The Wake

“Energy may be the most important problem of the 21st century,” Regents Professor Lanny Schmidt says to an attentive audience in the Coffman Theater. The chemical engineer says that the United States is in a precarious situation. “We could choke our economy over energy.”

“In your kids’ lifetime,” Schmidt goes on, “we got to have made the switch. We better make the switch.” The switch he’s referring to is renewable energy, informing his audience that oil is running out and now is the time to make the transition to realistic practices. “There’s no question about it. We’ve got to be sustainable.”

Fortunately for Minnesotans, the state is leading the nation in the exploration and utilization of renewable energies, Schmidt says. “Minnesota is in amazingly good shape.” Some 20 percent of the energy used in the state is made from corn, 6 percent from soybean biodiesel and 5 percent from wind energy. That’s compared with only 6 percent of renewable energies used nationally, Schmidt points out.

It’s not just luck that Minnesota is such a trailblazer. There are reasons we lead the country and steps other states could take if they so choose, Schmidt says. “We’ve got the pieces to the puzzle,” he says. Schmidt credits efficient farming practices, the U and public attitude. “We have a high-tech University [that] doesn’t compete with the technology industry,” Schmidt says. “And we have public interest. We know we need to do something.”

The first obstacle to tackle is the dependence on oil for use in our cars and homes. Ethanol made from corn provides a real alternative to straight gasoline. “The yields of corn and soybeans are going up and up and up,” Schmidt says. Because of this, automotives can be fueled on a high-yield, renewable, locally abundant crop. Wind turbines in western Minnesota (and the even windier Dakotas) can provide enough energy to heat much of the state. Windpower is easily stored in water for when the wind isn’t blowing, Schmidt explains. And, common items made from plastic, which comes from chemically-altered petroleum, can be produced using biochemicals, thus reducing dependence on oil.

“There’s a lot of controversy about ethanol [and other alternatively-made products],” Schmidt admits. “I think a lot of it’s fostered by the oil industry… Our oil companies are monopolistic. Their game is to control the price.” The industry’s recent record-breaking profits help prove Schmidt’s point.

“Everybody says that ethanol is subsidized and gasoline is not,” Schmidt says of the controversy. But it is subsidized at about a dollar per gallon, he points out. So there’s a lot of reason to continue to invest in ethanol and other renewable energy forms, such as wind, geothermal and hydroelectric, solar and biomass.

Schmidt admits that “the complexity of the problem should not be ignored.” But he maintains that the benefits of conversion to renewable fuels far outweigh the risks, especially when environmental damage is added to the high costs and scarcity problems of our oil-dependent society.

The environmental costs are too high to ignore the problem, Schmidt continues. “The Earth’s average temperature is a degree hotter than it’s ever been,” Schmidt says. Of all the CO2 in the atmosphere, humans have contributed a quarter. “Global warming has implications … We’re all responsible for this problem.” The way Schmidt tells it, there’s no choice but to adopt sustainable practices and renewable energies.