We in the United States are sitting on a wealth of energy resources. In offering one small note regarding oil, we’ve known for decades the incredible reserves we have under our feet. I remember being told back in the 70s by Michigan oil workers how there is enough oil there to supply the world for well over a hundred years. I’ve heard the same from workers in the Utah desert, only their projections were up to five hundred years. However, due to smoke room politics and the intricate web of global marketing many of our most profitable wells have been capped. We now only need to look at the benefits reaped in North Dakota with their current oil boom to realize what can be had elsewhere. Yet, now that demand grows amid rising oil prices new domestic oil has been tapped around the country at moderate rates. Oil will still be a major energy factor for the foreseeable future. However, there are other energy sources yet to be tapped.
In the Midwest we have a tremendous resource of renewable energy in the form of corn. Forget the scare tactics from the “food vs. fuel” media campaign because it simply isn’t true. Corn used for fuel and corn used for human consumption are two totally different products. The link provided here details this in clear terms. Corn starch sugars are the primary substance from which ethanol is produced. The production of ethanol has been around since the manifestation of the combustible engine and even predates conventional gasoline. However, oil was cheap and easy to manufacture and use. Thus the dawning of the age of oil based energy. Ethanol plants have almost no waste. By-products that would have been considered waste ten or thirty years ago is now recycled into a valuable commodity for other markets. Here are two co-products produced in massive quantities from ethanol plants now considered valuable:
- Feedlots benefit greatly from ethanol plants producing DDGS which is used for livestock feed. DDG is the spent grain co-product of the ethanol production process. DDG (Dried Distillers Grain) is a valuable and economically friendly feed product for livestock and is marketed as dry, modified wet or wet distillers grain. In progressive grade the wet having a life of three days in comparison to the dry which can have an indefinite shelf life. Dairy, beef and swine markets near and far know the value of this product that is high in energy and high in protein. DDG co-product is also used as a fuel, weed inhibitor and even as fertilizer.
- An emerging market is the bioprocess algae renewable resource. In Shenandoah, Iowa, BioProcess Algae has expanded operations on five acres of Green Plains Renewable Energy where an ethanol plant is located. When completed, the carbon dioxide produced from the ethanol production facility will be directly piped to the algae facilities Grower Harvester ™ bioreactors. This carbon dioxide will instigate the production of high-quality algal biomass used for a spectrum ranging from transportation fuel to pharmaceutical applications. This is another testament of how one industry can complement and facilitate the needs and demands of another.
This BioProcess Algae operation in Shenandoah is unique in the algal ingredients market. Traditional production of algae consists of a heterotrophic process through fermentation in large containers. BioProcess Algae in pilot Shenandoah will grow algae through photosynthesis using the sunlight along with the abundant resource of heat and carbon dioxide from the ethanol plant. This algae operation is now at commercial stage development. With a minimum of 10,000 strains of algae only about 10 are commercially grown. This facility will be able to manipulate conditions to produce virtually any kind of strain needed for any application. It will be done safely and in a controlled environment. For instance, Omega 3 can be safely harvested from algae in greater quantities than from fish oils derived from stock that may be contaminated with mercury or other impure substances. In these terms it is necessary and vital that the algae industry take on a clean, efficient and an economically viable role to assure a satisfied market.
New and emerging markets rarely get the credit that is due. According to Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) ethanol has benefited the gasoline consumer by over $1 per gallon. Concerning algae, farm algae production conserves energy, uses less water, fuel and fertilizer than other forms of algae growth. There are many credits to be made that are often shadowed by big money in existing markets, media and governments.
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A new era of manufacturing is giving way to new industries and technologies. Applications now termed “green” may soon become the standard. Isn’t this an exciting time when basic industry manufacturing is making the investment into research, and are now coming up with innovative ways to reduce emissions and health risks? There is renewed vigor and assurance of investment when that research provides the potential of increased profit margins for their companies. Through responsible harvesting of natural resources and protecting the health and quality of the environment we’ll realize that we can still continue to expand into profitable markets around the world.
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