Ethanol and biodiesel are the first steps in the development of a multifaceted, carbon neutral biofuels industry. By filling up with ethanol-enriched fuels at the pump, you can make a choice today to curb global warming by reducing harmful tailpipe CO2 emissions.

Switching to renewable resources is already identified as a necessary step by industry leaders around the globe, not only because we will eventually run out of fossil fuels, but because processing plant-based fuels and other products will be much less expensive in the long term, leading to greater profitability overall. Industry foresight and support will play a major role in proliferating sustainable fuel technology worldwide.

Fagen, Inc and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) are proud sponsors of the Global Warming 101 Expedition 2007. The Will Steger Foundation recognizes that ethanol is one of many important ways to reduce global warming pollution and its impacts on the Earth’s atmosphere. While ethanol only nets 11-13% less carbon than gasoline, it is a choice people can make today while we develop more effective options for tomorrow. Climate researchers have predicted that if nothing is done this decade to stem the flow of greenhouse gases into the air, the Earth will soon reach atmospheric temperatures that have not occured since the Eemian Period (120,000 years ago), when the temperatures were ony one or two degrees warmer but the sea level was 4-6 meters higher than it is today. In this context, ethanol provides a great transitional technology that can get us on the right path, right now, as we continue to look for even better alternatives to fossil fuels.

Will Steger grew up in the Midwest, and so did ethanol. The ethanol industry began with farmer-owned cooperatives, and Minnesota in particular is becoming a model for the nation in terms of farmer equity in large-scale energy projects. Minnesota’s governor, Tim Pawlenty, is committed to bipartisan support of biofuels. He has set the strongest renewable-fuels mandate in the country by requiring that all gasoline sold in the state be E20. This decision was part of a comprehensive climate and energy plan the governor’s office released in December of 2006. His leadership is making waves in the region as well – Midwestern legislators on both sides of the aisle are beginning to show signs of support.

There are some great technologies in the works, from corn-based ethanol to cellulosic ethanol, using feedstocks such as grasses and woody plants. One exciting possibility is the use of mixed prairie grasses, which offer more energy than corn for the manufacture of ethanol. In a study conducted at the University of Minnesota, a 16-way mixture of prairie grasses out-produce monocultures on degraded soils by over a factor of 2. Prairie grasses also remove carbon from the air, are native to the Midwest, and provide habitat for birds and wildlife. Some ethanol manufacturers are finding ways to use biomass rather than fossil fuels to fuel the manufacturing process. For example, building an ethanol plant next to an existing power plant creates a strong net improvement on energy balance and carbon emissions. In addition to these plans, many corn-based ethanol manufacturers are researching ways to increase output (more bushels per gallon), use less water, and achieve zero discharge in the near future. It is widely recognized throughout the industry, however, that corn ethanol cannot provide more than 10% of our fuel use. Instead, a recent study put out by the USDA projects that with improved technology and feedstocks, we could replace 30% of our petroleum use with biofuels over a 25-year period. The feedstocks recommended by the study would ideally be supplied by perennial grasses. Buying smarter doesn’t decrease the need for vigilance on the policy front, though. Because some automakers have used the proliferation of ethanol as a reason to avoid an improvement of CAFE standards (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)*, it is important that we work with our allies in industry and government to ensure that we achieve both fossil-fuel alternatives and fuel economy.

You don’t have to travel to the ends of the Earth to stop global warming, but you can make choices every day to reduce the impact you have on the planet.

Click here to view the 2007 Baffin Island Expedition page on the EPIC website.

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Sources:

“The Path Forward for Biofuels and Biomaterials,” Arthur J. Ragauskas et al, Science, January 27, 2006

“Grass beats corn in ethanol study,” Mike Meyers, Star Tribune

“Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol fuels” by Jason Hill, David Tilman, etc... ). http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/103/30/11206

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0604600103/DC1

“The numbers behind ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, and biodiesel in the U.S.,” Maywa Montenegro, Grist, Dec. 4, 2006

"Runaway tipping points of no return," Realclimate.org

*Corporate Average Fuel Economy- (excerpted from Wikipedia) The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations in the United States, first enacted by Congress in 1975, exist to regulate and improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks (trucks,vans, and sport utility vehicles) sold in the US in the wake of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. It is the sales-weighted average, expressed in miles per gallon (mpg), of a manufacturer's fleet of passenger cars or light trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 pounds (3,856 kg) or less, manufactured for sale in the United States, for any given model year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulate CAFE standards.

If the average fuel economy of a manufacturer's annual car or truck production falls below the defined standard, the manufacturer must pay a penalty, currently $5.50 per 0.1 mpg under the standard, multiplied by the manufacturer's total production for the U.S. domestic market.