Research Draft 2

Putting Death in the Seas so that people can drive their SUVs.

Imagine if you will, taking a cruse or being on a charter fishing boat hundreds of miles of the coast of Florida, and all that can be seen for miles around is death. Well in some areas in the Gulf of Mexico that is what it is like. Pollution from the push for more “Green” fuels has put a strangle hold on the fish and the industry that relies on them for their survival. Farmers are happy due to the rich government sponsored programs to get more corn on the market for this “Green” fuel. Although moving to green fuel is good for mitigating the air pollution it is destroying the coastal areas that depend on the fishing industry because Nitrogen rich waters from corn fields increase the growth of harmful algae, there are better crops than corn to produce biomass for fuel, and even with natural weather patterns the problem still exist.

Since the beginning of the Bush administration, the President has called for a decreased dependence on foreign oil and a way to find a greener fuel. That push has led to a growth in the use of corn as bio-diesel. A growth so big that by spring 2007 it has been reported that by combining all the corn fields in North America it would be about the same size as the state of California. (Phoilpott, Tom) The lack oversight on the farmers and loose laws has helped to create a literal trickle down effect that is damaging the streams, rivers, lakes and oceans around our nation. According to an article by Tom Phoilpott Clean Water Jacked, those responsible for the enforcement of the laws to protect our lands and waters have handed over the duty to the states and local government. Then they do not check up to ensure the law is followed. Since Corn was the easy choose for many farmers, the crops get bigger. It has even gotten to the point where land that was set aside to naturally replenish itself is being used. The main ingredient to get the corn to grow is synthetic Nitrogen. This is due to the over farming of fields and that corn requires large amounts of nitrogen in the soil to grow. Unfourtenly most of this nitrogen is washed out of the fields and into the streams and rivers and on out to the Gulf of Mexico. When the Nitrogen rich waters along with all the other runoff from various sources along the way reach the Gulf it mixes with the organisms at the mouths of the water outlets and serve to feed the plant organisms. It has gotten to a point where the algae in the areas grow rapidly, die, and then fall to the sea floor. In a process known as Hypoxia, where the oxygen gets depleted by the decomposing of the dead algae and the organisms that consumes them. (Phoilpott, Tom) from the sea floor up. There are many other crops that can be used to make biomass for fuel other than corn. Many have no need for the harmful chemical nitrogen.

Studies and research have and keep finding that there is better ways to make green fuel. The current technology in practice is still just barely able to keep corn as a green fuel (Schmid). What makes it worse is that there are now plants that turn corn into ethanol using 300 tons of coal per day. This is taking a step in the backwards direction from trying to make a clean fuel. (Clayton, Mark) The companies using coal to power the facilities say it is due to the rising cost of fuel. Before they were using clean burning natural gas to power the equipment need to make the corn based ethanol. Even the big oil companies are seeing the profit in helping the research and are working with universities for find the next technological break through.(Lucas, Marlene) There are better crops that produce an outstanding higher percentage fuel rating; 30 to 100 more than corn or soy bean crops. (Gotfried) The new crop that is out producing the other standard crops is algae. The company that is working on this technology, Arizona Public Service Company (APS), plans to replicate the success of algae biomass facility built at a natural gas power plant. The location of the next experimental facility will be next to Arizona’s largest coal burning plant. It works by capturing the cO2 from the plants smoke stacks and giving it to the algae to filter and then using the harvested algae crop to supplement the coal fuel. New technologies are being looked at to use more diverse bio-mass to make the ethanol fuel like grasses, the whole corn plant, and some types of tree bark. While the search for better, cleaner ways to fuel north Americas needs the waters in the south are relying on an over stressed ecosystem to filter out the nitrogen. Even with natural weather patterns the problems still exist.

In the last few years several hurricanes passed through the area string up every thing around. The power of those storms pushed the effected waters around but has not broken them down. The natural tides have been so over whelmed with the in flux that it is unable to wash out the junk and nitrogen. All these problems are known to the government but the policies were made a long time ago nothing is being changed about it. The problems are getting worse, known locally as Red Tide, in many costal areas the winds are blowing some of the algae inland causing irritation to eyes and respiration. As well as all the dead and decomposing fish that wash up on many miles of shore every day during and after the Red Tide season. The fishing industry is on the ropes due to the problems happening in the Gulf. Some boats have not gone out, most preferring to stay docked to save on gas. Many of the boats that do go out find that their once abundant fishing spots are completely void of life or just have a few bait fish. In a report about Florida billing itself as the "fishing capital of the world", the fishing has dried up. Many charter boats that depend on the Gulf for income have found that their best fishing spots are dead from the floor up. Most boats have been staying in hoping that the currents wash away the problems and look toward the Governor Jeb Bush to help open the door to financial aid. Some researchers are saying that there is some life out in the Gulf but for those that go looking they say it is hard to find.

Till the EPA or some other governmental agency steps up to limit the corn boom and the amount of nitrogen flowing into the sea, problems will continue to rise. It may take the voice of the local citizens to speak up, and call on those in office to make the changes. The technology is here today along with better crops to make better “Green” fuels. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture need to make major policy changes to confront this epidemic problem facing the Gulf of Mexico.


Just a view of the effects of the Red Tide and the problems effecting the states near the Gulf of Mexico.Video uploaded from the North West Florida Daily News. Found on Brightcove TV. Retrieved March 1 2008 from http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1254115790


Works cited

Clayton, Mark. ( 2006, Mar. 23) Carbon Cloud Over a Green Fuel.. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieve March 1, 2008 from http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0323/p01s01-sten.html

Gotfried, Steven. (2007, Sep. 26) Growth Rates of Emission-Fed Algae Show Viability of New Biomass Crop.. Green Fuels. Retrieve March 1, 2008 from http://www.greenfuelonline.com/gf_files/GreenFuel%20Growth%20Rates.htm

Lucas, Marlene (2007, May 20) Fueling research.. Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids, IA). Retrieve March 1, 2008 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=120&sid=fbd1891d-0bd7-46dd-93e1-afe51cad3828%40sessionmgr2

Phoilpott, Tom. (2007, Oct.18) Clean water jacked.. Gristmill. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/10/17/125453/97

Phoilpott, Tom. (2007, Jul. 17) Gulf Dead Zone: bigger than ever.. Gristmill. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/16/161412/560

Schmid, Randolph E. (2007, OCT. 10) Ethanol push could threaten water supplies.. The globe and Mail. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071010.wethanol1010/BNStory/Science/home