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The Effect of Bioenergy

There is growing interest in the use of bioenergy as a form of alternative energy. There is an ambitious goal by a group of volunteer farmers "25 x 25" supported by Energy Future Coalition: "By 2025, America’s farms, forests and ranches will provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States, while continuing to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed and fiber" (http://www.25x25.org/?gclid=CPaV16merZACFUaPOAodqSD0NA). In May 2005, President George W. Bush spoke on biofuels:

The final step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil is to develop new alternatives to gasoline and diesel. . . .Biodiesel can be used in any vehicle that runs on regular diesel, and delivers critical environmental and economic benefits. . . .And every time we use home-grown biodiesel, we support American farmers, not foreign oil producers. . . .And as more Americans choose biodiesel over petroleum fuel, they can be proud in knowing they’re helping to make this country less dependent on foreign oil. . . .Another important alternative fuel is ethanol. Ethanol comes from corn, and it can be mixed with gasoline to produce a clean, efficient fuel.

There have been tremendous investments in research on biobased fuels from the US Department of Energy, other federal agencies, governments across the world, and from the private sector including BP, Shell, and Conoco-Phillips. This editorial will discuss the effect on the poultry industry and on society and will argue for more research to address the consequences of current or potential public policy. Parenthetically, it might be added that colleges of agriculture are well-suited to address the serious issues.

There are, as we all know, various forms of bioenergy including the following:

1. Ethanol used by automobiles and trucks
   
2. Biodiesel
   
3. Electricity from wood chips and other biological materials
   
4. Syngas from the heating of biomass in the absence of oxygen
   
5. Methane from fermentation of animals waste.
   

In the United States, ethanol is produced by fermentation of the sugars derived from starch in corn. Alternatively, in some other countries, most notably Brazil, ethanol is produced by fermentation of the sugars in cane sugar. A new approach is to use cellulose from switch grass or corn stover or from the wood industry. The National Corn Growers Association has recommended the short-term goal of producing 6 billion gallons of ethanol per year (http://www.ncga.com/ethanol/pdfs/2007/DDGSFINALReportRecommendations0207.pdf).

There has been an analogous increase in the production of biodiesel in the United States (National Biodiesel Board, http://www.biodiesel.org/). Biodiesel, is as its name implies, fuel for diesel (compression-ignition) engines that can be used alone or blended in petroleum-derived diesel. It is produced by the transesterification with methanol of triglyceride (and potentially phospholipids) in soybean or corn oils, animal fats from processing plants, used restaurant oil, and potentially any lipid of animal, plant, and microbial origin. The byproduct of transesterification is glycerol, which is used in soap-making and other products.

An immediate effect of the increased production of ethanol is increased availability of a potential low-cost feed ingredient, namely distillers dry grains with solubles. There has been significant research on the utility of distillers dry grains with solubles in poultry feeds (Lumpkins et al., 2004; Martinez-Amezcua et al., 2004, 2006, 2007; Lumpkins and Batal, 2005; Fastinger et al., 2006; Martinez-Amezcua and Parsons, 2007). In an analogous manner, there are increases in the availability of glycerol, a by-product in the product of biodiesel, and this is another potential energy source for poultry diets. This is under investigation (Dozier et al., 2008; Lammers et al., 2008).

Let us briefly address the consequences of increased use of biobased fuels. It is said that the sources are both abundant and renewable, but there are consequences of increased production of biobased energy. What are the potential effects of biofuels?

• Increased use of corn and soybean and other grains for biofuels increases their prices on the world market (Aho, 2007). This has a positive effect on grain farmers. However, it negatively affects livestock producers and the consumer, particularly the poorest people in developing countries. Jean Ziegler, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, has described biofuels as a "crime against humanity" (http://www.righttofood).
  
• Reduced use of nonrenewable energy. However, the energy gained from biofuels is, at best, relatively low when the cost of energy for production of grain, transportation, and processing is considered. The emergence of cellulosic ethanol may shift this argument, but transportation costs are likely to be higher.
  
• The use of biofuels is heavily subsidized by taxpayers.
  
• It is not clear when biofuels will be produced without the distortion of a subsidy. There is likely to be environmental damage to increased production of corn or switch grass on errodable land (Biofuels, food, or wildlife? The massive land costs of U.S. ethanol; http://www.cei.org/pdf/5532.pdf).
  
• The financial and environment costs are not well established for the increased water use for grain production and processing to biofuels.
  

Although bioenergy usage will and should increase, it is not a panacea without costs to society. There will be winners and losers.

	REFERENCES

TOP REFERENCES

 
Aho, P. 2007. Impact on the world poultry industry of the global shift to biofuels. Poult. Sci. 86:2291–2294.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Bush, G. W. 2005. President discusses biodiesel and alternative fuel sources. Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, Washington, DC. http:www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050516.html Accessed December 2007.

Dozier, W. A., B. J. Kerr, A. Corzo, M. T. Kidd, T. E. Weber, and K. Bregendal. 2008. Apparent metabolizable energy of glycerin for broiler chickens. Poult. Sci. 87:317–322.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Fastinger, N. D., J. D. Latshaw, and D. C. Mahan. 2006. Amino acid availability and true metabolizable energy content of corn distillers dried grains with solubles in adult cecectomized roosters. Poult. Sci. 85:1212–1216.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Lammers, P. J., B. J. Kerr, M. S. Honeyman, K. Stalder, W. A. Dozier, T. E. Weber, M. T. Kidd, and K. Bregendahl. 2008. Nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy value of crude glycerol for laying hens. Poult. Sci. 87:104–107.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Lumpkins, B. S., and A. B. Batal. 2005. The bioavailability of lysine and phosphorus in distillers dried grains with solubles. Poult. Sci. 84:581–586.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Lumpkins, B. S, A. B. Batal, and N. M. Dale. 2004. Evaluation of distillers dried grains with solubles as a feed ingredient for broilers. Poult. Sci. 83:1891–1896.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Martinez-Amezcua, C., C. M. Parsons, and S. L. Noll. 2004. Content and relative bioavailability of phosphorus in distillers dried grains with solubles in chicks. Poult. Sci. 83:971–976.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Martinez-Amezcua, C., C. M. Parsons, and D. H. Baker. 2006. Effect of microbial phytase and citric acid on phosphorus bioavailability, apparent metabolizable energy, and amino acid digestibility in distillers dried grains with solubles in chicks. Poult. Sci. 85:470–475.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Martinez-Amezcua, C., and C. M. Parsons. 2007. Effect of increased heat processing and particle size on phosphorus bio-availability in corn distillers dried grains with solubles. Poult. Sci. 86:331–337.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Martinez-Amezcua, C., C. M. Parsons, V. Singh, R. Srinivasan, and G. S. Murthy. 2007. Nutritional characteristics of corn distillers dried grains with solubles as affected by the amounts of grains versus solubles and different processing techniques. Poult. Sci. 86:2624–2630.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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