Biofuels in Japan

I suppose this might make sense as long as waste products are used but otherwise if the rice itself is used it seems inefficient and perhaps immoral to divert a food to making fuel. I am surprised that fuel in Japan is no more expensive than here in Canada.


Reuters India

Sake may power Japanese cars in the future
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2007-05-11T170043Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-297764-1.xml&archived=False

Fri May 11, 2007

By Risa Maeda

SHINANOMACHI, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese motorists may one day pump
their
cars full of sake, the fermented rice wine that is Japan's national
drink,
if a pilot project to create sake fuel is a hit with locals in this
mountain
resort.

The government-funded project at Shinanomachi, 200 kilometres northwest
of
Tokyo, will produce cheap rice-origin ethanol brew with the help of
local
farmers who will donate farm waste such as rice hulls to be turned into
ethanol.

"We want to present the next generation a preferable blue print -- a
self-sustainable use of local fuels," said Yasuo Igarashi, a professor
of
applied microbiology at the University of Tokyo who heads the three
year
project.

If the project catches on with locals then it could pave the way for
similar
endeavours across Japan that will see Japanese cars running on
Japanese-made
biofuels in the future, he added.

Japan, the world's second largest gasoline consumer after the United
States,
is entirely dependent on crude oil imports and it has been hit by the
surge
in oil prices.

With hefty carbon emissions reduction targets to meet under the Kyoto
protocols, Japan is turning to biofuels. Yet motorists in Japan are
still
far behind drivers in Europe and the United States in their consumption
of
green fuels.

Some analysts say Japan is at a major disadvantage as high prices for
local
farm produce mean locally-made green fuels are exorbitantly expensive.
Added to that is a lack of support from the country's powerful oil
distributors and a failure by the government to provide policy
incentives
such as mandatory usage.

That is where Igarashi and his team come in. They hope to show that
biofuels
are feasible and inexpensive by developing a low-cost fuel and
encouraging a
local community of about 10,000 people to take part in producing that
fuel.

SWEET AROMA OF BIOFUELS

Production has just begun at the facility at a former high school field
in
Shinanomachi and a sweet, sour aroma, similar to that of unfiltered
sake,
wafts into the air.

"We like the idea," said Shigehiro Matsuki, the mayor of Shinanomachi.
"The new fuels are renewable... instead of fossil fuels which are
running
out."

Unlike spacious sugar cane plantations in the No.1 ethanol exporter,
Brazil,
family farming is dominant in Japan, with a majority of farmers working
regular jobs and growing rice, the staple food, on their weekends.

There is plenty of potential to develop biofuels from agriculture waste
and
abandoned farmland, Igarashi said.

The project will test its biofuel on a "flex-fuel vehicle", which can
run on
any mixture of gasoline and green fuels and which is gaining popularity
in
the rest of the world as the battle against global warming heats up.

But Japan has no flex-fuel vehicles even though Japanese car companies
Honda
Motor Co. Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. produce them for the market in
Brazil.
So the team imported a red Ford Focus from Britain for the project.

With one 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice needed to produce 0.5 litre of
ethanol, the main challenge will be creating a low cost biofuel that
can
compete with ordinary gasoline, which is now sold at around 135 yen
($1.13)
a litre, including gasoline related taxes of some 56 yen.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Ethanol gas has no cleaner emissions than regular gas

Although this test is limited in nature it shows that the benefits of ethanol in gasoline are probably over-rated in terms of the environment. Of course the subsidies will help ADM and corn farmers!
To be fair it would make sense to test cars that run on pure ethanol and gasoline.
However, there is also the whole issue of whether there is much if any savings of energy at all if ethanol is made from corn. There apparently are more savings if it is made from other sources such as sugar cane as happens in Brazil.
These factors do not even consider the point that Castro brings up: should a food crop be diverted to be used as fuel.


Ethanol auto emissions no greener than gasoline: study
Last Updated: Friday, March 30, 2007 | 8:18 PM CT
CBC News
An unpublished federal report appears to undermine the belief that commercially available ethanol-blended fuel produces cleaner emissions than regular gasoline.

Many Canadians believe filling up with ethanol-blended gasoline reduces the emission of greenhouse gases that damage the environment.

Advertising sponsored by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association encourages the idea, telling Canadians renewable fuels are "good for the environment," and even some provincial governments, including Manitoba and Saskatchewan, say the fuel "burns cleaner" than gasoline.

The federal Conservative government committed $2 billion in incentives for ethanol, made from wheat and corn, and biodiesel in last week's budget.

But based on Ottawa's own research, critics say the investment is based more on myth than hard science.

'Not a lot of difference'
Scientists at Environment Canada studied four vehicles of recent makes, testing their emissions in a range for driving conditions and temperatures.

Continue Article

"Looking at tailpipe emissions, from a greenhouse gas perspective, there really isn't much difference between ethanol and gasoline," said Greg Rideout, head of Environment Canada's toxic emissions research.

"Our results seemed to indicate that with today's vehicles, there's not a lot of difference at the tailpipe with greenhouse gas emissions."

The study found no statistical difference between the greenhouse gas emissions of regular unleaded fuel and 10 per cent ethanol blended fuel.

Although the study found a reduction in carbon monoxide, a pollutant that forms smog, emissions of some other gases, such as hydrocarbons, actually increased under certain conditions.

Bill Rees, an ecology professor at the University of British Columbia and longtime opponent of ethanol, has read the report and thinks Canadians need to know its conclusions.

"I must say, I'm a little surprised at that, because it seems to fly in the face of current policy initiatives," he said.

"People are being conned into believing in a product and paying for it through their tax monies when there's no justifiable benefit and indeed many negative costs."

Other benefits: minister
Federal Environment Minister John Baird said he knows about the report, which was commissioned under the previous Liberal government. However, he said, he is looking at the big picture.

"I think there's an issue between the tailpipe and the whole cycle," he said. "The whole cycle is better than the tailpipe."

Other ethanol proponents agreed, saying tailpipe emissions are not the only statistic that matters.

Ethanol is made from a renewable resource, they noted, and — although there is much scientific debate on this point — they argue ethanol produces fewer greenhouse gases when the entire production cycle, from gathering to refinement to emissions, is taken into account.

Castro on Ethanol

Some environmentalists agree with Castro but often the critique of ethanol use especially made from corn is that net energy gain may be small or even negative. It is not clear how in the US using corn for ethanol displaces corn grown to feed the worlds poor and makes their situation worth. Unless the US govt. subsidizes corn production to feed the worlds poor it would not be produced for their consumption anyway. Strangely enough Bush does not even mention the subsidies that the huge grain companies such as ADM get from US agricultural policy. I have also posted a couple of other articles on this issue to complement this one.

From Monsters and Critics.com

Americas News
Castro ends 8-month silence to slam US ethanol plans (2nd Roundup)
By DPA

Mar 29, 2007, 19:59 GMT

Havana - Ending eight months of silence, ailing Cuban President Fidel
Castro published an article in Cuban state media Thursday criticizing
US environmental policies, and in particular plans to boost the use of
ethanol.

'The sinister idea of converting food into fuel has definitely been
established as an economic lineament in US foreign policy,' the Cuban
leader wrote, arguing that US President George W Bush's support for
using crops to produce ethanol for automobiles in rich nations could
deplete food stocks in developing countries.

The article published in the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma was
the first attempt by Castro, 80, who is recovering from intestinal
surgery, to comment on international issues since he was taken ill in
July 2006 and handed over power to his younger brother Raul.

Fidel Castro has only been seen in half a dozen videos and several
pictures since the surgery, the last ones published in March where he
appeared with Colombian Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

'More than 3 billion people in the world condemned to premature death
by hunger and thirst,' read the headline of Castro's article.

Castro's health has been treated as a state secret in Cuba, which has
not revealed the exact cause of his illness. Over the past months,
rumours of the imminent death of the Cuban leader have been strongly
denied by the authorities. However, over the last few weeks the
expectation of his return has increased, owing to several hints by
Cuban and international officials.

A few weeks ago, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced the
possibility of that Castro would appear publicly on April 28. This
would mark the first anniversary of Bolivia's joining the Alternativa
Bolivariana para las Americas (ALBA), the Cuban and Venezuelan
alternative to the US-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA).

Cuba has not yet confirmed Castro's appearance. The island is entering
its ninth month without its socialist leader of almost half a century.

In the article, Castro warned that the plans to convert products like
corn, sugar cane or soy into ethanol for use as fuel additives could
cause serious ecological damage and would adversely affect the third
world population.

Castro referred to a meeting Bush had Monday with leading US
automotive groups, in which he urged them to double the number of
vehicles fuelled by alternative combustibles such as ethanol, in an
attempt to combat climate change and US dependence on oil.

'I think that reducing and recycling all the electricity and
combustible consuming motors is an elemental and urgent necessity for
all humanity. The tragedy does not consist in reducing the costs of
energy, but in the idea of converting food into combustibles,' Castro
said in the article.

Bush strongly promoted the production and use of biofuels in Latin
American countries in a regional tour earlier this month, with
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as his main ally. The US
and Brazil together produce around 72 per cent of the world's ethanol.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said he 'respects' the Cuban
leader but defended the position of Lula's leftist government.

'I think everyone is free to express their opinion. But I do not think
that was meant against the Brazilian government or Brazil. Our opinion
on ethanol is that ethanol's success has been proved in practice,' he
said.

Amorim pointed out that Brazil produces ethanol from sugar cane, while
the United States uses less energy-efficient corn.

'Brazil is today looked at as almost an object of pilgrimage, or a
Mecca - to use two different religious examples - by all developed or
developing countries, who come to seek in ethanol and (other) biofuels
a way out of energy problems, not to remain totally dependent on oil.
Everyone knows that oil is going to run out,' the minister said.

According to the Cuban leader, even if the US dedicated its entire
corn production to the production of ethanol, there still would not be
enough ethanol for its fuel needs.

'If you apply this recipe in Third World countries, you'll see how
many people of the hungry masses of our planet will stop eating corn.
Or even worse: finance poor countries to produce ethanol from corn and
there won't even be one tree to defend humanity of the climate
change,' Castro wrote.

The Cuban president said instead of these policies, countries should
concentrate on other ways of saving energy, as Cuba does.

'All the countries in the world, poor and rich, could save millions
and millions of dollars just by changing all incandescent light bulbs
into fluorescent ones, something Cuba has been doing in all homes.
That would give climate change a break without starving the poor
masses of the world,' said Castro, who in the past few years has made
ecology one of his major interests.

(c) 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

(c) Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com.

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