Ethanol from corn not the answer, prof says

Fossil fuels are becoming extinct. And if the earth really is getting hotter, mankind’s use of… Fossil fuels are becoming extinct. And if the earth really is getting hotter, mankind’s use of fossil fuels is definitely in the running as a possible cause.

Amy Landis, an assistant professor in Pitt’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, agrees that fossil fuel use has gotten out of hand.

“Gas prices are over $100 a barrel, which is huge. It’s not sustainable from an economic or an environmental standpoint,” Landis said.

Landis advocates the use of biofuels made from biomass, or plant matter, as a potential alternative to fossil fuels.

An avid researcher in the field of biofuels, Landis spoke yesterday in Thaw Hall about the development and future of biofuels in her lecture titled “The Environmental Impacts and Tradeoffs of Biofuels.”

Of the types of biofuels, ethanol is perhaps the most well known. To produce ethanol, corn starches are fermented into sugars.

Although Landis said that the United States has the technological capabilities to make ethanol on a large scale, environmental reasons have encouraged scientists not to do so.

Growing corn for ethanol requires large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, but fertilizers are derived from petroleum and pesticides from natural gas.

Furthermore, large scale harvesting of corn would add considerable amounts of nitrogen to the air, a side effect that agriculture has already begun to experience.

“The nitrogen cycle has experienced changes, too. We’ve moved the nitrogen cycle in the U.S. to an unbalanced state,” Landis said.

With some similar capabilities to carbon dioxide, a main ingredient of global warming, nitrogen plays a role in smog formation, acid rain and even respiratory problems.

It also adds to global warming, meaning that carbon dioxide is not the sole perpetrator.

All in all, ethanol is not the miracle fossil fuel replacement. Landis advised researchers to “move away from corn, and start looking at more feasible crops.”

Some other biofuels have shown more promise than corn, but further research is still necessary. Switch grass, for example, is a prominent energy source, but has its own hindrances.

Switch grass has a higher degree of sustainability, or environmental friendliness, but technology to cultivate the biofuel on a high degree is lacking.

Soybeans, another potential biofuel, are commendable because of the ability of the plant material to hold in its carbon dioxide and keep it from being emitted.

But considerable research and development related to soybean biofuels has not yet been done, Landis said.

Biofuels can come from a range of plant material, even algae, yet few have proven to be environmentally friendly and efficient.

“Just because it’s green and comes from a living thing doesn’t mean that it’s environmentally friendly,” Landis said.

Landis’ presentation was part of a continuing series of lectures given by Pitt’s Department of Geology and Planetary Science.

The lecturers primarily represent various colleges and universities. All of the presentations deal with geological and environmental issues. A list of the remaining lectures can be found on The Department of Geology and Planetary Science’s website.