Is There Another Fuel Source?
Is There Another Fuel Source?
How would 85 cent fuel sound to you compared to the 2.88 per gallon fuel? Wouldn’t you enjoy this cheap fuel? What if I tell you this all could happen just by adding an enzyme to the corn kernel to help convert it easier over to ethanol? Well, Michael Raab, co-founder of Agrivida, is working on perfecting this enzyme so that the U.S. can produce ethanol, an alternative fuel source, more cheaply and efficiently. In this paper I will show (X) how this new technology of inserting an enzyme into corn to produce cheaper ethanol is going to benefit the U.S. (Y) by providing examples and evidence (Z) in order to show that ethanol could replace a good portion of all fuel and to lower fuel prices. I will first explain the process of inserting the enzyme into the corn kernel. Then I will describe and show the benefits of this new process. Last I will show how this new process will affect the use of crude oil and how ethanol can help replace a portion of our fuel dependence.
Getting Started:
The process of getting the enzyme in the corn is rather simple. According to my interview with Michael Raab, they use genetic engineering to design the protein sequence they are looking for and test it (Raab). Once they can verify that they have the right sequence and it works properly, they add the protein to the other genetic elements so the protein can survive in the plant. After all of that is done they insert this new gene into a plant and grow it in a test plot. They then do research to verify the gene survived in the plant and that it works properly and that it is safe to use.
Activating the Enzyme:
The main goal of this enzyme is to make the enzyme non active during the growing season. So far Michael Raab has found an enzyme that is non active during the growing season and still works the way it is suppose to. Right now according to Michael Raab the enzyme can be activated through a change in pH levels and through temperature. So when the corn is harvested in the fall ethanol plants can activate this enzyme by changing the temperature and by changing the pH levels during the fermentation process (Raab). Right now temperature and pH level changes are the only way to produce ethanol cheaply without adding more production costs. If they were to use some other stimuli it would add more cost to the production of ethanol so that is why they are using temperature and pH levels right now.
Making Competition:
Right now corn is one of the main ways to make ethanol. According to Elton Robinson, writer for Farm Press, says, “Currently, corn grain is the primary feedstock for producing ethanol in the United States� (Robinson 6). According to Elton, the main reason corn is the primarily used feedstock is because the enzyme used in the fermentation process is so cheap (Robinson 6). With this new process though, they could insert this gene into other plants to get ethanol and make it just as cheap as they could when using corn. Michael Raab said in our interview, they are working on inserting this gene into other plants such as switchgrass or poplar, but it is only in the testing stage (Raab). According to an article in “Biocycle World,� some of the other ways to produce ethanol is by using switchgrass, agricultural wastes, and biomass (Biocycle World 1). Michael Raab is optimistic and thinks that someday in the long-term these other plants will emerge as energy crops, but he says it is going to take time and the establishment of cellulosic processing facilities (Raab). By inserting this gene into other plants beside corn we can utilize the land by getting ethanol from every region and cut down on transportation costs. So this would make ethanol slightly cheaper yet.
The Problem:
Now what would happen if this enzyme were to activate early while it is growing in the fields? Well the answer is it is not good. If the enzyme were to activate early they would hamper the growth of the corn plant. This activation would cause the corn not to cross breed and fertilize, therefore, barely a crop to harvest in the fall because it will not reach full maturity. This could make farmers second guess planting corn with this enzyme. So this problem will need to be fixed before farmers will be confident enough to plant this corn. According to Michael Raab, he said, “This will be evaluated in field trials before the seed is ever sold� (Raab). So according to his quote, this will give confidence to farmers to plant corn with this enzyme in it. The next problem is we can’t produce enough ethanol to support a complete ethanol market. According to Cornell economist David Pimentel, he says the U.S. would have to devote all the farmland in the U.S. to ethanol production if they wanted to completely replace gas and that is almost impossible (J.M. 2). So according to some there is a slim chance to produce enough ethanol to make it an alternate fuel source. According to Michael Raab, each fall after harvest there is 250,000,000 dry tons of residue left over and they can convert that dry matter into 25 billion gallons of ethanol (Raab). According to Elton Robinson, farmers will have three tons of corn stover per acre left over after harvest, but he also says that they use only half of that stover to produce ethanol (Robinson 10). He also stated that eighty million acres of corn could produce roughly 120 million tons of stover, which can produce between 10 and 11 billion gallons of ethanol and that is not even including the corn kernel (Robinson 10). That is a lot of ethanol, but still not enough to completely replace gasoline. I know from experience of growing up on the farm that all of the stover will not be used for ethanol because farmers who have animals use it for things such as bedding for animals or like I do use them for a feed in the winter. So when they think about using all the corn stover they should subtract all the stover that farmers are going to use for themselves. Another problem that some refer to is it costs to much to convert corn to ethanol. According to Nicola Ross, she says, “. . . takes a lot of fossil fuels to produce it (Economic Cornfusion 1). Also in article by Jeff Sanford, he mentions how there are high production costs for growing corn because you have oil and gas to run machines and high amounts of natural gas are used to make fertilizer for the corn to grow (Sanford 3). So they are saying the amount of money going into the converting the corn over to ethanol costs more than the benefits, but they don’t talk about the use of the new enzyme, which would change the way they see ethanol.
Reaping the Benefits:
There is one big benefit with this process and that is cheaper fuel prices. This process even makes ethanol cheaper than it already is. Right now gas prices are around 2.88 per gallon and ethanol is 1.60 per gallon. With this new process of making ethanol we could see ethanol prices around 85 cents per gallon (Raab). Now this process alone will improve ethanol production. Michael Raab figures this process will increase yields per acre by about 50 percent while decreasing costs per gallon by about 30 percent (Raab). In an article in the magazine “Economist,� they say, “Efficient enzymes have led to more cost-effective fermentation, and genetically modified high-starch corn has better yield (and so needs less processing in the plant and fewer herbicides in the field) (Dirty as well as Dear? 1). Also according to Carol Potera in her article “The Economics of Ethanol,� she states how producing an enzyme to convert cornstarch into sugar for fermentation is 50 times faster and at lower temperatures making this more energy efficient (Potera 2). This is why we need these enzymes, they help reduce production costs and make the process more efficient, and therefore, they can sell the product cheaper. This may not seem like a lot, but in a commodity market where corn is growing fast in popularity this is a huge deal.
The Replacement:
The government wants to someday be able to replace the 58% of crude oil the U.S. imports. The truth is according to Ron Smith, writer for Farm Press, says that the U.S. will need a lot more than just corn to replace the imported crude oil (Smith 3). He says that there are only 111 ethanol plants in the U.S. with 75 under construction and eight that are being expanded (Smith 3). They also have 60 more plants in the planning stages (Smith 3). So if we are to switch over to ethanol as a primary fuel we need more and more plants yet to produce ethanol. In 2000, the U.S. produced 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol (Smith 3). That number rose to 5 billion in 2005 and they project to produce 9 billion gallons by 2008 or 2009 (Smith 3). So the number of gallons is increasing, but it is not even close to how much we need to be able to rely on it as a fuel source. According to Jim Core in his article, “New Milling Methods Improve Corn Ethanol Production� he says, “Almost 10 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used to make fuel ethanol (Core 1). So if we would increase the amount of corn we use we could produce more ethanol. Smith thinks that corn ethanol will play an energy security role, but it will be more of an additive than an extender (Smith 3).
Summary:
Each year the production of ethanol increases and is becoming a helpful fuel source to lighten the load on the dependence of oil. With developing technology and plenty of research we may be able to produce a very cheap fuel source. Michael Raab’s research and experiments with inserting an enzyme into corn to help produce ethanol more cheaply is a good way to produce ethanol. The only thing we need to do next is get the right machines and plants up to do the processing and get this new fuel source going. The U.S. doesn’t have to worry about not increasing production because every year the amount produced is rising, but we will always need more. If scientists can get this gene to successfully work in other plants like switchgrass this could help reduce the dependence on oil and possibly replace crude oil someday. It will take time, but this new process has lots of potential to help the U.S. and will only continue to grow and get better. So when you hear about alternative fuel sources and the topic of ethanol just think about how this could affect your life with lower fuel costs, so more money for other things.
Where To Be Published:
This article could be published in the Star Tribune or any agriculture magazine. The Star Tribune because it would help inform everyone on the advancing technology to make an alternative fuel source and that is a very big topic in today’s world so we cut down on foreign fuel being shipped over here to the U.S. It also could be published in any agriculture magazine because farmers are the ones who are going to have to plant this corn and they are going to want to know if it is feasible for them to plant and make a profit so they also need to know what is happening with this. They are the ones who contribute there crop to ethanol so they need to know what is happening.
Works Cited
Core, Jim. “New Milling Methods Improve Corn Ethanol Production.� Agricultural Research. Jul. 2004. Vol. 52. Issue 7, p16-17. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
“Dirty as well as dear?� Economist. 17 Jan. 2004. Vol. 370. Issue 8358, p24. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
“Increasing Ethanol with Enzymes.� Biocycle World. Jun. 2006. Vol. 47. Issue 6, p12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
J.M. “Consider the Alternatives.� E Magazine. Jan. /Feb. 2006. Vol. 17. Issue 1, p38-9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
Potera, Carol. “The Economics of Ethanol.� Environmental Health Perspectives. Jan. 2002. Vol. 110. Issue 1, pA18. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
Raab, Michael. Internet Interview. 18 Nov. 2007.
Robinson, Elton. “Corn Enzymes To Drive Cellulosic Ethanol.� Farm Press. 3 Oct. 2007. p6 & 10. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
Ross, Nicola. Alternatives Journal. 2007. Vol. 33. Issue 2/3, p7. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007. < http://web.ebscohost.com.floyd.lib.umn.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=113&sid=8ad3d05b-4a58-44bd-b3bb-a2708a484360%40sessionmgr102>
Sanford, Jeff. “A Growing Concern.� Canadian Business. 9 Oct. 2006. Vol. 79. Issue 20, p90-99. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.
Smith, Ron. “Corn-Based Ethanol Not Enough To Meet U.S. Renewable Energy Requirements.� Southwest Farm Press. 19 Apr. 2007. p1 & 3. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UMN college Lib., St. Paul, MN. 21 Nov. 2007.