The Problem With Biofuels

Skyrocketing Food Prices Have Caused Some To Rethink The Wisdom Of Using Crops For Fuel

(CBS)  It seemed like a good idea at the time. Use corn and other crops, instead of oil, to make fuel. It's renewable and causes less climate change because a lot of the carbon produced in burning it is reabsorbed as the new crop grows.

Governments and industry loved the idea so much that the European Union decided fully 10 percent of fuel should be made this way in the future, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.

Then reality hit.

"[The] overall conclusion was that we really needed to slow down on biofuel production and use because all the new evidence shows there are some potentially harmful effects," said Professor Ed Gallagher, author of the Report on Biofuels.

A new European study shows that producing biofuels is helping drive up already skyrocketing food prices, some of which have effectively doubled in the past few years.

"We shouldn't be taking agricultural land and growing biofuels on it," said Nick Goodhall of the UK Renewable Fuels Agency. "In that sense, of course, if we are displacing food then that means it has got to come from somewhere else. So one can easily see why there might be an effect."

There was always going to be a relationship between what biofuels burn and what they stuff costs. But nobody really anticipated how much of an effect biofuels would have on the production and the price of food. It's caused a serious policy rethink.

Europe will now slow down its switch to biofuels and look for other new technologies instead.

Another problem is that refining some crops, like corn, into fuel can produce more greenhouse gases than simply using gasoline in cars in the first place. As can cutting down rainforests to grow sugar cane, for example. It's what scientists call bad biofuel practice.

"Bad biofuels, as they are known, are exactly that," said Goodhall. "They don't help anything and, in fact, can make problems worse."

Biofuels once seemed like a quick fix, but may have just been a detour on the road to a sustainable energy policy.

[wardoglrs]

Henry Ford''s first car ran on Hemp..Hemp is not marijuana. to those who may be to Dumb Downed to know that.
Cheaper cleaner more effective. Oh I forgot the Government wouldnt want this.
Hemp does not need pesticides but corn does you do the math.
Hemp is far superior then cotton. Over 2500 products can be made from hemp and best of all it is biodegradable.
If your reading this then you have a computer why don''t you check it out and write your congressmen and push this

[rdlombard]

Waste to energy can now replace food to energy. Existing patented technology for producing ethanol from mixed cellulosic feedstocks enables flexibility in supply (without corn kernels or other food crops). The process helps farmers by providing a market for any plant parts that would otherwise be waste (e.g., corn stalks), fuel crops from marginal farming land, spoiled crops, or forest thinnings%u2014even partially burned timber or any other plant-based material.
Perhaps even more important is to use the high proportion of biomass in urban solid waste (garbage) as feedstock. Result: landfill space and consequent expenses saved; no extra fertilizer, tractor, or even extra trucking fuel when the conversion plant is located at the landfill; cheaper and cleaner fuel, including aviation fuel for shorter flights; more food acres; much less net CO2. All in all, waste to energy is a way to solve societal waste problems while producing renewable fuel.
We proposed the garbage project at a major city landfill using our process, successfully tested by the DOE and a major university lab; but new technologies were hard to fly. Our suggestion for risk-aversive ethanol plant builders and investors: Since a standard corn ethanol plant provides the same fermentation stage used in cellulosic ethanol processes, preplan for the second phase of new cellulosic technologies on the same site; allow from the beginning for the larger footprint for preprocessing feedstocks. R. Lombard, Hillsboro, OR

[taddles3]

"burn salt water ... drives the compressor to compress the air ... run the car off of compressed air

Posted by bobnjersey at 02:29 PM : Jul 14, 2008"


Salt water doesn''t burn, the Hydrogen that is released by exciting salt water with radio waves burns...what are you going to use to power the radio waves?

[taddles3]

"that would make great bio-fuel

Posted by sociald63 at 11:48 AM : Jul 14, 2008"


You can make bio-diesel from almost any animal source....but do you want to.

[taddles3]

"Why not use saw-grass, or, better yet, hemp?

Posted by sunspro at 10:28 AM : Jul 14, 2008"


The process for large scale conversion of cellulose to sugars for fermentation and conversion to alchohol is still in development. Sources of sugar like cane or beet or carbohydrates that can be broken down into sugars like corn are readily available and will make up the bulk of bio-fuels until the next gen. cellulosic process takes over.

Short answer is industry just hasn''t developed the process yet.

[taddles3]

"The Problem With Biofuels is it''''s a stupid idea.

Posted by rharrin1 at 05:06 AM : Jul 14, 2008"


How so?

I agree that biofuels probably should not be made using food grains since it tends to run the food markets up but the biofuels industry is certainly a part of a renewable energy policy that should be utilized. We would be doing a lot more in this area if we had a White House that was not utterly under the control of the oil industry.

hillaryin012 - your comment is useless and indicative of the low-brow mentality you and your type espouse. Have to be able to think to think outside the box...that''s a trick you neocons have never been able to master.

Facts...the LIBERAL Bias.

[bobnjersey]

burn salt water ... drives the compressor to compress the air ... run the car off of compressed air

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLj46OR_nA

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4217016.html

[fredhetz]

Biodiesel can be made from used cooking oil. No new crops need be grown for that. With an augmentation of the infrastructure (windmills, solar panels, etc.), electricity can be used more frequently in cars. Growing crops specifically for fuel is not necessary.

[mitch5511]

This is why sugar beets are the better bet. Sugar beets can be grown in soil not normally used for food production. They are hardier plants and can be grown in savanna-type climates. Plus, the fuel produce gives more bang for the buck.

[rational_1]

what about dead people - that would make great bio-fuel
Posted by sociald63 at 11:48 AM : Jul 14, 2008

Forget fuel - maybe they''d make great FOOD. Oh that''s right, someone''s already made a movie about that.