Spring Break
Green technology examined
Antoinette Jenna Pizzi-The Daily Free Press (Boston U.)
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
(U-WIRE) BOSTON, Mass. - While some environmentalists and politicians emphasize green-energy options and tout the advantages of biofuels, some researchers have found the technology needs to be improved before it is actually eco-friendly.
Adrian Herrera, an analyst for Arctic Power, an organization working to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, said it will take time and research funds to advance out of the "oil age" and make biofuels viable resources.
"Biofuels are not efficient enough to work without fuels like oil, which is the most efficient source of energy we have available," Herrera said. "Currently, using ethanol is creating more pollution than oil."
More energy goes into biofuel production than can be used from the non-oil option, but the production process should evolve and improve with increased research, he said.
"It takes decades to change society from one source to another," Herrera said.
Presidential candidates have presented different approaches to making fuel more environmentally friendly, but Herrera said politicians must not try to convince the public that the oil pipe can be turned off completely.
"Politicians use simplistic, media catchphrases because they think truth about the environment and biofuels is un-sexy," he said.
Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have proposed 10-year, $150 billion energy investment plans. Herrera predicts biofuel technology requires 10 to 20 years of development before it will be viable. Candidates must look beyond their possible terms in office and create long-term solutions, he said.
Obama calls for doubling funding for solar and wind energy, but Herrera said those kinds of energy are inefficient and produce a greater carbon footprint than oil. Plans to produce more biofuel involve more resource consumption than expected, he added.
"[He] proposes funding for corn and oil to make ethanol, which requires clearing the land and leveling and fertilizer to produce more corn, which the entire process requires the use of natural gases," Herrera said.
Adrian Herrera, an analyst for Arctic Power, an organization working to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, said it will take time and research funds to advance out of the "oil age" and make biofuels viable resources.
"Biofuels are not efficient enough to work without fuels like oil, which is the most efficient source of energy we have available," Herrera said. "Currently, using ethanol is creating more pollution than oil."
More energy goes into biofuel production than can be used from the non-oil option, but the production process should evolve and improve with increased research, he said.
"It takes decades to change society from one source to another," Herrera said.
Presidential candidates have presented different approaches to making fuel more environmentally friendly, but Herrera said politicians must not try to convince the public that the oil pipe can be turned off completely.
"Politicians use simplistic, media catchphrases because they think truth about the environment and biofuels is un-sexy," he said.
Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have proposed 10-year, $150 billion energy investment plans. Herrera predicts biofuel technology requires 10 to 20 years of development before it will be viable. Candidates must look beyond their possible terms in office and create long-term solutions, he said.
Obama calls for doubling funding for solar and wind energy, but Herrera said those kinds of energy are inefficient and produce a greater carbon footprint than oil. Plans to produce more biofuel involve more resource consumption than expected, he added.
"[He] proposes funding for corn and oil to make ethanol, which requires clearing the land and leveling and fertilizer to produce more corn, which the entire process requires the use of natural gases," Herrera said.
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