"The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumac out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust - almost anything" This was part of a talk by the CEO of the Ford Motor Company, attributing the comment to Henry Ford in 1925. "There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented" Some of the earliest motor vehicles ran on biofuels , mixtures of ethanol and gasoline. (State of the World 2006, Chap 4: "Cultivating Renewable Alternatives to Oil" Suzanne C. Hunt and Janet L. Sawin.)

The world was dependent on whale oil for basic hydrocarbon fuel for lighting and cooking a mere 100 years ago. The potential for change to dependence on fossil fuels was only becoming apparent at that time. The key to human prosperity and comfort evolved from exhuming hydro-carbons stored for many millennia far below ground. Drilling for oil and mining coal provided access to apparently unlimited supplies of energy. As in most developments, too much of a good thing is proving to be a potential disaster..

A most informative book, the Weather Makers by Tim Flannery outlines just how disastrous this technology has become. Despite disclaimers from industry, echoed by insane economic thinking by political leaders, global warming has become the number one issue in the survival of this planet and life for mankind as we have come to know it. Global warming is a by-product of burning fossil fuels, i.e. oil.

Both Flannery's text and the State of the World article emphasize solutions to the problem. Many can be achieved in our own back yards. From the depths of my files I found a publication by Agriculture Canada: Farm-scale Production and Use of Fuel Alcohol - opportunities and problems, 1980. "Recent publicity of 'gasohol' and on-farm production of alcohol fuels' programs in the United States has many Canadian farmers considering the possibility of alcohol (ethanol) production. Can this be profitable and provide a measure of energy self-sufficiency on the farm?" Anewspaper report several years ago highlighted the action of a farmer in rural Ontario who was distilling ethanol for operation of farm vehicles. The technology is as old as the hills (the Ozark hills to be more specific). Moonshine distilleries were illegal then as was local home distillation of ethanol in Canada. Yet the future of mankind could well be dependent on such initiatives.

Farm production of ethanol is a contentious issue. Brazil is leading the way with innovative approaches to transportation fuels based on sugar cane production. However clearing of rainforests to convert to energy crops has serious implications from an environmental perspective. Similarly, large scale corn farming for energy in the U.S. has caused major concerns for environmentalists. In Canada redirecting wheat crops from food to energy is a questionable policy.

An interesting development in the tropics is the 'discovery' of Jatropha, a small tree suitable for planting on degraded sites. Jatropha produces nuts with a high oil content. Nuts are produced even in the first year after planting, a short duration return on investment. This has social, industrial and environmental implications. Small land owners could use the technology for enhanced livelihood while on a national scale oil self sufficiency is an intriguing possibility.

In State of the World, "U.S. government agencies have estimated that biodiesel and ethanol could displace between 25 - 50% of petroleum derived fuels by 2030" Longer range projections suggest that "dedicated energy crops grown on abandoned farmlands and marginally productive lands …. could theoretically result in harvesting of enough biomass to satisfy the total anticipated global demand for transportation fuels by 2050." This could prove to be a major boost to farm incomes, providing a highly profitable alternative agricultural product. Farmer owned cooperatives could develop local small-scale oil refineries adding considerably to the prosperity of rural communities.

Brazil has provided global leadership in converting petroleum-based consumption to ethanol, a cleaner burning alternative. The government made reduction of oil imports a national priority in the 1970s. Ethanol production and use skyrocketed with the promotion of manufacturing and sale of all-ethanol cars. Government provided considerable subsidies to increase sugar production and distillery construction. By the mid 1980s ethanol fueled vehicles accounted for 96% of total car sales. Car sales varied with fluctuations in the cost of gasoline and ethanol as government legislated production of flexible-fuel vehicles only, vehicles running on virtually any mixture of gas and alcohol allowed consumers to choose fuels depending on relative costs. Sale of flex-fuel vehicles in 2005 accounted for over half the new vehicles sold.

Similarly in the U.S. there are now over 4 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road. In Canada Iogen, the leading cellulosic ethanol developer based in Ottawa, is a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Petro Canada. The government of Saskatchewan is encouraging development of small scale distilleries. Ontario mandated a 5% ethanol component to gasoline sold in the province by this year..

Another interesting development has been in the field of biodiesel production. A colleague and I were asked to advise on wood sources for conversion to biodiesel in Guyana. The country imports diesel oil as an energy source for electrical generation. Large quantities of bagasse (a waste product of sugar refining) are produced but not in sufficient amounts to meet electrical needs year round. Wood waste, i.e. sawdust, slabs and edgings from numerous small saw mills was available to augment energy requirements during the 3 months when sugar refining was closed down until the next crop of sugar cane was available. Of even greater interest to us was the vast area of 'waste' savannah lands which could be converted to energy plantations.

In Canada, Ottawa based Ensyn Corp. has pioneered conversion of wood waste into liquid fuel. As reported in a Globe and Mail article Apr. 11/06, Ensyn will be opening its seventh commercial plant in Renfrew, Ont. This to me indicates a potential for greatly expanded woodlot management activity in southern Ontario, another boost to the rural economy. Dedicated fuel plantations of poplar, maple and willow could be an important future economic product for rural land owners.

The immediate priority I would see is biofuel production from rural lands of the south, i.e. farm-gate production of ethanol for farm vehicles, farmerowned distilleries to provide clean burning ethanol for the millions of cars on our highways, and biodiesel synthesis of wood for commerciallybased transportation systems. Each of the above could (and will) provide increased prosperity for rural landowners and rural communities across Canada while significantly reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.

This potential advantage is magnified many fold if one considers the vast forest land base of northern Canada. Forest communities, long based on single wood industries, could greatly benefit from the utilization of large quantities of wood wastes and under utilized species. Community-based distilleries could greatly enhance the economy of the north.