Grainnet

by Myke Feinman, BioFuels Journal Editor

The author of a rebuttal to a Stanford University E85 pollution report called the study “narrow and selective science.”

The author, Brett Hulsey, wrote the rebuttal for Renewable Energy Action Project (REAP), a non-profit environmental and energy study group, based in San Francisco, CA.

Hulsey, is president and founder of Better Environmental Solutions of Wisconsin, and formerly with the Sierra Club for 18 years. Hulsey also authored a report in 2006 called “Clearing the Air with Ethanol.”

The Stanford E85 study, written by Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, “Effects of Ethanol (E85) Versus Gasoline Vehicle on Cancer and Mortality in the United States,” uses computer modeling to predict the pollution impact if drivers in the United States drove only automobiles using E85, 85 percent ethanol (as opposed to the majority of blends which contain 10 percent ethanol currently).

The study indicates that converting to 100-percent E-85 automobiles would increase ozone in the Los Angeles area and the Northeast, but decrease ozone in the southeast. Jacobson said ozone-related mortality, hospitalization and asthma would increase approximately nine percent in the Lost Angeles area and four percent in the United States, compared to 100 percent gasoline.

Diesel Trucks Not Considered

In Hulsey’s published response at the REAP web site, he says there are “several major problems” with Jacobson’s report.

“This is narrow and selective science,” Hulsey said to BioFuels Journal this week. He said Jacobson’s study did not consider the impact of pollution from diesel trucks.

“The worst pollution in Los Angeles is dirty diesel right now,” Hulsey said.

Hulsey added that Jacobson talked about increased levels of formaldehyde from E85 ethanol, which Hulsey said could be filtered out with a catalytic converter.

“The formaldehyde threat is a small threat,” Hulsey said. “Jacobson looked at five percent of the problem, instead of the 95 percent of the pollution.”

“The study assumes that E85 will completely replace gasoline as the predominant motor fuel by 2020,” Hulsey wrote. “It is misleading to imply that most people will perish from this one scenario.”

He said Jacobson’s report assumes that less ozone forming pollution will increase ozone, E85 vehicles nitrous oxide emissions will reduce by 30 percent and that vehicles and fuels will not become more advanced in 13 years.

Other issues Hulsey focused on concerning the E85 study include:

> He also said Jacobsen’s report did not consider the role of E85 reducing evaporative hydrocarbon emissions and recent critical updates to emissions inventories form the California Air Resources Board “and real world experiences in Brazil.”

> Hulsey also said that Jacobson’s data was based on modeling inputs from 1991 data, when cars were not certified to operate on E85 fuels.

 “In estimating the full life cycle impacts of the respective fuels, the study completely ignores well-established life cycle analysis models, such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s model.”

For more information, call (608) 238-6070

See Related Websites/Articles:

• Hulsey's Report
• Jacobson's Report

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