Toxic Catastrophe
The sad consequence of the recent flap over the roundly debunked studies in Science Magazine about theoretical ripple effects of biofuel production is that it may have drawn attention away from the clear and present danger of a very real environmental catastrophe unfolding in the tar sands of Canada — where we can expect to get an increasing share of our petroleum as long as we remain totally dependent on oil.
As the Chicago Tribune reported this week, greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries in the Midwest are
expected to soar by as much as 40 percent in the next decade because of the extra energy required to process heavy crude extracted from the tar-soaked clay and sand lying under the swampy forests of northern Alberta.
And the extra global warming pollution from the refining process of tar sands oil isn’t even the half of it. The process of extracting the oil from tar sands in the first place is “the most destructive project on earth,” according to a new report from the Canadian group Environmental Defence. The process is leading to “the impending destruction of a boreal forest the size of Florida,” and “a slow motion oil spill in the regions river systems” that “may be worse in many respects than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.”
It is long past time for America to reduce its dependence on oil and curb greenhouse gas emissions through a diversified energy strategy that includes increased use of renewable biofuels like ethanol. On a per-gallon basis, corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent to 29 percent compared to gasoline, according to the Argonne National Laboratory. Meanwhile, according to an analysis by Dr. Bruce Dale of Michigan State, we displace 22 units of petroleum for every unit of ethanol produced.
Sources:
“Refinery Pollution May Soar,” by Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, February 12, 2008.
“Canada’s Toxic Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth,” Environmental Defence, February 2008.
Response to February 7, 2008 Sciencexpress Article, by Michael Wang of Argonne’s Transportation Technology R&D Center and Zia Haq of the Department of Energy’s Office of Biomass.
“The Debate on Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts of Fuel Ethanol,” Presentation by Dr. Michael
Wang, Argonne National Laboratory.
“Thinking Clearly About Biofuels,” by Dr. Bruce Dale, Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, August 9, 2007.
