Carla Romo (CHE & PW) Advisor: Professor Lorraine …...2008 –2018 Cull articles which main focus...
Transcript of Carla Romo (CHE & PW) Advisor: Professor Lorraine …...2008 –2018 Cull articles which main focus...
Public Perceptions of Second Generation BiofuelsCarla Romo (CHE & PW)
Advisor: Professor Lorraine Higgins (Humanities and Arts)
Understand perceptions of second generation biofuels circulating
in newspapers across the country.
Background
Biofuels: Fuels derived
from living matter that emit
less greenhouse gases
than regular fuel
First Generation: Made from food crops
Second Generation: Made from non-food
plants and waste
Third Generation: Made from algae
Types:
• Biodiesel
• Ethanol
• Butanol
• Mixture of
hydrocarbons
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Nu
mbe
r of
art
icle
s
Positive Arguments: BenefitsFrequency of Coverage
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Professor Higgins for her support and mentorship throughout the project.
I would also want to thank Professor Faber for his guidance during the planning phase of this project.
I would also like to acknowledge Professor Timko for his scientific perspective throughout the course of the project.
Application:
• Ships
• Vehicles
• Aircraft
Feedstocks:
• Agricultural waste
• Municipal waste
• Forestry residues
• Non-food plants
Conversion processes:
• Hydrothermal
liquefaction
• Gasification
• Pyrolisis
• Fermentation
Content Analysis of News Coverage
Find all articles using "biofuel" as the search
string between 2008 – 2018
Cull articles which main
focus is biofuels
Cull articles that focus on
second generation
biofuels
Cull articles published on
the even years only
Step 1: Step 4:Step 3:Step 2:
4,104 articles 165 articles325 articles682 articles
20082014 2016 20182010 2012
Start of
Renewable
Fuel Standard
Program
President
Obama gets
elected
President
Obama gets
reelected
President
Trump gets
elected
• Coverage of second generation
biofuels has declined over time.
• Absence of coverage suggests that
biofuel advocates are not voicing
their opinions or newspapers are
not covering these topics.
Common Themes
0%
15%
30%
45%
60%
75%
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Ap
pe
ara
nce
in
art
icle
s [%
]
Year
Appearance of stakeholders in news articles over time
Universities
Government
Start-ups
Companies
Special Interest
1. Feedstock: Forestry and agricultural waste was the focus of 56% of the articles.
2. Application: Vehicles were discussed in 53% of articles.
- The aircraft industry is a growing customer because biofuels are the only option
this industry can use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Life cycle: Feedstock gathering was discussed in 49% of the articles.
- Articles do not inform the public about the methods used to produce biofuels.
4. Stakeholders: Government and companies appeared in over 60% of articles.
- Despite the mention of big technological challenges, universities are not
mentioned consistently.
- Appearance of start-ups declined over time suggesting regulations might be
discouraging biofuel investors or entrepreneurs have lost interest over time.
49%Environment
31%Economics
21%Energy
Positive
impact on the
environment
Repurpose
waste
Increase
entrepreneurship
Less expensive
fuel alternative
Energy
independence
Public safety
Generation of Jobs
• Besides reducing greenhouse gases and waste repurposing, there is a lack of
discussion on other important environmental benefits of biofuels.
• Biofuels have increased collaboration between private and public industries but
there is little discussion on the exact economical impacts.
• Energy independence is not the major benefit because currently biofuels only
contribute to 2.3% of the energy requirements in the USA.
Negative Arguments: Challenges
24%Economic
28%Technology
&
Research
17%Regulations
Unreliable
feedstock
Slow
improvements
on technology
High demand
vs. small
supply
Ambiguity of long
term impacts
Need for
regulations
Public
opposition
Lack of funding
High price of fuel
and process
Competition with
food
Lack of education
Detrimental
environmental
effects
• Second generation biofuels are still conflated with first generation biofuels indicating
a need to educate the public on the differences between these types of fuels.
• Regulations related to biofuel’s sustainability, feedstocks, blending volumes, and
distribution are needed to encourage and facilitate biofuel production.
• Technological problems with scale-up are currently limiting biofuel production.
Conclusion
• Researchers need to EDUCATE the public and ADVOCATE :
- Environmental benefits of biofuels
- Current research they are doing
- Lobby governments to create new regulations and provide funds
• Making production process more efficient and economical at an industrial scale are
the TECHNOLOGICAL challenges researchers should address.
Works Cited
Objective
Antizar‐Ladislao, B., & Turrion‐Gomez, J. L. (2008). Second‐generation biofuels and local bioenergy systems. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/bbb.97
DOE. (2018d). Renewable fuel standard. Retrieved from https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/RFS.
Gauchat, G. (2012). Politicization of science in the public sphere: A study of public trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010. Am Sociol Rev, 77(2), 167-187.
doi:10.1177/0003122412438225.
Guo, M., Song, W., & Buhain, J. (2015). Bioenergy and biofuels: History, status, and perspective doi://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.013
Hunter, P. (2016). The communications gap between scientists and public: More scientists and their institutions feel a need to communicate the results and nature of research
with the public. EMBO Reports, 17(11), 1513-1515. doi:10.15252/embr.201643379
OSU. (2018). Generations of biofuels. Retrieved from https://smile.oregonstate.edu/lesson/generations-biofuels