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