in the States too.

Energy Independence, Part 6

Until other alternative technologies are in place, Congress, with the President’s support, must legislate stricter fuel-efficiency standards. Manufacturers must be discouraged — and if necessary, prohibited, from producing vehicles that do not meet those standards. The public must accept that excess horsepower is not required for basic transportation. Similarly, while SUV-type vehicles have their place, the public must be offered alternatives that provide SUV features without the weight and fuel inefficiency of current models. The sale of used gas-guzzlers and older vehicles that do not meet emission standards should be prohibited. For those who need a car but cannot afford one that meets acceptable efficiency and emission standards, a program should be established to help with those financial concerns.

Also in the short term, development of hybrid technologies should be encouraged and, if necessary, subsidized, until hybrids replace conventional vehicles in the market. Hybrids offer an economy advantage in city driving, and emphasis should be placed on marketing them to consumers in urban and suburban areas.

Fully electric vehicles, which may be suitable for second vehicles that are most often used for errand running, should not be ruled out — especially as alternative means of power generation become available.

Bio-fuel technology should be fully exploited in the short term. While today the focus is on ethanol from corn, research has shown that other crops, particularly switchgrass and hemp, offer more promise as sources of bio-fuel — which is one reason the production of industrial hemp should be legalized in the US. While burning bio-fuels still contributes carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, because such fuels come from a renewable source, there should be no net gain in atmospheric CO2 since when crops are replaced they should absorb the gas that resulted from combustion.

For the long term, research in fuel-cell technology should be accelerated. For operation, fuel cells require the hydrogen that is extracted from water, and no emissions result from the energy they produce. The snag has been that a large amount of energy is required to extract hydrogen from water. But this can be overcome as solar energy technology is fully developed. With free energy from the sun as part of the process, fuel cells currently offer the greatest hope for energy independence.

Finally, freight railroad service should be reinvigorated, with trucks providing primarily trunk service. It makes no sense for convoys of trucks to be traveling long distance, almost paralleling existing rails, when trains can move the same amount of freight more efficiently.

Energy Independence, Part 3

A public education program must be thorough and persuasive. It must begin with the reasons for energy independence in the first place. It must candidly inform the public about the very real phenomenon of global warming, and the growing body of evidence that supports the views that the planet’s climate is changing. It must also, again candidly, explain that the energy policy of the past has affected our foreign policy which, in turn, has fostered sufficient hatred of the United State to have made us the target of terrorism. Our dependence on oil has literally cost innocent American lives.

But it’s not enough to tell the American people what’s wrong. Americans must also be told how to fix it. They must be told that the emerging fuel cell technology, about which President Bush spoke briefly in his State-of-the-Union address, receives far more serious attention — and public research dollars — in Europe and Japan than in the US. Will we have to import that too?

If all of the following recommendations are pursued, energy independence is achievable. And during the education phase of the program, the public must be persuaded that such steps are necessary and doable. The public must also be told the whys and hows of each aspect of the entire program. Finally, all aspects must be undertaken simultaneously.

1) Public transportation must be expanded, and its use must be encouraged.
2) Stricter fuel efficiency standards must be adopted for all vehicles using current combustion-engine technology. Manufacturers must be discouraged from manufacturing vehicles that consume an unreasonable amount of fuel. In other words, no more Humvees.
3) Hybrid vehicles must be promoted, and their purchase price must be more attractive than standard vehicles.
4) Fuel cell technology research must be accelerated, and subsidized.
5) Solar energy technology research must be accelerated, and subsidized.
6) Other alternative sources of energy, such as wind, tidal and geothermal, must be further explored and subsidized.
7) Industrial hemp must be legalized in the US, and its potential must be explored and fulfilled.
8) Election reform (believe it or not) and an end to lobbying practices, so elected leaders will be beholden only to the people of the United States, and not to the corporations that now control the process of government.

And where will the money come from for all the subsidized research? The Federal Government, of course, by way of increased taxes only on those who can afford it — on those whose wealth has come at the expense of planetary health, at the expense of the young, innocent lives lost in an irrational defense of oil sources. With courageous leadership, energy independence can be achieved.

It’s the Oil, Stupid

Almost everything in the world is about oil, the black goo that we rely on for everything from gasoline to plastics. Oil supplies are diminishing, and too much of what’s left is in places that we’ve managed to alienate and destabilize. And the reason we’ve alienated and destabilize them? The oil.

At the risk of seeming redundant, there are more alternative sources of energy than we can shake a stick at. And you can’t say we didn’t see this coming, because as long ago as the 1970s wiser people than now in power were raising the alarm and pushing for exploration of those alternatives. But over the years since, powerful people a lot less wise have stood in the way of energy progress. Why? Because of the oil, and because of the ties between those people and the oil industry. The world is like an old cow, and they want to milk every last drop of oil from its udders at ever-higher profits. It’s social security for the very wealthy.

Let me remind you of the renewable sources of fuels: corn, sawgrass, hemp, human sewage and animal waste (that’s right — poop), among others. Let me remind you about non-polluting renewable sources of energy: solar, wind, tidal, among others. These are all well-established technologies that lack only some gutsy support from the political side. Then there’s the tempting new technologies like hydrogen fuel cells.

If we’d have pushed ahead with a serious, diverse energy program back when the Arab oil embargo ended in the 1970s, we’d be there now — independent of foreign oil, maybe even of oil itself. There would be no wars in the Middle East. There would be no need. We could leave those people alone, to sort out their own differences. And they would have no grievances against us. 9/11 probably would never have happened. We would be secure. We could have afforded good schools and decent health care for everyone. We could have rebuilt the infrastructure. We could have a good country that everyone admired.

But, no… it was the oil. And, it still is.