1. Google Steve Chu: where does he work? Where did he work before? On what? What did he get an award for? Why is this important to the end of the story?
Steven Chu is the current United States Secretary of Energy. He was previously the professor for physics at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Chu's research mostly concerned the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Philips in 1997 for the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light". His work at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory included research into the development of cellulosic ethanol energy sources, which is predicted to revolutionize the way ethanol is produced on a scale even greater than that of sugar ethanol in Brazil.
Ok, link the pieces together now...
Before Chu became the Secretary of Energy, he was working on research in how to turn cellulosic plant material into ethanol. His promotion into the Obama administration was due to this research and his further understanding of energy and sustainability and how it is relevant to America's sustainable energy future.
2. Google Dan Kammen: where does he work? On what? Why does he cite Brazilian sugar ethanol as sustainable? Compare this with corn ethanol grown in the US (e.g. Nebraska).
Dan Kammen is the director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, where he works on "designing, testing, and disseminating renewable and appropriate energy systems". Kammen cites Brazilian sugar ethanol as being sustainable for sugar cane is easy and fast to grow and is simple to process into ethanol, but the most significant reason for why it is sustainable is because of how Brazil's energy economy has become centered around ethanol to the point where it is not possible to buy gasoline in Brazil without some measure of ethanol content added. American corn ethanol is five to six times less efficient than sugar cane ethanol, and it competes with the production of a major food crop, hence why ethanol has not been embraced in the United States to the same degree as it has been in Brazil.
It's not about food (yet). The US exports food now, but we pay for that food with foreign oil. connect the dots
To grow corn requires huge quantities of petrochemical fertilizers, which are also reliant on oil imports. We cannot say that corn ethanol is sustainable when foreign imports are still necessary to grow corn.
3. Compare sugar ethanol from Brazil with US corn ethanol. Which competes for food? Which needs petrochemical to fertilize? What is the energy balance like for each? What is/was bagasse used for? What is bagasse made of? How did sugar cane mills here in Hawaii fuel their boilers? Was sugar indigenous, and could it grow here again? Explain.
which is sustainable?
Sugar ethanol.
Corn ethanol in the United States competes directly with food production, and it also requires the use of petrochemicals to fertilize. The energy balance for sugar cane ethanol is seven times greater than that of corn ethanol. Bagasse is the leftover plant matter that remains after sugar cane or sorghum stalks are crushed in the extraction of juice, which is usually burned by sugar cane mills to supply energy to the mill with power to spare. Bagasse consists of about 50% cellulose, 25% hemicellulose, 24% lignin, and 1% ash and wax. Sugar cane mills in Hawaii fueled their boilers by burning bagasse leftover from the production of sugar. While sugar cane was not indigenous to the islands, Hawaiians have been growing them since the pre-European contact era. The decline of sugar growing in Hawaii had nothing to do with natural or environmental factors, but rather because of changing geopolitical factors that made it no longer a feasible business on the islands. If the political climate changes, and sugar cultivation becomes profitable again in Hawaii, it could certainly be grown again here.
not the political climate, it was economics: Brazil (and others) can produce sugar cheaper (lots of rain, cheap land, cheap labor) than Hawaii. Also, our sugar cane was not indigenous, it was brought here as a food crop (I believe), and the water system to produce and transport sugar cane was extensive and expensive, now damaged by the 2006 earthquakes.
4. Google Vijay: what is he involved in now?
Vijay Vaitheeswaran is the senior editor for The Economist covering politics, economics, business, and technology as they relate to energy. He recently published a book called Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the Planet, aiming to the raise awareness of alternate energy sources for the future.
good. He's also a big player in the global warming arena.
5. Oil embargo: when did this happen? Why? What happened? How did this change the lifestyle of people in the US? Is this similar to today?
The Arab Oil Embargo started in October 1973 and ended in March 1974 when members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an oil embargo on the United States in response to its decision to aid Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
How?
OPEC states cut production and exports of oil to world markets.
Oil exports to the United States significantly dropped, and a shortage led to massive price increases as well as the introduction of rationing across the country. National campaigns to cut consumption
e.g.?
Gasoline rationing happened across the country and energy conservation was started with campaigns banning Christmas lights and decorative lights in general. NASCAR cut the length of their races, and houses were built with more advanced insulation to reduce the need for heating fuels.
were imposed, as was a nationwide speed limit and year-round daylight savings time. Ironically, the exploration and development of renewable energy sources was discouraged, as government price controls were meant to stimulate oil exploration. While the 1973 oil crisis was instrumental in starting consumer trends such as the move to smaller and more fuel-efficent vehicles, today's reality is not that much different from before the energy crisis, with dependency on foreign oil as entrenched as ever.
discuss why-interesting thread
After the oil crisis subsided, prices dropped back down and many of the legislation introduced to reduce fuel consumption gradually became forgotten. Reagan removed solar panels installed on the roof of the White House installed by Carter, for example.
6. Corn ethanol: why is this so prevalent in the US? Who backs it and why? Who was president in 2002, when many of the corn ethanol policies began? What was his line of work before? What about the vice president?
Corn ethanol is so prevalent in the United States as corn was already a major crop cultivated in the Midwest. The major push for it happened under the presidency of George W. Bush, who was president during 2002. Before he embarked to Washington D.C. to help his father run for the presidency in 1988, Bush was active in the oil industry owning and working for several oil exploration companies. His vice president, Dick Cheney, served as the CEO and chairman of Halliburton, the world's second largest oilfield services corporation, from 1995 until 2000.
so they could appear to be moving the country towards independence, but did they really?
They did not. Corn too still relies on petrochemicals which are imported from OPEC countries or Canada.
7. Cars: why do you think VW has put more research into biofuel cars than hybrids? When were CAFE standards started? What is a CAFE standard? What was made exempt from CAFE standards around 1995? What impact did this have on the country?
Volkswagen developed flex-fuel cars for Brazil because that was the nature of the market there. The infrastructure for ethanol was already mature and in place; developing a hybrid car would have not made sense as Brazil did not invest any money into the infrastructure necessary to sustain hybrid cars (charging stations, battery replacement/recycling programs...). The Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards were first imposed in 1975 to raise the fuel economy of vehicles in the United States in the wake of the 1973 oil embargo. However, exemptions for SUVs were allowed around 1995, and the average fuel economy for vehicles in the United States now have dropped back to their normal levels.
all correct. now include what hybrids might do. why is this important?
Hybrids, once their batteries die, are left as inefficient cars hauling around big and heavy lead weights. They have to be replaced periodically as well.
8. Cellulosic Ethanol: what is this? How is it different from corn ethanol or sugar ethanol? Now rethink your bagasse question from above. Why is Steve Chu key to this? Imagine Brazil with sugar ethanol AND cellulosic ethanol - your thoughts?
Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol produced from other parts of plants that are inedible, unlike corn ethanol and sugar ethanol which is made from starch, polymers of alpha-glucose monomers. Steve Chu, during his time at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, pioneered research in the development of cellulosic ethanol as a viable fuel source. If perfected, any sort of plant waste, including bagasse, can be converted into ethanol instead of just being crudely burnt for heat. A Brazil utilizing both sugar ethanol and cellulosic ethanol will be completely energy independent and hopefully serve as a model for how sustainable energy can be viable as well as economical for the future.
how might this impact our corn ethanol industry?
Our corn ethanol industry will probably experience even more growth, as now corn lobbyists from the Midwest will have even more pull in Congress, as corn can feed people, provide corn ethanol, as well as produce cellulosic ethanol.
hoang phong
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