Growing problem. Increasing reliance on biofuels is expected to further deplete dissolved oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico.
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Posted on 09/25/2009 3:39:27 PM PDT by neverdem
Growing problem. Increasing reliance on biofuels is expected to further deplete dissolved oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico.
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
The push to ramp up biofuel production may reduce oil imports, but it's likely to come at a high environmental cost: It will boost the size of the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, a huge swath so depleted of oxygen that almost nothing can live there, according to a new analysis.
The gulf's dead zone is already a major environmental problem. First spotted in 1971, it now spans 14,600 square kilometers, or 1,460,000 hectares, a region larger than Connecticut. It is triggered every spring and summer when nutrient-rich water flows from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers into the Gulf of Mexico. The nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, come primarily from fertilizer washed off of farms throughout the Midwest. They trigger blooms of algae that then die and are eaten by bacteria. The bacteria use up most of the water's dissolved oxygen, killing fish, shrimp, crabs, and other organisms.
The U.S. federal government and agencies from several states in the Mississippi River Basin have established efforts to reduce nutrient flows into the Gulf of Mexico in hopes of limiting the size of the dead zone to 500,000 hectares, about one-third of its current size. But in 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) that aims to reduce oil imports by backing the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Of that, 15 billion gallons is slated to come from corn ethanol and the rest from cellulosic ethanol and other "advanced biofuels" that require less energy and fertilizer inputs.
Last year, researchers reported that if 15 billion gallons or more of biofuels per year came from corn ethanol, the result would be a large spike in nutrients hitting the Gulf of Mexico. For the current study, Michael Griffin, a microbiologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues asked how the gulf would fare if more fuels came from cellulosic feedstocks, which typically require only about one-fourth of the fertilizer that corn does.
They found that even if all the biofuels came from cellulosics, the amount of nitrates in the water would be only about 20% lower than if 15 billion gallons came from corn ethanol. But in both scenarios, the nitrogen emissions into the gulf would be higher than today's levels, and thus would be expected to increase the size of the gulf's dead zone.
The new work, reported in the 1 October issue of Environmental Science & Technology, underscores just how difficult it will be to reverse the growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, says Simon Donner, a climate scientist and ecologist at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in Canada: "Something that was already difficult, the biofuels mandate will make practically impossible."
bump bio-dump hurts ocean
“We’re from the government, and we only want to help you”.
Sad and scary. Happinging in Puget Sound too, right in the heart of enviro country.
Sad and scary. Happinging in Puget Sound too, right in the heart of enviro country.
Environmentalism is a branch of Radical Leftism.
Radical Leftism kills. When unchecked it kills millions.
A few of these; a few solar panels to run them....
Even running aerators might not help without solving the nutrient problem.
But it makes me think of some things I learned when trying to figure out what to do with the large quantities of tiny Azolla Fern that grow on top of my pond at times. The fern’s root is like one thread that hangs down, and the algae tend to accumulate there. The algae and the fern trap nitrogen, so in turn the fern/algae makes a good mix for compost/mulch.
Which begs the question- if we’ve basically created an algae farm, then why not use the algae for something instead of letting it die and cause bigger problems? Something else I noticed about algae, when it’s dry it’s kind-of cottony. I wonder if the dried algae could be made into something? I can tell you than if you leave a clump of the algae/fern mix to dry in a lump it becomes almost indestructible.
oh well probably a bunch of silly musings on my part.
Not all al-gae - not to be confused with Al gore (tho they seem to work at the same intellectual level) - are useful for human food tho.
DO you know what kind you have growing?
Informative post, thanks
the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, a huge swath so depleted of oxygen that almost nothing can live there... now spans 14,600 square kilometers, or 1,460,000 hectares, a region larger than Connecticut. It is triggered every spring and summer when nutrient-rich water flows from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers into the Gulf of Mexico. The nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, come primarily from fertilizer washed off of farms throughout the Midwest. They trigger blooms of algae that then die and are eaten by bacteria. The bacteria use up most of the water's dissolved oxygen, killing fish, shrimp, crabs, and other organisms. The U.S. federal government and agencies from several states in the Mississippi River Basin have established efforts to reduce nutrient flows into the Gulf of Mexico in hopes of limiting the size of the dead zone to 500,000 hectares, about one-third of its current size. But in 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) that aims to reduce oil imports by backing the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. Of that, 15 billion gallons is slated to come from corn ethanol and the rest from cellulosic ethanol and other "advanced biofuels" that require less energy and fertilizer inputs.That's okay -- Congress will shut down agriculture in the United States, including organic farming, as part of the Obamanation's drive to push us into dependence on hostile foreign powers for our food supply. Thanks GeronL.
Sure is a weird coincidence that this problem just happens to be pointed out offshore of Louisiana...
The Bum Rap on Biofuels
American Thinker | 5-13-08 | Herbert Meyer
Posted on 05/14/2008 3:59:06 AM PDT by Renfield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2015711/posts
Campaign to vilify ethanol revealed
ethanol producer Magazine | May 16, 2008 | By Kris Bevill
Posted on 05/17/2008 9:22:13 AM PDT by Kevin J waldroup
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2017389/posts
I wasn’t necessarily thinking of food as a use. As for types of algae, they are numerous. The most common in small ponds/water gardens is string a.k.a. “hair” algae.
I should clarify about using the algae. Algae is of course, cellulose. I was thinking more along the lines of fabrics and papers (non-woven materials).
Biofuels should really concentrate on using things that already exist, rather than growing stuff to be made into a biofuel. For instance used cooking oil.
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