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“And you simply can’t get to net zero by 2050 without biofuels.” –U.S. President Joe Biden in Remarks on Lowering Energy Costs for Working Families
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Open to all People of the Planet under Twenty-Five Years Old — 1st Place – $200, 2nd Place – $150, 3rd Place – $100
Advanced Biofuels USA is committed to bringing new ideas forward that would accelerate the use of advanced biofuels worldwide. We think the young people of the world have some great ideas and we think all people, and especially decision makers, should know about them. That’s why we’re sponsoring an essay competition for all people on the planet under twenty-five years old.
“We’re starting off this essay contest by asking how advanced biofuels could be a transformative fuel source for the transportation sector in the United States,” said Joanne Ivancic, Executive Director of Advanced Biofuels USA. “The planes, trains, motor vehicles, ships, and construction equipment in the US produce about 30 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gases. This means changes in US transportation fuels GHGs could be a Big Bang for the Buck on the US’s and the planet’s climate change impact,” she continued.
Dr. Doug Root, President of Advanced Biofuels USA, thought that asking young people who are seeing the collision of climate change weather effects and high fossil fuel prices first-hand could help produce new and possibly breakthrough solutions. “After living through what they have for the past few years and looking forward to what the rest of their lives could be like, they know changes are needed. Because of the long life of GHGs, everyone on the planet is affected by all GHGs produced, no matter their production source. That’s why we’re inviting everyone under twenty-five on the planet to enter this challenge. I hope they’ll apply their ingenuity and knowledge to this essay challenge. We can’t wait to see the results!”
The inspiration for this essay challenge comes from the U.S. Naval Institute. “The Naval Institute started their essay contests in the 19th century, shortly after they were formed,” said Advanced Biofuels USA Treasurer Bob Kozak. “Former winners are a who’s who of people who later became key to naval thought and leadership. You’d recognize the names even if you’re not a naval historian. We hope we can start something similar in biofuel development.”
Besides the prize money, the three winning essays will be published on the Advanced Biofuels USA website. Additionally, essay winners may be invited to submit short videos after they have been informed that they won.
The Details
The Question: How can Advanced Biofuels become a Transformative Source for US Transportation?
The Essay: Essays of up to 1500 words (does not include author’s name or title). Essays must be in English, original and not previously published, on-line or in print, and not be considered for publication elsewhere. One essay per author. Reviewers will not know identity of authors.
The Reward: 1st Place – $200 (USD), 2nd Place – $150 (USD), 3rd Place – $100 (USD)
The Author: Authors may be from anywhere on the Planet. They must be under 25 years old on December 31, 2022.
Essay Submission: Submit as a Word document by 11:59 PM EDT (Washington, DC time) October 1, 2022, to info@advancedbiofuelsusa.org. Include author’s name on top of 1st page. Age verification will be required for winners only: copy of Driver’s License, Photo ID, or Passport.
Top three essay winners will be announced on the Advanced Biofuels USA website in mid-December 2022 with essays published in early 2023.
For more information about the contest, contact Bob Kozak, atlanticbiomass @ aol.com. Essay Contest Flyer
by Valerie Sarisky-Reed (U.S. Department of Energy) Biofuels have been proven to emit significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than petroleum-based fuels, and recent scientific studies indicate that net-zero emission biofuels are not only possible, but achievable.
Corn ethanol and other biofuels are essential in America’s transition to a clean energy economy that creates good-paying jobs, increases energy independence, and supports the Biden Administration’s climate goals. However, not all biofuels are created equal. The GHG emissions of a biofuel depend on what it’s made from, how and where it’s made, and how it’s used—the full life cycle of the biomass, biofuel production, and use.
As the world’s largest producer and consumer of biofuels, the United States is a critical leader in biofuel science, technology, and policy, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has spent decades advancing the science behind biofuel emissions life cycle analysis (LCA).
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Scientific research completed over the past two decades using improved LCA methods has identified several key trends that were difficult to predict in earlier studies, rendering those previous findings and forecasts inaccurate.
The most recent DOE study, published by Argonne National Laboratory in 2021, found that U.S. corn ethanol has 44%–52% lower GHG emissions than gasoline. Argonne National Laboratory is recognized globally as one of the leading experts in this type of LCA research and other credible studies have found similar results.
Argonne’s analysis found that carbon emissions from U.S. corn ethanol have fallen 20% between 2005 and 2019 due to increased corn yields per acre, decreased fertilizer use, and improved ethanol production processes.
Existing Techniques for Driving Down Corn Ethanol Emissions
Evidence suggests that additional improvements can further reduce corn ethanol GHG emissions.
Existing technologies and agricultural practices have the potential to make further, significant improvements in the reduction of LCA GHG emissions of ethanol from approximately 40% today to over 70% as compared to a petroleum baseline.[1]
Further Argonne analysis on jet fuel applications concluded that smart farming practices and other existing technologies can reduce ethanol-to-jet fuel emissions to 153% lower than petroleum jet fuel. This means that biofuels could be not just net-zero, but net-negative carbon emissions. Because biomass removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere throughout its lifetime via photosynthesis, net-negative emissions biofuels are possible when measures are taken to lower the emissions from biofuel production. These measures can include capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions that occur during biomass fermentation. Carbon capture and sequestration technology and its application on biorefineries have been demonstrated with DOE funding.
Land Use Data Reflects Real Impact on LCA
The largest discrepancy among biofuel LCA over the last several years stems from the idea that the benefits of lower emission fuels are offset by the environmental harm caused by their production. Early critics of biofuels contended that rainforests, wetlands, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems (carbon sinks) that remove carbon from the atmosphere would be destroyed either directly or indirectly to produce biofuels.
The early LCA studies of the 2000s projected that U.S. landowners would convert large swaths of forests and wetlands for agricultural production in response to higher demand and prices for corn, which in turn would increase climate emissions.
Land use change analysis relies on complex models and the findings are heavily influenced by the underlying assumptions that researchers apply. Rigorous scientific study, debate, and the increased availability of real-world data from growing U.S. biofuels industry have allowed for a more accurate understanding of the impacts of biofuel production.
Recent studies based on actual data and not modeling indicate initial projections significantly overestimated land use change impacts.
The Future of U.S. Biofuels
While studies conducted by Argonne and other respected labs include the most recent scientific data, other scientific papers on biofuel LCA continue to use old, disproven data. Such papers present provocative findings about potential—but demonstrably avoidable—pitfalls of biofuels, while failing to consider public and private efforts to ensure biofuels are sustainably produced at a large scale.
DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is committed to ensuring that future domestic biofuel production adheres to rigorous sustainability metrics, including those for substantially reduced GHG emissions. BETO is currently examining strategies to lower GHG emissions and carbon intensity within the existing corn ethanol industry, including:
- Implementing low-carbon agricultural practices
- Switching to renewable process heat and power (e.g., wind, solar, renewable natural gas, or biomass)
- Developing new productivity and conversion efficiency measures in biorefinery processes
- Using or sequestering of biorefinery CO2 emissions.
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Investment in low-GHG fuels will help to address issues of environmental justice in rural and underserved communities to ensure they are not left behind in the clean energy transition.
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BETO is funding research, development, and demonstration of next generation biorefineries which will leverage a variety of sustainable biomass and waste feedstock sources. These include:
- Agricultural residues (e.g., corn stover)
- Forestry residues (e.g., logging residues and forest thinning)
- Dedicated energy crops (e.g., switchgrass, miscanthus, energy cane, sweet sorghum, high-biomass sorghum, hybrid poplars, and shrub willows)
- Algae
- Waste streams and reusable carbon sources (e.g., the non-recyclable portions of municipal solid waste; wastewater treatment sludges, and manure slurries; food waste; and carbon dioxide and industrial waste gases).
These abundant U.S.-based biomass and waste resources can offer the necessary sustainable feedstocks to support a growing low-carbon biofuel industry. These same renewable feedstocks can realize greater than 70% GHG emissions reductions for a variety of end-use fuels.
Transitioning to a sustainable, net-zero GHG emissions economy in America will only be possible by embracing the clean energy biofuels provide. With science as a guide, DOE and partners have spent decades researching, studying, and testing ethanol and ethanol technologies, as well as second generation biofuels to best understand the potential for this essential, sustainable energy source. READ MORE
Biofuel, Ag Groups Comment on SEC Climate Disclosures Rulemaking
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) … Growth Energy’s comments focused on the calculation of biofuel GHG emissions. “The proposed rule would require