Green Living

By Sarah Lozanova

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Welcome to this new column that provides a fresh perspective on solutions to environmental challenges. There is certainly no shortage of “bad news” occurring all around us. This column will focus on a spectrum of solutions, the web of life surrounding us, and opportunities that are emerging, leaving readers inspired and empowered.

Ethanol Ingredients: Garbage and Trees?

     As the U.S. consumes 140 billion gallons of gasoline annually, the thought of transitioning to corn-based ethanol is daunting. If enormous quantities of land, water, pesticides, and food resources are dedicated to transportation fuels, the ramifications will be significant. Some have even called ethanol from food to be a crime against humanity.

     A new technology is being fine-tuned by Coskata, Inc. (www.coskata.com) that can have a global impact on biofuels, with potential sources of fuel ranging from garbage to agricultural waste to construction debris. Does this process have the potential to shift the transportation fuel industry while slowing climate change? The answer lies in the fuel source that is used for mass producing the ethanol.

     On the face of it, garbage would be the cheapest fuel source. In fact, one of the most available and economically viable fuel sources is trees, with the low price tag of $50 a ton. There is a very efficient infrastructure for harvesting and transporting trees. It is actually cheaper to use trees than sorted garbage and agricultural waste to produce ethanol. Another fuel source with a well developed infrastructure is coal, unfortunately.

     Although garbage is cheap and plentiful, it comes with a myriad of issues. It needs to be densely packed and presorted in order to be a viable option, due to transportation, storage and labor costs. Agricultural waste, construction debris, and storm waste also look environmentally favorable, but consistent, large-scale supplies are needed if we are to reduce the exorbitant gas consumption in this country.

     To make a dent in the 140 billon gallons of gasoline consumed each year, new infrastructures and technologies need to be developed. A paradigm shift is needed in how we view and handle “waste.” This needs to be done quickly, as the technology for producing ethanol is more advanced than fuel sources from waste.

     The good news is that the Coskata ethanol process can easily be adapted to the specific location of the plant. Locally available fuel sources will reduce the transportation of materials, while strengthening the local economy and benefiting the environment.

     Argonne National Laboratory tests show greenhouse gas emissions reduced by up to 84% with ethanol produced from trees compared to conventional gasoline. It has a net energy balance of up to 7.7, compared to 1.3 for corn-based ethanol. These results were achieved with a production cost of $1 a gallon and using timber as a fuel source.

      “This technology is here and ready to go,” said Bill Roe, CEO of Coskata. This is apparent from the recent announcement about construction of the first plant. Expected to open at the end of 2010, ethanol will be mass produced using the Coskata process.

     Purchasing ethanol won’t begin to address the root of the issue, excessive gasoline usage. Now that spring is here, it is time to dust off our bikes, carpool, take the train, and drive more fuel efficient vehicles.

Internet Reducing American Energy Use

     The internet is saving ten times the energy required to run an internet-linked computer.

     Remember when renting a movie required a trip to the video store or confirming a bank balance required a visit to the bank? Now, anything from archived issues of The Monthly Aspectarian to driving maps are just a click away. Telecommuting is common and taxes can be submitted electronically to the IRS. The internet is shaping our lifestyles, allowing us to save energy.

     A recent study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (www.aceee.org) discovered that every kilowatt hour of electricity used to power communications and information technologies is resulting in a tenfold increase in energy savings.

     “Acceleration of information and computer technology across the U.S. landscape post 1995 is driving much of the nation’s energy productivity gain,” says John Laitner of the ACEEE and coauthor of the study. “Had we continued at the historic rate of prior years, we would today be using the energy equivalent of one billion barrels of oil more [per year] than we were” in the early 1990s.

     Energy intensity is a measurement of the quantity of energy required to produce one dollar of output and is a good indicator of overall energy efficiency. After the oil embargo of 1973-74, the energy intensity in America fell sharply. From 1986 to 1996 however, energy efficiency improvements fell to under 1% annually.

     Around 1995, the use of the internet began to increase significantly. Remarkably, from 1996 to 2001, energy intensity fell by an average of 2.9% annually. This trend has continued since 2001 at a pace of 2.4% annually, with half of it being attributed to technology gains. 

     The energy saving impacts of information and communications technology can expand through mindful use. Purchasing models that consume less energy, selecting optimal energy settings, and using a laptop instead of a PC all save electricity.

     I am happy to know that my beloved computer is helping me to reduce my energy use and studies such as this remind me of how technology can be used as a tool for a greener lifestyle. The future potential is staggering as energy costs increase, concern of climate changing mounts, and the use of the internet expands over time.

Where the Wild Things Roamed

     Large herds of buffalo once trampled the Great Plains, making the landscape appear black and in motion. Wolves roamed the continent, creating complex societies. This time period now lives as legend, in accounts from early settlers and Indian stories. Scattered reserves are home to relatively small populations.

     A recent study by scientists from Princeton University and the World Wildlife Fund found the story of the buffalo and the wolf common on a global scale. The study found that less than 21% of the earth’s land surface still contains all the large mammals (at least 44 pounds or 20 kilograms) that it did in the year 1500.

     About 500 years ago, the earth was in a time of great transition as colonization began increasing significantly. Farming was introduced to new regions, often contributing to the decline of large mammal populations.

     These animals have a significant effect on the health and function of ecosystems because large mammals are often top predators and sculpt the landscape. Their disappearance can cause other populations to fluctuate greatly if an equilibrium is broken.

     “Perhaps the most striking result of our study is that those 109 places that still retain the same roster of large mammals as in 1500 A.D. are either small, intensively managed reserves or places of extremes,” says John Morrison, WWF’s Director of Conservation Measures and lead author of the study. “Remote areas are either too hot, dry, wet, frozen or swampy to support intensive human activities.”

     This study speaks to the effects that human populations often have on large mammals and can be used as a tool to shape future action. Eric Dinerstein, WWF’s Chief Scientist and Vice-President of Conservation Science said, “The obvious question we always ask ourselves is: How does this information help us? First, we can now pinpoint places where large mammal assemblages still play important roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Second, we now have targets where through strategic reintroductions—such as returning wolves to Yellowstone—we can restore intactness in places missing one or two species and recover the ecological fabric of these important conservation landscapes.”

     Several geographic areas have been identified as priorities of long-term conservation efforts. The Great Plains of North America, the Eastern Himalayas, and Namibia will be targeted to restore species and bring back populations to levels sufficient to play important ecological roles.

     This study highlights the both the effects of human impacts on mammal populations and the opportunity to shift our relationship with these communities.

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After earning an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco, Sarah Lozanova joined Solar Service Inc. She is a writer for Green Options Media and co-founder of Trees Across the Miles, a non-profit urban reforestation project. Sarah can be contacted at Sarah.Lozanova@gmail.com.

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