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Biofuel refineries and toxic pollution

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There have been decades of government support for renewable, crop-based fuels – primarily corn ethanol.  In fact, it is a required component of gasoline sold in this country.  The biofuels industry has long claimed ethanol to be a clean, greener alternative to petroleum. 

There have been arguments all along that the environmental benefits of corn ethanol are dubious at best because of the energy required to produce the stuff.  There are also issues related to burning a food crop instead of feeding it to people and that the conversion of grasslands and forests to produce it releases massive amounts of carbon.

Recently, another serious concern has emerged.  A new review of industry data has found that the country’s biofuel refineries, mostly located in the Midwest, produce large amounts of toxic air pollutants, in some cases ever more than from their petroleum counterparts.

Emissions data from the country’s 275 ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel plants revealed that they release carcinogenic formaldehyde as well as other potentially dangerous substances including acetaldehyde, hexane, and acrolein.  In 2022, biofuel refineries released 12.9 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants, compared to 14.9 million pounds emitted by oil refineries, and the biofuel plants actually emitted more of the four chemicals just mentioned than petroleum refineries did.

The broad use of crop ethanol is the result of intensive industry lobbying.  Ethanol plants are even exempt from some air pollution permitting requirements.  Perhaps the time has come to revisit its pervasive and mandated use.

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Biofuel Refineries Are Releasing Toxic Air Pollutants in Farm Communities Across the US

Photo, posted February 27, 2021, courtesy of Sue Thompson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Better Way To Capture Carbon | Earth Wise

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The goal of carbon capture and storage technology is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and safely store it for the indefinite future.  There are existing industrial facilities that capture carbon dioxide from concentrated sources – like the emissions from power plants.  The technology currently captures and stores only about a tenth of a percent of global carbon emissions.

Most existing CCS technologies use chemical binders to trap carbon dioxide quickly and efficiently, but they are extraordinarily energy intensive as well as expensive.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new tool that could lead to more efficient and cheaper ways to capture carbon dioxide directly out of the air.  The tool predicts how strong the bond will be between carbon dioxide and a candidate molecule for trapping it – that is, a binder.  This new electrochemical diagnostic tool can be used to identify suitable molecular candidates for capturing carbon dioxide from everyday air.

Current carbon capture technologies are very expensive at the scale required to be able to turn the captured CO2 into useful substances, such as carbonates – which are an ingredient in cement – or formaldehyde or methanol, which can be used as fuels.  Making useful materials out of the captured CO2 is an important way to offset the cost of capturing it that merely storing it away does not permit.

The new electrochemical analytical tool developed by the Colorado researchers offers the potential for identifying binders that will be more efficient and less expensive, thereby making direct air carbon capture a realistic part of the efforts to address climate change.

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New method could lead to cheaper, more efficient ways to capture carbon

Photo, posted October 25, 2015, courtesy of Frans Berkelaar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Indoor Pollution

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We mostly think of air pollution as an outdoor problem.   The primary culprits are vehicle and factory exhaust as well as occasional wildfire smoke.  What we don’t think about is the air quality inside our own homes.

Researchers at Washington State University have found that indoor pollution levels can be surprisingly high and that they vary throughout the day and increase as temperatures rise.

Indoor air pollution comes from a variety of sources, including building materials, furniture, household chemical products, and from activities like cooking.  One of the most serious pollutants is formaldehyde, which often is emitted from gypsum wallboard.  About half of the gypsum used in homes as drywall is made from waste products from the coal industry.  When the material is heated, formaldehyde and possibly even mercury can be emitted.

Pollutant levels rise in homes as temperatures increase.  Thus, the highest levels of pollution occur in the afternoon and the lowest are in the early morning.  Before this research, manufacturers and builders assumed that pollution levels were pretty much constant over time.

Building laws require that homes are structurally sound, and that people are comfortable, but there is little regulation of air quality in people’s homes.  One of the best ways to clear out harmful chemicals is with ventilation to the outdoors.  But with increased concern about reducing energy use, builders are making homes more airtight, which may inadvertently be worsening the problem.

We need to balance making more energy efficient homes with protecting our health by being aware of the dangers that lurk in the air in our homes.  Running the air conditioning or opening windows are good things to do.

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Researchers uncover indoor pollution hazards

Photo, posted October 14, 2010, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cleaner Air For China

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For more than 15 years, the Chinese government has been grappling with some of the deadliest air pollution in the world.  Extreme pollution events are a regular wintertime occurrence and health experts estimate that more than a million people die each year in China from particulate air pollution.

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