My lovely momma paid me and Sunny back for the Mother's Day brunch we prepared the other day, by alerting us to this letter to the editor in the Ukiah Daily Journal:

Biofuels an clean energy myth

To the Editor:

I read in a Sunday paper the man on the street interviews concerning bio-fuels. It is obvious to me that both the questioner and those who gave answers have not done their home work on this alleged savior or new answer to fossil fuels. First of all it takes two gallons of regular fuel to get bio fuel to the pumps. Bio fuels put out 25 brand new cancer causing agents into the atmosphere including some that are present in regular fuel. You get less gas mileage and performance out of your vehicle. On top of that it drives the cost of food up as we use food products to make the bio fuel now. You can't use pipelines to transport bio fuels it has to be trucked or shipped. It is a fraud and anyone who says otherwise lives in fantasy land. To put it in a way that most readers who subscribe to the myth of bio fuels its like using a condom with holes in it; it doesn't work. The real answer to our energy problems is nuclear energy. Build more plants and we can lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Nuclear is the only carbon neutral power supply. By building more nuclear power plants we can use them to produce hydrogen that can then be turned around to power fuel cells for cars in a very cheap way. Not the cost preventative way we use now. For those of you who are opposed to nuclear power remember like professional wrestling godzilla was fake. Even Nobel prize winner Al Gore is a proponent of nuclear power. Of course the best way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil is to get out of our cars and walk once in awhile. Ride a bike, this would benefit us two fold we could fight obesity in our country and save the climate. Remember this before you ask a question for which you know nothing about you are going to get the answers that show ignorance on the subject. This last bit is for those who grow large illegal marijuana gardens and have meth labs in their homes who usually have the money to buy the bio fuels you are the biggest frauds of all purporting that you support a healthy environment all the while you pollute our public lands and steal our precious water.

John Pearson

Ukiah

As Sunny said, "It is about the most ill-informed thing I have read in awhile." So here's my own letter to the editor, sent in this morning:

 

To the Editor:

As a local producer and distributor of one type of biofuel- local recycled fryer oil biodiesel- I'd like to respond to the letter that was printed under the heading, "Biofuels an clean energy myth," by John Pearson.

First of all, I take exception to any generalizations about "biofuel", as if it's all the same thing. There are as many types of biofuels as there are living things on this planet. The most common forms are biomass, biogas, ethanol, and biodiesel. Each of these biofuels can be made from any number of feedstocks (sources), which means that the characteristics of a particular biofuel can vary greatly.

Second, who is claiming that biofuels are the "savior"? Certainly not most biofuels proponents that I know. My company markets our biodiesel as a transition fuel that can ease the transition from less sustainable fueling to more sustainable, renewable fueling.

Mr. Pearson's claim that "it takes two gallons of regular fuel to get bio fuel to the pumps" is completely baseless. According to the Department of Energy, the average lifecycle energy balance on a gallon of soybean oil biodiesel is 3.2 gallons of energy out for every 1 gallon in. That in itself is a very positive energy balance, but what we, and other companies like us, have found when we've audited our own recycled product is that it has a much higher energy balance than soybean oil biodiesel- starting at around 7 gallons to 1, with the potential to go much higher. This is largely because we are giving a 2nd life to a product, but is also because the production process for biodiesel is pretty simple, without many big energy inputs (as opposed to fossil fuel refining, for instance).

Mr. Pearson claims that "bio fuels put out 25 brand new cancer causing agents", which flies in the face of science. I can only speak to biodiesel, but I can say that every study I've ever seen, done by such institutions as NREL, Harvard, and the DOE, indicates at least a 90% reduction in carcinogens from biodiesel emissions as opposed to diesel emissions, and an even greater reduction when compared to gasoline. Frankly, that's one of the best reasons to use biodiesel, especially in school busses!

Mr. Pearson claims that "you get less gas mileage and performance out of your vehicle." Perhaps he has not been informed that the diesel engine is inherently much more fuel efficient than its gasoline alternative. Many of our customers are happily getting around 50 MPG. Additionally, biodiesel fuel has a higher lubricity and cetane than petro diesel, making it a better fuel in key ways.

In response to another erroneous claim, I must stress that biodiesel production does not need to compete with food production- that is a myth! Used fryer oil, for instance, is not a food item (hence its official designation, "inedible kitchen grease"). Neither are a number of other sources. The biodiesel and ethanol industries, unfortunately, have aligned themselves with soy and corn interests, but that is not the fault of the fuels themselves, which can be made from much higher-yielding, more appropriate feedstocks. Incidentally, it is the high price of energy in general that is contributing to the global high cost of food right now, mostly driven by our society's addiction to petroleum, a highly limited resource.

Finally, you can indeed use pipelines to transport biofuels. In fact, that's one of the great benefits of biofuel alternatives to fossil fuels- they take the same form, and can utilize existing infrastructure.

In closing, I'd just like to say that I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Pearson about conservation, which truly is the best and most immediate way to fight climate change and lessen our dependency on foreign oil. Walk, ride a bike, use public transportation- these are all important steps. Try not to use a car, but when you need one, fuel it with the most local, sustainable fuel you can find.

Kumar Plocher

Hopland