Sustainability

In the midst of the BP oil spill, the sustainability movement has entered into public awareness. As defined by Living In the Environment, sustainability is the ability of the earth's various natural systems and human cultural systems and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions indefinitely. In light of this disaster, sustainability has moved to its appropriate place in the forefront of our minds. At this time, we need to consider the repercussions of these actions and find sustainable solutions to such problems.
A major issue that is relevant to most countries is dependency on both foreign and local oil. Over the years dependency on oil has grown and so has the amount of oil drilled for and obtained by major companies. Excessive use of this non-renewable resource has led to an unsustainable lifestyle for all. Our seemingly insatiable thirst for oil has not only led to oil disasters in the past, like the Exxon-Valdez spill, but most recently resulted in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the oil spill in China's Yellow Sea. The Gulf Oil spill has been grabbing headlines for months. It has been estimated that before it was temporarily caped in mid-July, the well emitted between 94 million and 184 million gallons of crude oil into the waters of the Gulf.(Webber and Bluestien) The explosion in Dalian, China is said to have spilled between 18.47 million gallons and 27.70 million gallons of oil into the Yellow Sea, which is estimated to be somewhere close to the amount in the Exxon Valdez disaster.(Ann)Both of these accidents have released an unimaginable amount of oil into the water and caused huge problems. Specifically in the Gulf, the spill has endangered delicate ecosystems and effected countless animals. It has also put great strain on the economies of the small towns and cities on the Gulf coast. It has hurt local businesses and fishermen that rely on the bountiful waters for a living. It has also put a damper on the crucial summer tourism season that some of these areas depend on.
One of the most effective solutions to our oil dependency is the use of sustainable biofuels. The most common sustainable biofuel is ethanol made from corn. Corn is an effective and sustainable raw material used for ethanol. Currently around thirty percent of our corn crops go toward making ethanol for fuel. http://science.bigchalk.com/sciweb/science/do/document?set=search&lastset=search&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=29&sortResultsBy=TopicRelevance&groupResultsBy=&inmylist=false&edition=&ts=70CE44A705533E1320A473FAC969B44C_1280629751679&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B180148172&start=26
While using corn for ethanol has been successful, it does have a downside. By using thirty percent of the corn crop in ethanol production, only seventy percent is available to be used as a food source. In many areas we cannot afford to lose that thirty percent of the crop to ethanol production. A newer and more efficient form of ethanol is called cellulosic ethanol. It is three times more effective than corn ethanol in respect to energy and it emits much fewer greenhouse gases. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced using a wide variety of materials including plant wastes, industrial wastes like paper pulp and sawdust, and energy crops like switchgrass. Things like hay, tall grasses, and corn cobs can be used to create this efficient biofuel. http://science.bigchalk.com/sciweb/science/do/document?set=search&lastset=search&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=1&sortResultsBy=TopicRelevance&groupResultsBy=&inmylist=false&edition=&ts=70CE44A705533E1320A473FAC969B44C_1280630815583&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B107791308&start=1
BP Biofuels North America has actually now acquired Verenium's cellulosic biofuels business, which includes three of its factories. This agreement is in hopes to gain more ground toward the eventual commercialization of cellulosic biofuels. http://science.bigchalk.com/sciweb/science/do/document?set=search&lastset=search&groupid=1&requestid=lib_standard&resultid=2&sortResultsBy=TopicRelevance&groupResultsBy=&inmylist=false&edition=&ts=70CE44A705533E1320A473FAC969B44C_1280631699135&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B182250845&start=1
I think with corn ethanol and with cellulosic ethanol we are making great strides into a more sustainable relationship with fuels. A reliance on these alternative fuels can help us to ease our dependency on oil and lead to a sustainable future with biofuels. This can help to reduce the risk of offshore drilling accidents and reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted when using these fuels.

Ann, Cara. "DId China Underestimate Spill Size?" The Virginian-Pilot 31 July 2010: 16.

Webber, Harry R., and Greg Bluestien."BP Shifts Focus to Long-Term Effects of Spill". The Virginian-Pilot. 31 July 2010:3.