Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Guest Column: The Bioeconomy: New technology from an old idea

Back to Leopold Letter Fall 2009

By RICH DANA, Guest columnist

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Bioeconomy is one of six core issues that help guide the work of the Leopold Center and clarify our role and response in critical areas. We asked Rich Dana, an energy specialist for the National Center for Appropriate Technology, to give us a bird’s-eye view of this issue.

In Iowa, we all know that ethanol can be made from corn, and biodiesel from soybeans, but using plant- and animal-based oils and fiber to produce fuel, solvents, adhesives and other high-tech materials is not a new idea. As far back as the 1930s, Henry Ford was building concept cars that ran on 100 percent ethanol and had plastic bodies and upholstery made of plant fiber. Recent high oil prices and unstable politics in the Middle East again have led people to see the advantages of biobased products. The question before us now is: Can we make these products in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable?

What are bioproducts?
Today we get most of our plastics and chemicals from petroleum. The ability to produce a wide range of products other than gasoline is what allows the petrochemical industry to be so profitable. Currently, the biofuels industry is limited to making transportation fuels (ethanol and biodiesel) and their by-products such as dried distiller’s grains.

Researchers at Iowa State University’s Biomass Energy Conversion (BECON) facility believe that a “biorefinery” model could help create a more efficient bioproducts industry by mimicking a petroleum refinery. By breaking down biomass (which could include food crops, wood, perennial grasses and even municipal waste) into chemical components, the process could produce everything from insulation and anti-freeze to plastic and gel for toothpaste.

A short history
Agriculturally-based products have long dominated the marketplace. Hemp, flax and other crops were grown for oil and fiber during our nation’s early history. George Washington taxed foreign hemp products to encourage domestic production, and by the time Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation by the light of a hemp-oil lamp, it had become the leading fiber and oil crop in the nation. In 1870, John Wesley Hyatt trademarked “Celluloid,” a plant-based product that was the first thermoplastic material, what we now simply call “plastic.” In 1895, Rudolph Diesel ran the first diesel engines on peanut oil, and in 1905 Henry Ford built the first Model T powered by ethanol.

Unfortunately for America’s farmers, widespread use of agriculturally-based chemicals waned in the early 20th century. The 1901 “Spindletop Gusher” in Pennsylvania marked the start of the petrochemical era and a rapid rise to economic and political power for companies such as Standard Oil and DuPont. In 1919, Prohibition ended on-farm ethanol fuel production, and in 1937, the federal government taxed and regulated hemp out of production, one year after DuPont patented nylon.

Agricultural products enjoyed a brief comeback during World War II oil shortages, but it was not until the OPEC oil embargo in the 1970s that people began to consider alternatives to Middle East crude. Brazil began subsidizing ethanol from sugar cane and currently leads the United States in ethanol production. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has grown to become the largest U.S. producer of ethanol.

However, with last year's plunging oil prices and crashing credit market, ADM has idled 21 percent of its capacity. The industry is again in free-fall, despite massive government support and a growing demand for “green” products.

Their future in Iowa
Many people believe that corn-based ethanol and soy biodiesel are just the first steps toward an integrated approach to building a more energy efficient, economically viable biofuels industry. New technologies suggest that perennial grasses can become high-yielding sources for cellulose-based ethanol. Critics feel that cellulosic technology is problematic and expensive, and that the promises simply may be an excuse to increase the market share for conventional agriculture.

Aldo Leopold recognized that “there are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm – one is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” Some in the sustainable agriculture movement have been slow to recognize that energy is integral to a holistic farming system. We must make energy production part of a sustainable and diversified farm operation.

Biofuels and other bioproducts need not be the bugaboo of the environmentally-minded. High-sugar crops such as beets and sorghum, oilseed crops such as sunflowers and camelina, and hemp all potentially can be grown and processed into fuel right on the farm. From there it is not a large leap for small farms to set up production of “value-added” raw materials for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other industrial uses.

Although the future of a large-scale bioproducts industry is uncertain in the current economic and political climate, a wide range of opportunities have opened for small-scale and diversified farms. During times like these, necessity can lead to innovation, and community-based projects can begin to overcome the “economy of scale.” However, after spending nearly a century lost in the shadow of cheap petroleum, it will take widespread commitment to move us away from our dependence on foreign oil and back to the technologies that will enable us to rely on diversified, renewable and locally grown raw materials.

Back to Leopold Letter Fall 2009