Fossil Fuels, Ethanol, and Biodiesel By: Emma Wellman, Vishal Garg, and Tom Barch Seeking a responsible solution to global warming by decreasing greenhouse.

Fossil Fuels, Ethanol, and Biodiesel

By: Emma Wellman, Vishal Garg, and Tom Barch

Seeking a responsible solution to global warming by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions

Our Hypothesis & Research Questions Biodiesel and Ethanol emit fewer greenhouse

gases than do conventional fuels. Is it reasonable to replace conventional fuels

with alternative fuels such as Biodiesel and Ethanol?

In particular, is the energy balance with respect to Biodiesel and Ethanol sufficient to adopt them as fuels?

Our Roadmap

What’s Wrong with the Status Quo? Ethanol: Benefits and Disadvantages Biodiesel: Benefits and Disadvantages Ethanol vs. Biodiesel Modeling Ethanol, Biodiesel, and Fossil Fuel Predictions Conclusions

What’s Wrong with Gasoline?

Worldwide, 25-35% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions are the result of transportation.

5% of these same CO2 emissions are contributed by U.S. transportation.

More SUVs + the same fuel economy standards = worse fuel economy.

Other gases, such as nitrogen oxides and CO are pollutants emitted in the exhaust.

Atmospheric CO2 is increasing

* Slide from Lecture on 11/27

Net increase of 3.2 gigatons of CO2 per year

What is Ethanol?

Fuel made from fermentation of corn or sugar mixed with gasoline.

Mostly used for powering automobiles, but can be used in tractors and planes as well.

E85 and E10 (with 85% and 10% ethanol respectively) are the most common blends.

In 2004, almost 40% of the world’s ethanol was produced in Brazil.

The Benefits of Ethanol

In 2004 U.S. ethanol use reduced CO2

equivalent GHG emissions by 7 million tons. Renewable and biodegradable Net Energy Balance of 25% (good but not

great) E85 emits 72% less CO2 per km than

gasoline. Ethanol burns cleaner and more completely

than gasoline.

The Disadvantages of Ethanol

The ethics of using food for fuel Production of large quantities of ethanol may

require increased deforestation. Objectionable farming methods (fertilizers,

factory farming, etc.) Cannot be transported in pipelines Potentially economically infeasible Contains less energy than gas

What is Biodiesel?

An alternative fuel that can be made from a variety of renewable plant oils or animal fats.

It is like diesel fuel, and is thus most effective for running diesel vehicles and heating.

May be blended with petroleum diesel at any concentration or used in its pure form, B100.

Since 2005, Willie Nelson has been selling B20 biodiesel in four states.

The Benefits of Biodiesel

A Net Energy Balance of 93% makes it efficient to produce.

The exhaust emissions of sulfur oxides and sulfates from biodiesel engines are negligible.

Biodiesel emits 40% less CO2 than conventional diesel.

Emissions of various other pollutants are also lower: CO by 48%, particulate matter by 47%, hydrocarbons by 67%.

It is biodegradable, non toxic, and produces few emissions.

The Disadvantages of Biodiesel

NOx emissions from biodiesel are 10% higher than from diesel.

Cost of production and cost of raw materials is high, although still lower than gasoline’s.

Requires a great deal of land, which could lead to increased deforestation.

When small quantities of water are added to biodiesel, it becomes less efficient and potentially dangerous.

Efficiency for Production of Ethanol and Biodiesel

Modeling Gasoline, Ethanol & Biodiesel We used a modified version of our Carbon

Cycle Model in STELLA 8 to compare the Atmospheric CO2 production of these three fuels.

Using data reported by the U.S. Department of Energy, we then predicted the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere fifty years from now depending on which fuel is used.

The model and our results follow.

Our Modified STELLA Model

Atmospheric Carbon

Land PlantsOcean Carbon

Soils

Ocean UptakePhotosy nthesis

Unkown Sink

Detritus

Def orestation

RespirationSedimentsOcean Release

Runof f

Exhalation

Fossil Fuel

Atmospheric CO2 ppmNH Photosy nthesis

Season

Predicted CO2 emissions considering continued use of

Fossil Fuels

Predicted Atmospheric CO2 considering continued use of

Fossil Fuels

10:40 PM Fri, Dec 01, 2006

Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)

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Predicted Atmospheric CO2 if we shift to use of Ethanol &

Biodiesel

11:13 PM Fri, Dec 01, 2006

Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)

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Our Extended Prediction

10:35 AM Sat, Dec 02, 2006

Atmospheric CO2 (ppm)

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1958.00 1994.25 2030.50 2066.75 2103.00

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Conclusions & Further Considerations We can conclude that ethanol and biodiesel are

suitable alternatives to gasoline and conventional diesel, though there are a few significant caveats:

Biodiesel & Ethanol may be too costly (in terms of input/output of energy & environmental effects in production) to be feasible as complete replacements.

Clearly however, they are reasonable transitional alternatives with far more environmentally responsible Greenhouse Gas emission rates.

Want More Information?

More on Biodiesel:

www.biodiesel.org

More on Ethanol:

www.ethanol.org

US Department of Energy:

www.energy.gov

Thank You!