Is ethanol blend 'greener' than gasoline?

Does commercially available ethanol-blended fuel produce cleaner emissions than regular gasoline? Most people would think so.

The federal government has committed $2 billion in incentives for ethanol. Ethanol is made from crops such as wheat and corn.

What do the scientists say?

'Not much difference' say scientists at Environment Canada, who ran tests on four different vehicles. Looking at the tailpipe emissions from a greenhouse gas perspecive, there wasn't much difference between regular gasoline and 10% ethanol blend. They did find a reduction in carbon monoxide (which helps produce smog). Emissions from other gases, such as hydrocarbons, actually increased in some cases.

If you look at the big picture instead of just tailpipe emissions, however, there may be some benefits. Ethanol comes from a source that is a renewable resource (like forestry), and that has to be taken into account. Even at a 10% blend, that is 10% less oil and gas that has to be discovered and manufactured, which isn't a clean process itself. Almost anything that reduces the world's dependence on oil is probably a good thing at this stage of the game.

Also, if we are already at 10% blend, who is to say it can't get to 20%, 30%, etc. What will the results be then? Blended-fuel technology has to keep moving forward.

A year ago I never would have thought there would be this much public debate going on about green and environmental issues. It is one of the dominant issues in mainstream media now, probably because people are demanding change.

So in the end, it does help to look at the big picture.

New Energy - Ground heat, Waste wood, Underground CO2

Every time you turn around these days you learn of new technologies being developed to encourage cleaner energy and less waste. A year ago I never would have thought that clean energy would be such a hot topic in mainstream media.

Just today, three stories on seperate news channels caught my eye.

The first was a story about a former BC environment minister who is building a house in BC. Instead of using only natural gas or electricity to heat the house, which would cost hundreds of dollars per month (it's a 9000 sq ft home), they are using ground geothermal heat. Once you get a few feet underground the temperature remains constant year round, and well above freezing. Basically, they are digging trenches in the back yard about 6 feet deep, laying pipes that contain liquid, and the system will be used to heat the home at a cost of under $100 per month. And the ground heat is always there, an endless source of clean energy. I've heard of this being done in the US, but not in BC. If this were done on a large scale imagine the energy savings, both in dollars and environmentally.

The second story was about using waste wood, say from mountain pine beetle killed timber, or wood scraps from sawmills, as a source for clean energy. They are developing ways that wood can be used to create energy without causing the harmful smoke and CO2 emissions normally associated with wood burning. We have a huge potential supply of waste wood as a result of harvesting in BC. This is wood that is not large enough to mill, or has rot, leftover pieces from mills, and wood that is not suitable for cutting or wanted by pulp mills. Currently, we use the wood that is economic and the rest is discarded, burned, or left on site. Forest operations could become more efficient in the future - we'll continue to use what's conventionally economic, waste wood can go to create clean energy, and a new forest gets established on logged areas that will help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

The third story involved the oil industry. Again, new technology is coming along that will allow CO2 emissions produced by the oil industry to be pumped underground. The news story said once the CO2 is underground, it would stay forever. As a bonus, the CO2 can also be used to help extract oil deposits - which may put less pressure on water or natural gas, two compounds that are used now to help extract oil but can not afford to be wasted.

I am not a specialist on these new clean energy strategies, but I look forward to seeing them used on a large scale.

British Columbia Clean Energy Plan

Today the government of the province of British Columbia outlined their Clean Energy Plan.

The news release states that the Province will require zero net greenhouse gas emissions from all new electricity projects and will support the development of clean energy technology.

Many targets were announced relating to clean energy, and the target dates ranged from 2010 to 2020. The highlights that stood out for me include:

Zero greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electricity generation.
Coal has always been thought of as a dirty energy source, but new technologies will allow coal to be used more efficiently and cleanly.

An ambitious target to acquire 50 per cent of BC Hydro’s incremental resource needs through conservation by 2020.
They had set an earlier target of about 30%, but now it is bumped up to 50%. According to the government document, current per household electricity consumption for BC Hydro customers is about 10,000 Kwh per year. Achieving this conservation target will see electricity use per household decline to approximately 9,000 Kwh per year by 2020.

The new BC Bioenergy Strategy will take advantage of B.C.’s abundant sources of renewable energy, such as beetle-killed timber, wood wastes and agricultural residues.
It is great to see a positive proposal for wood fibre that previously would have gone unused. The wood quality of lodgepole pine killed by mountain pine beetle deteriorates within a few years if it is left standing in the forest (if timber is harvested soon after beetle attack the wood quality is still fine). Beetle wood that is no longer suitable for lumber may still prove useful in bioenergy.

I am not sure how realistic the government's targets are, but it's encouraging to see them presenting some large scale initiatives towards energy conservation and cleaner fuels. Future governments will have to continue addressing these targets, as the bar has now been set.

For more information on the BC Energy Plan visit: http://energyplan.gov.bc.ca