May 30, 2017
Today we went to A renewable Fuel Research center partnered with Iowa State. I was truly amazed at all the different techniques that were being used to produce cost effective renewable fuels. I think the key phrase to look at before I discuss what we saw at the facility is the phrase “cost effective”. the facility has found countless renewable resources to use for everyday consumption. The problem is that they cannot compete with how cheap fossil fuels are. As long as fossil fuels are at the cost they are now, alternative renewable fuels do not have a chance in the market. According to our tour guide, it is not that they world will run out of oil, it is that the world will eventually run out of easy to reach ground level oil that is so cheap to extract and produce. But besides that our tour was really about the various different alternatives we are looking at along with the many uses of cash crops that are already produced such as Corn and Soy. For example we learned that the soybean stover is a very useful alternative to plastic and was used in place of plastics in car interiors before plastic was invented. Corn stover is also being used to be converted to bio-fuel. The only problem for corn bio-fuel is making it cost effectively.
We got to see bales of corn stover up close and it was fascinating to learn more about them. Each bale of stover weighs 1000 pounds and they fall on at least one farmer overhear and kill them. The stover for some reason is very prone to lightning and many piles of stover are not only struck by lightning each year but cause a fire. For clarification, stover is the leftovers of a crop in the field after it is harvested so for example corn stover is the cob and the stalk of the plant. After learning all about stover we moved to their processing plant where they grind up or distill different materials to try to convert to biofuel. Our tour guide explained how his favorite material to work with was eucalyptus and his least favorite was chicken manure which I though was very funny. After that we went to their algae center where we saw how they grow green algae to convert into bio fuel. They are looking into green algae because it removes waste from water to grow and can be used as fuel. They had an old way to grow algae and a revolutionary way to grow algae in the center. The old way was to churn algae in like a lazy river. This however is not very cost effective. The best way is to grow algae that grows on conveyer belts that g in and out of the water.
Overall I was very impacted by what I saw at this plant. I think it is truly amazing all the different things that we can make fuel out of and I am sure that we will find more. I have always been worried that we as a society would not find a fuel to replace fossil fuels but now after being at this center I have so much more confidence in our world.