6 Ideas for American Sustainable & Renewable Energy Independence

America does not have to depend on foreign sources for one of its most 
vital national needs. A move toward energy independence, in addition to creating 
as many as 14 million new jobs, could help rebuild our nation's industrial base 
and provide one of the most stable and secure energy supplies in the world. Best 
of all, this new domestic product can be both sustainable.

Here are six ideas on how to start: 
1. Invest in new infrastructure to process alternative fuels. 
There is little dispute over the feasibility of manufacturing liquid fuels from 
non-petroleum sources. Brazil is energy independent thanks to production of 
ethanol from sugarcane. Germany relied on coal during World War II and South 
Africa continues to tap coal and natural gas resources. The same technology is 
capable of producing fuels in the United States - and decades of research and 
the emergence of nanotechnology make energy produced this way much more 
affordable and economically competitive with oil-based fuels. 
<br /><br />Gasification is the simple technology process of taking an organic 
material (such as coal or biomass) and converting it to a mixture of gases is 
the first step. There are already at least 20 plants in operation or under 
construction and multiple competing commercial technologies n the United States 
alone, mostly in the chemical industry. Using a separate but related technology, 
the manufactured gases can be converted to form a wide range of fuels, including 
those already most familiar to Americans and compatible with the existing 
vehicle fleet and infrastructure: diesel, jet fuel, gasoline components, and 
ethanol. <br /><br />Fuel production in this manner can be profitable and 
economical. While the level of capital investment is significantly higher than a 
comparably-yielding oil refinery, the capital cost is spread over the long life 
of a plant, and savings show up in other places. Even with the cost of raw 
materials, energy inputs, and depreciation of the plant included, the break-even 
cost of producing fuel is around $1.25 per gallon, an amount notably lower than 
the current wholesale price of gasoline and other liquid fuels. 


2. Use existing biomass to ease our transition away from petroleum use. While virtually 
any organic material (i.e. coal, natural gas and biomass) can be used to 
manufacture fuel, biomass offers a distinct advantage: Its use makes the entire 
fuel cycle carbon-neutral. (A carbon-neutral fuel cycle means that no matter how 
much fuel we consume, there will be no net increase in carbon dioxide in the 
atmosphere.)  The federal government has done significant research into
determining available biomass resources. An April 2005 joint report from the
Departments of Agriculture and Energy ascertained that annual national biomass
potential "exceeds 1.3 billion dry tons annually -- the equivalent of more than
one-third of the current demand for transportation fuels." Of that amount, more
than 300 million tons per year are already available, currently unused or
underused.

Biomass comes from numerous ready-made sources: residues
generated by traditional logging operations and clearing of timberlands; forest
thinning for purposes of fire suppression; processing wastes (including primary
mills, secondary mills, and paper mills); urban wood residues (such as
construction and demolition debris; yard waste; and discarded furniture,
cabinets, pallets, containers and scrap wood. In combination, these stocks
comprise a formidable supply of biomass that could be refined to supplant a
portion of the petroleum the United States currently imports. <br /><br />3. Grow
"energy" crops. Once we've exhausted the country's existing supply of biomass,
we will need a consistent and sustainable source of additional biomass -- and
that will require cultivating so-called "energy crops." The U.S. already
produces ethanol from corn, making it the first crop grown here specifically for
the production of energy. Unfortunately, the use of corn for ethanol has several
distinct disadvantages, the most important of which is its relative land
efficiency. To supplant all foreign oil using corn ethanol (currently the most
popular non-petroleum fuel, by far), a total of 561 million acres would need to
be planted in corn, an expanse that represents nearly 30 percent of the total
land area of the contiguous 48 states.

The solution is finding alternative crops with much higher yields. There are quite
a few varieties of grasses and a few types of trees that produce enough biomass material
to make their growth substantially more land-efficient than corn. Two examples include
switchgrass and arundo. Their use also negates one main argument against using corn and
 other energy crops for fuel: that their use could diminish the world's food supply. As
long as productive food-producing land is not taken out of cultivation, the
addition of Arundo and Switchgrass to the agricultural scheme should have very
little effect on food production.

4. Implement government intervention
wisely. Based on the capital cost of thermochemical fuel plants and the cost of
establishing high-yield energy crops, the investment necessary to build
infrastructure capable of supplanting all foreign oil could total $900 billion.
The government is not going to fund this all at once, or ever, and experience
has taught us that public expenditures aren't the ideal way to approach this
kind of a challenge anyway. But encouraging -- and incentivizing -- private
enterprise to make capital investments on this scale is the federal government's
proper function. <br /><br />There are many steps government can take to grow and
protect an alternative-fuels industry. For starters, one immediate risk to such
a nascent industry is a counter-attack from powerful predators, such as oil
exporters and multinational oil companies. It is essential to the long-term
survival of the industry that it be protected from a reactionary drop in prices.

One potential mechanism for protection is the establishment of a price
floor for crude oil. The floor price could be set to ensure that domestic
alternatives, including fuel produced from biomass, could compete with foreign
oil even in a falling market. There are many ways to achieve this effect, but
one straightforward approach would be an import tariff, which would help support
not only alternative fuels but also the domestic oil and gas industries that
have higher extraction costs than its overseas competitors.

5. Develop more fuel-efficient cars. CAFÉ standards, which were implemented after the oil
embargo in the 1970s, have proven remarkably effective in driving fuel
efficiency. From 1978 to 1985, a period of continuous increases in fuel economy
standards, U.S. oil usage steadily declined. The mid-1980s saw a significant and
sustained period of low worldwide oil prices, however. Cheap oil meant a
decreased interest among Americans and their political leaders of both major
parties in continuing to push conservation measures, particularly fuel economy.
CAFÉ standards became a largely forgotten method of promoting increased fuel
efficiency. <br /><br />It wasn't until December 2008 that the federal government
finally increased them again, updating the law to require U.S. automakers and
importers to increase the average fuel economy of their cars and light trucks to
35 miles per gallon by the year 2020.

It's time for a serious new focuson developing more fuel-efficient vehicles. Incremental steps are important, andimproved fuel efficiency is essential, but the next measures must be
revolutionary innovations in vehicle design that will radically impact fuel
demand. Hybrid and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles are some of the most
promising options.

6. Renew efforts to develop new nuclear power.
Nuclear plants have proven remarkably safe in the United States, and they offer
power-generating capabilities at competitive prices without any discharge of
greenhouse gases. For this reason and because power demands in the United States
will continue to increase, the construction of new nuclear plants should be
encouraged through legislative policies.

Article Source:    http://blog.bnenergy.com

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