Turning Green Over Going Yellow

                While consuming one of the few televised “programs” that I am able to digest, a commercial came on which puzzled me. It was advertising new “FlexFuel” automobiles – cars and trucks able to run on bio-diesel – and it took me back to Bush’s last State of the Union speech in which he admitted that the country is “addicted to oil” and proposed producing more renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, the only energy solution he gave for cars was to use bio-diesel – made from corn, wood chips, stalks, and switch grass. You might be thinking; what’s the problem? Bio-diesel is renewable, cleaner, and is technology we have today. The problem: Bio-diesel isn’t as environmentally friendly as you might think.
                One of the factors going against bio-diesel is the yield/cost ratio. The yield/cost ration relates to how much energy is spent in order to produce more energy (ethanol). As it stands now, the best ratio attained by that of straw, at 1.78. If I were to buy an orange at a dollar, cut it into thirds, I would have to sell each third for a dollar in order to make a net profit as a business, without taking labor into consideration. If I used the model of yield/cost ratio of ethanol as a business model, by selling off a whole orange for a $1.78, I would only have enough money to buy another orange and save the rest in order to go into buying more oranges down the line. By this model, I would basically starve for my business to work.
                Another problem about bio-diesel is the so called “lower-emissions”. Yes, it’s true that by using bio-diesel, emissions are lowered by as little as 50% and as much as 78% (depending on which poison is being created). However, it takes large, non-bio-diesel machines to produce the crop that makes bio-diesel, not to mention the emissions made by the tons of fertilizer to feed the crop. On top of that, no automobile can run effectively on pure bio-diesel; in order to combat the gelling temperature point of 40°F and bio-diesel’s natural hydrophilic properties, it must be mixed with regular diesel.
                The other, most disturbing thought of all is that genetically modified crops will be used to create ethanol. The UK and other countries have banned GM crops from being sold or even grown in stores, and the movement to rid the world of these “frankenfoods” is slowly building in the US, which produces the most GM crops in the world. If bio-diesel production were to give GM crops a place in the world, the demand for them would begin to increase. That means more patented seeds blowing into private farms and farmers being sued by corporate agribusiness, which would in turn mean more fields would be seized and used for these specific crops. Imagine the entire world being owned by Monstanto™ and its subsidiaries. Whole nations being stripped of soil; all for the sake of more oil. It’s a frightening thought. Even worse is the thought that the “Terminator©” crop could pollenate non-GM crop. That could destroy the bio-diversity of plants and create a world where a certain type of seed can be bought by Monsanto every year, for eternity.
                When I heard Bush speak of alternative energy sources, I was right to be suspicious. An oil-man and a known liar cannot be trusted when it comes to our energy policy. If we keep travelling down this road, we will not claim fealty to any nation, crown, or religion, but to Corporation. I imagine that’s what they’ll it when all corporations have merged into one: Corporation™.