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.

[sociald63]

what about dead people - that would make great bio-fuel

[superdem]

The fact that biofuels impact human food chains is very indicative that human populations world-wide are out of control and not sustainable. It is not the Greens that will destroy the planet, it is the devouring hordes which depend on excesses of grains, edible stocks, and fuels, keeping food and energy cheap and available for the masses. The devouring hordes are the direct product of right wing philosophies of human dominance and unregulated reproduction, coupled with religious excesses, also right wing, which deny human responsibilty and trust in "god". So the devouring hordes will grow to consume all the fossil fuels, they will chop down the forests devouring all the wood fuels and resources, and we cannot grow renewables without starving people, so there is no escape. Some day aliens will explore this planet and find the ruins of mankind''s extinct civilizations, as we today explore the Mayan ruins. It could not be sustained, because there were too many people. Mankind could not stand up to itself.

[talkingham]

WE are duped into so many stupid things in this nation. Natural gas for example, which has nothing to do with the price of oil is being pushed to the same absurd high prices by the same speculators. it won''t matter what u use. The energy lobbies are going to increase the price to record levels to pay for their luxury homes all over the world.

Oil palms can produce more than 400 gallons of oil per acre compared to big Corn''s lousy 22/gallon per acre - but hey let''s use corn instead of something that might produce a lot more oil right?

And again, this might all make sense if there really was an oil shortage right? U can buy all the oil u want at $140-plus per barrel.

[gurusavant]

i mean a bottle of oil in the supermarket costs more that $1, which is not even close to a gallon. imagine how much a gallon of oil made from crops would cost! and manufacturing crops into fuel for cars? for how many cars? like 2? because if it is supposed to supply every possible car on the street, well then good luck. that''s a whole country of a corn field to make that happen.

[mikekleber]

Okay, why did biofuel production increase markedly? Because the oil companies are *** America, and our government thinks that is okay. We have to start somewhere since Washington obviously can not do anything. Sure, grain prices are up, but biofuels did not double the price of oil in one year. Speculation and increased exports to countries that have money is the main cause. Everything we buy has transportations costs. With $5.00 diesel fuel, everything increases.

I think everyone should calm down and wait until Bush leaves. Then the Supreme Court will allow America to see the agenda at Cheney''s secret energy policy meeting which occurred weeks after the inauguration. My predictioon, Americans will see how the past eight years were planned even before Bush took office.

[yongamerica]

Once upon a time the US farmers could grow more corn than they could sell. Using this corn for fuel was a good idea then. Now, with 10% ethanol in every gallon of gas, along with the worlds increased demand for corn and other grains, this no longer makes sense.

Instead of using grain alcohol for fuel it would be much smarter to use wood alcohol as this type of alcohol can be made using wood scrap, corn stalks and other vegetable matter that is not fit for food. Unfortunately the grain alcohol lobby has learned much from the oil lobby and has been very successful in keeping wood alcohol out of the biofuel industry. It is time revisit this cheaper alcohol fuel source.

[republic1776]

It''s not rocket science that you do NOT want to link your food supply oil!
The liberal Green will kill us all...NOT Bush!

[demwatcher]

"And nothing ever will, to your satisfaction. No one can ''''prove'''' evolution either, to the satisfaction of those whose faith runs against it. On a global basis, you are now in an extraordinarily small minority.

Posted by ubrew12 at 09:36 PM : Jul 13, 2008"

Do your homework and stop spouting nonsense. The ''so-called'' minority is much larger than you think.

You base your claim on what one-quarter of the scientific community found in a ''consensus''. Science should be based on fact, not consensus.

If we stayed with the consensus, the world would be flat, the universe would revolve around the earth, and crystal spheres surround us, holding up the sky. Quite like the view of Liberals.

[radiob-2009]

There are millions perhaps billions of acreage that is not being irrigated and cultivated, along with us not using natural/propane/methane gas and other alternatives instead the "monarchys" of all nations want to continue the trend, not to mention, solar, hydro cells which if mass procuded create jobs and lower cost. The politicians and the corporate world want Orwells 1984 to become a complete reality. Time for a second American revolution.

[pensacola88]

True, some of it is natural. The Great Sahara Desert and Mesopapotania were fertile lush green areas, and climate has changed them.

If either polar ice cap is melted off in 50 more years, the chance to get one back or it''s benefits are lost until another ice age returns in about 10-12,000 years.

People may forget what icebergs and glaciers were in about a hundred years.

If loss of weather seasons and migration of food growing regions of the planet to areas closer to the polar areas doesn''t bother you, no one has do anything.

If everyone in the NYC and Los Angeles area doesn''t mind seeing hot temps typically seen in Yuma, Arizona, then do nothing.

We wont have to worry about wild fires in California, because nothing will grow there.

We won''t have to worry about rain in the midwest, because it will never come.

Canada will inherit the breadbasket region and the USA midwest will inherit a desert from the Rockies to the Appalacians.

Without seasons, diseases will not be regulated or contained, and many dormant ones will be activated by unabated warming climate.

Either winner the argumment has a climate problem to solve.