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What Teens Say...
Name: Mary Swearingen
Essay Theme: Alternative Fuel Research |
State: Oregon
School: McNary High School |
Beneficial bioenergy will
power future |
For centuries we have used two major sources of energy –
one mainly for transportation and the other to help us operate
machinery and other appliances inside our homes and offices.
The first energy source is gasoline and the second is hydroelectricity.
There
are many types of energy that can replace gasoline and the traditional
forms of electricity such as ethanol, biodiesel and wind energy.
These types of energy just happen to be forms of bioenergy.
Many benefits can come from using bioenergy and they not only
benefit farmers but also the whole world.
Ethanol is produced by fermentation of yeasts and other microorganisms.
Products that are used to make ethanol are corn and biomass
energy – otherwise known as manure or anything containing
high amounts of carbon. Ethanol is used in gasoline and other
high-octane fuels.
Ethanol can be produced by the fermentation of yeasts and other
microorganisms such as enzymes. One process that is used the
most is enzymatic hydrolysis. This process includes biomass
energy. The cells are used to convert hemicellulose (a substance
in plants contained in their cell walls) and cellulose from
the cellulosic biomass into sugars instead of acids. When farmers
use this method they often keep the biomass in an airtight container
to help speed up the fermentation process.
When producing ethanol by using corn (corn-based ethanol), they
extract the starch in the corn to make ethanol – only
the starch gets used. So, the corn kernels are left. Studies
show a bushel of corn can produce up to 2.5 gallons of ethanol
fuel.
Biodiesel – another source of bioenergy – is fuel
from natural or also renewable sources. An example would be
used and also new vegetable oil, and animal fats and any other
types of oils such as soybean and mustard seed oils –
otherwise known as hydrocarbons.
The properties of petroleum-derived diesel fuel are very comparable
to biodiesel. Also the use of biodiesel in conventional diesel
engines can substantially decrease emissions of carbon dioxide
and other particulate matter – up to 20 percent. Biodiesel
can be used in several engines with either little or no modification.
Wind energy is a very promising source of power. It is both
reusable and causes no pollution. A wind turbine – today’s
modern windmill – is used to harvest the wind, usually,
to provide major farms with electricity. There are several wind
turbines used, which form a wind plant.
All of the three sources of bioenergy given above have their
faults and strengths. In one way or another they all benefit
our world and farmers and even if it is not very beneficial
a little bit is better than none at all.
There are many benefits for both farms and consumers using ethanol.
Consumers would find biomass-produced ethanol – or cellulose
ethanol – is more cost efficient. Also the use of cellulose
ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than corn-based
ethanol.
As for farmers, when producing cellulose ethanol they can acquire
many benefits. One way would be by producing cellulose ethanol
with manure from their livestock. It would save you money and
would also reduce the amount of manure entering their lagoons.
Another way would be to use the ethanol in their machinery.
If they generate corn-based ethanol then all of the kernel remains
can be used as livestock feed such as corn distillers since
only the starch in corn is used to make corn-based ethanol.
However, when producing corn-based ethanol more energy is used
in making the corn-based ethanol than what is being made.
Biodiesel
is beneficial to consumers because you can use new or used oils
such as vegetable, soybean and mustard seed oil in diesel vehicles
– so old oils will not be wasted. For farmers, biodiesel
is a lot cheaper than buying petroleum-derived diesel because
you are using a recycled product. Biodiesel is also great for
farmers because the majority of farm equipment uses diesel.
Wind
energy is by far the most promising. Farmers can have their
own wind turbines on their farms and use the electricity toward
reducing their electricity bills and by using it to power generators.
Consumers won’t have to worry about discharging greenhouse
gases or more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But, wind
energy amounts vary throughout season, time of day and even
one year to the next. However, we must remember it is both a
clean and renewable source of energy.
As we progress into the future many forms of traditional energy
will be either limited or gone and we will have new, better
and safer types of energy to use. Some of the selections of
energy will be types of bioenergy such as wind energy, biodiesel
and ethanol. Each is beneficial to farmers, consumers and the
economy.
This essay was part of a 2005 essay contest
sponsored by Oregon
Agriculture in the Classroom.
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