Last summer I shared my thoughts on biofuels, specifically E85. In short, yes they can offset our dependence on foreign oil, but because biofuels contain less energy per gallon than gasoline we’ll need more of it to keep up with our current consumption rates, and this solution completely neglects our need for more efficient cars.

There is a process that can produce E85 with the waste from other manufacturing processes that involve plants. This uses the plant material left over from other types of farming such as sugar or corn and uses the stalks, straw, wood, etc to make cellulosic ethanol. Cellulose is present in all plants, so there’s plenty of this material available, and humans can’t digest it, so this will never be a source of food for us. Plus, this uses the waste of other processes, so it wasn’t being used anyway. This negates the argument about growing for food versus fuel. Also, because this is a biofuel, it burns cleaner than petroleum based fuels. So far so good, right?

There are a couple of snags hidden in the details. First, the process of turning plant material into something you can burn in your car is not very efficient. With today’s technology we’d need A LOT of plant material to make enough E85 to make a dent in our foreign oil consumption, more than required to make corn ethanol. What this means is that if we’re going to look at this as a large scale source of energy, the waste from other manufacturing processes won’t provide enough raw material to work with. We’ll need to grow plants for the purpose of putting fuel in our cars. The food versus fuel argument is not solved.

And there’s more. Cellulosic ethanol is estimated to cost $2 per gallon, about the same as gasoline. Because its ethanol, a tank full of this fuel still won’t take you as far as a tank of gasoline, so the net cost to the consumer will still increase. The takeaway is that this has the potential to drive both food and fuel prices up. That’s not exactly what I have in mind when looking for alternative energies.

If you’re a die hard green energy proponent higher prices may not be enough to deter you, you want cleaner energy regardless of cost. Okay, lets look at this from another angle. Think of all the engergy required to grow, harvest and manufacture cellulosic ethanol. Tractors are needed, electricity to run the plant, fuel to distill the final product. Apart from the land devoted to grow the raw material, each of theses processes require energy. Today that energy is provided by petroleum based products. In other words, non-green energy is being used in the production of a green biofuel (what the???). If the manufacturers switched to burning ethanol in their processes so that this fuel were green from start to finish, they would still be burning fuel to make fuel, but because ethanol contains less energy per gallon they’d need to burn more of it and the cost of production would increase. Cellulosic ethanol would then become more expensive than gasoline. I’ve read that cellulosic ethanol burns clean enough that green house gases are reduced by 90% when compared with petroleum products. I question that stat, but even if true, because of the amount of energy required to produce the fuel it’s not enough. It would be more expensive and we’d still be polluting the atmosphere.

Keep in mind that there’s a good chance that your car is not capable of burning E85 as is. If you want to take advantage of E85 you’ll need to convert your engine which costs anywhere between $500 and $1,000. And, keep in mind that you’ll be spending more for fuel than you would if you chose to burn gasoline.

So lets put all of this together. If cellulosic ethanol becomes available in my neighborhood next year, I may be tempted to burn it instead of my regular gasoline. I’ll pay to convert my Nissan Maxima to burn E85. Then, I’ll fill my tank up. The cost will be about the same as what it costs me to fill up with gasoline, but instead of getting 300 miles per tank, I’ll only be able to drive about 250 miles. Plus, I’m buying a fuel that displaces land used for food production, and a lot of energy was used to make my E85.

I’m a strong proponent of alternative energies, for both political and environmental reasons. I think its smart for us to consider all kinds of solutions to our energy needs. Plus, as an engineer I appreciate that as a country we’re pursuing new technologies. There are two things that I object to about cellulosic ethanol. First, the media and biofuel evangelists tout this as the solution to all of our problems, and that’s just not the case. This doesn’t fully address our dependance on foreign oil, and it isn’t a boon for the environment either. At best, its trading one set of problems for another. And second, our government is pumping millions upon millions into this industry. I just don’t see this paying off. I’m in favor of smaller goverment, so honestly I wish they would leave this to the private sector, period. Since that isn’t a reality I wish they would at least shift some of the funds into other solutions, like nuclear fusion or geothermal energy, a smart power grid, improving wind energy storage… there are many other solutions more promising than biofuels.

I have believed for a long time that high energy prices would ultimately be good for the American economy. I generally keep an ear to the ground for new developments in renewable energy technology, and new products that take advantage of alternative energy sources. I recently learned of a small town that has gotten in front of the alternative energy movement, Sweetwater, Texas. This has completely changed the outlook of the community. Ten years ago this was a town that teens left as soon as they could because Sweetwater offered no future for them. The town decided to install wind turbines. Today Sweetwater Texas is running on green energy.

This did more than just revitalize their economy. They needed workers to install and maintain the turbines, so in 2007 the community college in Sweetwater launched the first two-year program on wind energy technology (now there are several around the country). They still have more jobs than they can fill, so people are moving there to find work. Home prices have gone up and new homes are being built, which means more construction jobs. America’s premier wind energy legal seminar, which provides continuing legal education to attorneys, is held each year in Sweetwater. The mayor has been interviewed by the Discovery Channel.

Do you see what this did for them? Sweetwater didn’t just revitalize their community or economy. By whole heartedly embracing a new technology this tiny town has become one of the focal points of the industry. Nolan county, home to Sweetwater, is the number one market for wind energy in America. This has raised the heads, the civic pride of not just Sweetwater, but all of west Texas. They have hope. This is the perfect example of what I had in mind when I wrote that high gas prices would be good for America.

I believe this is a good plan for America. We’ve done this before. Many times. We’re kind of known for it, in fact. Our economy is in a slump and people are angry about jobs going overseas. The reality is that we can do something about it. I happen to be a proponent of renewable energy, but the point I’m trying to make is larger than that. Let’s not sit and stew about jobs going overseas. Stop trying to bail out companies that can’t produce a profit. That’s just prolonging the pain. The way to produce great jobs for decades is to create new industries and dominate them. Just like we did with telephones, and cars, and aircraft, and photocopiers, and computers, etc. We’re innovators.

That’s the point I want to make. New technologies have the potential to turn our economy around. Alternative energy is probably the strongest candidate, because the need is significant. But, our hope does not have to be pinned on energy. There are literally dozens of industries capable of this. Financial planning is probably low on the list.

What are the choices? Within energy generation there’s wind, hydropower, solar, geothermal, nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and biofuels. Once all of this energy is generated it’ll have to be either stored or transferred, which leads to jobs in battery technology and smart power grids. As we transition away from oil our cars, trucks, trains, busses, boats, planes and factories will need to be transformed. It’ll help the effort if our homes, offices and municipal buildings consume less energy.

If we go in this direction, every sector of the economy will be positively affected. There is so much opportunity that its just crazy that we’re crying about unemployment. Yes, it will require changing, we’ll have to reeducate ourselves in order to take advantage of this, but that has always been inevitable. We were going to have to change no matter what, it was folly to think otherwise. Once again, I submit that we as Americans have reinvented ourselves many times in the past.

Sweetwater is an example worthy of consideration because they have chosen to get in front of new technology. They aren’t bailing out companies that can’t find a way to be profitable, they’re building schools to educate new workers and new homes for them to live in. I applaud you Sweetwater, thanks for giving us an example to follow.