The Green Frugal

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If you remember my last post, I was freaking out about petroleum oil because it’s ubiquitous in our culture and it’s not great for the environment. So, I went digging for more information on Wikipedia (and I hoped it was all true). It turned out that smart people had discovered an alternative to petroleum and that alternative is plants.

Yes, plants. Those green things that stick out of the ground can be converted into biofuel. The most familiar form of biofuel is Ethanol, a type of alcohol.  Across the world, it’s added to gasoline and used as fuel for automobiles. Here in America, most Ethanol is produced from corn, but other countries use other sources (Brazil uses sugar cane). Unfortunately, corn is not the most efficient crop to use as a source for ethanol, partially because only the kernels are used.

So, a lot of scientists are researching the production of ethanol and biofuel. While some researchers study using different sources–like using entire plants, not just the seeds—other researchers focus on different methods for creating biofuel. One of the hopeful sources of biofuel is algae.

Since algae grows quickly and in many different climates, it is an ideal source for biofuel. They have more biomass that can be converted into fuels. In addition, the algae can be used to create biodiesel, biobutanol, biogasoline, methane, and jet fuel. And that doesn’t even include the other chemicals that can be derived from oil.

It’s neat to think there is a good, sustainable alternative to petroleum. And while a lot of the technology to create biofuel is in its infant stage, it’s nice to think that the technology will only get better with time.

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As you may know, I’m becoming Green; I’m learning about being good to the environment. Yet, the more I learn the less I know. Every time I get an answer to a question, I just ask another question.

I’ve been keeping up with the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster and its impact on the environment.  I keep reading about ways to help. And, from all of this I’ve learned that oil is not really the greatest thing for the health of the planet. So I think to myself, “I’ll just lower my oil consumption” which to me means gasoline. I drive less, walk more and use public transportation. However, that’s not a solution that everyone can do. I grew up in the country; the only public transportation that we had was sidewalks and they were only on a few streets.

So, I think again, “What are other ways to lower my oil consumption?”  I decide to look up information about things made from oil so that way I can stop using them. And, it seems that everything is made from oil!  Okay, maybe not everything; just most of the things I use every day. Like plastic. Most plastics are made from petroleum. I’m typing on a plastic keyboard, I’m looking at a mostly plastic monitor, I’m wearing clothes that contain polyester, which in turn is really plastic fiber. Plastic is everywhere. That means oil is everywhere. I’m totally dependent on oil. In fact, I’m having trouble imagining a world without oil.

Except oil is a nonrenewable resource. There’s a limited amount of it. Eventually, the world will be completely out of oil. And then what do you do? What’s the alternative to oil?