Biofuels are "pie in the sky" because they do not have the EROEI to replace fossil fuel. People hear "sustainable aviation fuel" and think that fuels made from plants (via vegetable oil, oil producing algae, cellulose, sugarcane) might support our civilization's travel habits in the future ...
NO. Not a chance. Typical EROEI's for biofuels are less than 4:1 (corn ethanol at only slightly more than 1:1, corn biodiesel around 3:1, switchgrass cellulosic ethanol at maybe 4:1, etc.) Such fuels cannot replace oil, with its 30:1 EROEI, without sending the price of a plane ticket (or anything else made with energy from biofuel) through the roof.
The idea of using a "waste" product (like slash) as the source of the biofuel is an attempt to raise the EROEI as compared to, say, using corn or sugarcane. But the EROEI is still terrible. The slash or other source of fuel still has to be collected, transported, etc.
We simply have to do less, not try to replace fossil fuel with other energy sources.
I read earlier today that palm oil is showing up in sustainable aircraft fuels. Oh, and guess who is supporting the Fix Our Forests Act? The Citizens Climate Lobby. I guess all you need to do is say "green" and even cutting down rainforests becomes eco. The disappearing orangutans must be relieved.
"just ignore that $1.5 million in grant money is but a drop in the bucket of the estimated $600-800 million required to build this project"
Don't worry, Elizabeth. Convicted Felon Cat Meat is very busy making sure anything with "sustainable" in the name is de-funded. Only "government employee while black" (GEWB) is higher on his hit list.
That said, and while I'm unhappy with anything Big Business sticks its business in, I think powering diesel engines on vegetable oil, while perhaps not as "sustainable" as you'd like, could be a bridge between fossil sunlight and ox carts.
My calculations indicate that limited diesel-assisted agriculture could have an ERoEI of 10:1 or so — you could grow ten acres of food crops on the oilseed crops grown on just one acre. Note that this is higher than the ~4:1 ERoEI of draft animals — you need an acre of pasture to cultivate four acres of human food crops. Both of these may be higher than the ERoEI of new fracked fossil sunlight!
Not that cultivated agriculture itself is "sustainable" — it utterly depends on annual plants that have been engineered by nature to re-populate disturbed soil in preparation for successional perennial plants to come. So we keep artificially disturbing the soil to keep our annual food crops happy.
The closest we have is Permaculture, based on perennial polyculture. It's often criticized as "not being able to feed the world". But it will, by definition, be feeding the survivors.
Not if it's anything like the modern human experiment that puts humans at the top of an imagined pyramid of importance. And I'm not sure we can go back. We've forgotten how to live as human animals. But, who knows. I am sure I won't be around to see it, if there are humans who survive. While I have done what I can to "learn" how to live more simply, I know it's not nearly enough to make it through the gauntlet that is in our future.
If we think about it sustainably and then we green, it sustainably and then we think sustainably and sustain that thinking and then green think that sustainability I'm sure we can sustain that green tincture indefinitely, I think!
I've always believed that, by and large, most people hear and see only what they want to hear and see, (that which affirms their already existing feelings and beliefs).
In relation to the above, I appreciate the reference to your previous piece (8/08/23) titled "A guide to being delusional" and also to Brower's "Mind Over Reality Transition (MORT)." Both of which furthered my understanding of this aspect, this frailty, of human nature.
Pie in the Sky is a reminder to all of us that greenwashing is alive and well in our society today, of "how corporations latch on to the words-du-jour that will get them money and attention and the support (and denial) of the public, in order to sell more stuff."
Biofuels are "pie in the sky" because they do not have the EROEI to replace fossil fuel. People hear "sustainable aviation fuel" and think that fuels made from plants (via vegetable oil, oil producing algae, cellulose, sugarcane) might support our civilization's travel habits in the future ...
NO. Not a chance. Typical EROEI's for biofuels are less than 4:1 (corn ethanol at only slightly more than 1:1, corn biodiesel around 3:1, switchgrass cellulosic ethanol at maybe 4:1, etc.) Such fuels cannot replace oil, with its 30:1 EROEI, without sending the price of a plane ticket (or anything else made with energy from biofuel) through the roof.
The idea of using a "waste" product (like slash) as the source of the biofuel is an attempt to raise the EROEI as compared to, say, using corn or sugarcane. But the EROEI is still terrible. The slash or other source of fuel still has to be collected, transported, etc.
We simply have to do less, not try to replace fossil fuel with other energy sources.
Exactly
I read earlier today that palm oil is showing up in sustainable aircraft fuels. Oh, and guess who is supporting the Fix Our Forests Act? The Citizens Climate Lobby. I guess all you need to do is say "green" and even cutting down rainforests becomes eco. The disappearing orangutans must be relieved.
"Green" is a *magic* word! (My heart breaks whenever I think of orangutans.)
"just ignore that $1.5 million in grant money is but a drop in the bucket of the estimated $600-800 million required to build this project"
Don't worry, Elizabeth. Convicted Felon Cat Meat is very busy making sure anything with "sustainable" in the name is de-funded. Only "government employee while black" (GEWB) is higher on his hit list.
That said, and while I'm unhappy with anything Big Business sticks its business in, I think powering diesel engines on vegetable oil, while perhaps not as "sustainable" as you'd like, could be a bridge between fossil sunlight and ox carts.
I made biodiesel for years, and converted a step van to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO). (https://tinyurl.com/VeggieVanGogh)
My calculations indicate that limited diesel-assisted agriculture could have an ERoEI of 10:1 or so — you could grow ten acres of food crops on the oilseed crops grown on just one acre. Note that this is higher than the ~4:1 ERoEI of draft animals — you need an acre of pasture to cultivate four acres of human food crops. Both of these may be higher than the ERoEI of new fracked fossil sunlight!
Not that cultivated agriculture itself is "sustainable" — it utterly depends on annual plants that have been engineered by nature to re-populate disturbed soil in preparation for successional perennial plants to come. So we keep artificially disturbing the soil to keep our annual food crops happy.
The closest we have is Permaculture, based on perennial polyculture. It's often criticized as "not being able to feed the world". But it will, by definition, be feeding the survivors.
"But it will, by definition, be feeding the survivors." indeed, if there are any.
Worth trying to extend the human experiment, though?
Not if it's anything like the modern human experiment that puts humans at the top of an imagined pyramid of importance. And I'm not sure we can go back. We've forgotten how to live as human animals. But, who knows. I am sure I won't be around to see it, if there are humans who survive. While I have done what I can to "learn" how to live more simply, I know it's not nearly enough to make it through the gauntlet that is in our future.
If we think about it sustainably and then we green, it sustainably and then we think sustainably and sustain that thinking and then green think that sustainability I'm sure we can sustain that green tincture indefinitely, I think!
"Pass the popcorn" Mike Ruppert!
Thank you for this... it is well worth sharing.
I've always believed that, by and large, most people hear and see only what they want to hear and see, (that which affirms their already existing feelings and beliefs).
In relation to the above, I appreciate the reference to your previous piece (8/08/23) titled "A guide to being delusional" and also to Brower's "Mind Over Reality Transition (MORT)." Both of which furthered my understanding of this aspect, this frailty, of human nature.
Pie in the Sky is a reminder to all of us that greenwashing is alive and well in our society today, of "how corporations latch on to the words-du-jour that will get them money and attention and the support (and denial) of the public, in order to sell more stuff."