TALLAHASSEE – Many alternative fuels designed to
wean America The report comes as gas stations across the
state are preparing to comply with a requirement in the energy bill signed by
Governor Crist last month that requires all gas sold in Florida to contain at least 10% ethanol by
2010.
off of oil will cause a whole host of other problems and increase global
warming emissions, according to a report released today by Environment Florida.
The report, “Beyond Oil: The Transportation
Fuels That Can Help Reduce Global Warming”, evaluates the leading
contenders in the alternative fuels race, with a specific focus on their impact
on global warming and the environment. The
worst examples cited by the report include liquid coal, corn ethanol and soy
biodiesel, all of which have 50% - 100% greater emissions relative to conventional
gasoline. The report shows that
the best solution to lowering emissions from vehicles is to combine the
approaches that offer the greatest environmental benefits. For example, an
efficient plug-in hybrid vehicle operating on electricity and cellulosic
ethanol made from crop waste has emissions that are at least 70% lower than
gasoline.
“Today’s headlines
are telling us that we must move away from oil as a transportation fuel,” said Holly Binns, Field Director with Environment Florida. “We cannot afford to make other problems worse
in our quest to reduce our dependence on oil,” she added.
Key findings include:
Biodiesel - Biodiesel from
soybeans, the most common feedstock for biodiesel, is at least 50 percent more
polluting than conventional diesel and, like corn ethanol, can cause many other
problems associated with high intensity agriculture. However, the report also found that if the
diesel is made from waste cooking oil, life-cycle global warming pollution
emissions from biodiesel can be as much as 98 percent less than
conventional diesel.
Cellulosic Ethanol - Producing cellulosic ethanol from
certain feedstocks can reduce global warming pollution. Cellulosic ethanol made
from crop waste, prairie grass grown on abandoned or marginal cropland can have
emissions well below that of gasoline.
Corn Ethanol
- High-volume corn
ethanol production does not result in lower global warming emissions than
gasoline. In fact, full life-cycle emissions from corn ethanol may be twice as
high as gasoline, when secondary land-use impacts are taken into account. The increased production of corn ethanol has
also caused a host of other problems including water pollution and competition
for cropland used for food.
Hydrogen
– This has long been
touted as the transportation fuel of the future. But the environmental impacts
of hydrogen depend greatly on how it is produced, and hydrogen-powered vehicles
are still a long way from being available to American consumers.
Liquid Coal Fuel - Liquid produced from coal creates at
least 80 percent more global warming pollution than gasoline. The fuel starts with a high-carbon energy
source and requires heavy processing.
Natural gas
- reduces air pollution
and global warming pollution compared with gasoline vehicles. But natural gas
fueling infrastructure is expensive and domestic supplies of natural gas are
both finite and increasingly constrained.
Plug-in hybrids and
all-electric vehicles
- Because electric motors are far more
efficient than internal combustion engines, vehicles that use electricity
almost always produce less global warming pollution than gasoline vehicles, even when the electricity used to fuel them
is generated from coal. Plug in hybrids powered by the average U.S.
electricity mix are 50% less polluting than gasoline. The benefits are far greater when vehicles
are fueled with renewably-generated electricity.
“As the race for alternative fuels
accelerates, we must encourage the development of new options that reduce
global warming and avoid severe environmental impacts,” concluded Binns. “We
need to put the brakes on the rush to corn ethanol and environmentally harmful
liquid coal technologies and move toward 21st century technologies
like plug-in hybrids and other fuels that do not create more problems than they
solve,” she added.
The report makes a number of recommendations
to local state and federal policymakers for achieving large reductions in
global warming pollution from cars and light trucks and reducing our oil
dependence; including:
- Adopting requirements to lower the carbon content of
transportation fuels; including amending the recently passed federal
renewable fuels standard to require that all ethanol sold is subject to a
low carbon fuel standard.
- Rejecting policies that promote or subsidize fuels that would make
the problem worse.
- Requiring that by 2020, all new vehicles are capable of using
lower carbon fuels, whether electricity or bio-fuels.
- Supporting additional research into cultivation techniques for
cellulosic feedstock and into technologies for converting cellulosic
feed-stocks, especially waste, into fuel.
- Improving vehicle fuel economy and pursuing measures to reduce
total driving. These measures would further cut global warming emissions
and reduce our vulnerability to rapid changes in the global petroleum
market.
“By committing to an approach that combines
the best technologies, the cleanest fuels, and that sets rigorous environmental
standards for alternative fuels, Florida can improve its energy security, while cutting global warming
pollution and protecting our environment,” said Binns. “One thing is clear: Florida has little time to lose in
addressing these challenges. And we
cannot afford false starts.”
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