Personally, biofuels are a path to energy independence.
However, I do not agree with the mainstream that they are an answer to
climate change issues.
Biofuels use combustion to obtain energy.
Combustion releases CO2 + H20.
They still contribute to the buildup of climate gasses.
Granted, biofuels may contribute fewer pollutants than petrol, but I
remain unconvinced that they are an answer to this problem.
Further, biofuels in general create competition for land between human
food and energy production. I guarantee that in the long run, if
faced with the choice of using vegetation production for human food or
energy, that energy will win out. Why? Because Big Business almost
always makes choices based on ultimate income and profitability above
human health and welfare. This would ultimately create food
shortages, escalating food costs and ultimately famine in many areas.
I recognize that many may see this as a path to zero growth, but in
fact it is a bad path. Human famine is probably as damaging to the
environment as is human mismanagement.
The advantage of switchgrass in this respect is that people do not eat
it, and frankly neither is it used much for livestock. It does produce
large quantities of forage for use in digesters. However, I highly
doubt a monoculture of switchgrass would be any more beneficial to
wildlife than a monoculture of oak trees, pine trees, or corn.
Frankly, we already have monoculture of grasses in the form of
hayfields. 2-4 hay cuttings a year must be timed very well to avoid
grassland bird nest damage, amphibians and reptiles are directly baled
up and killed by hay machinery, and modern hay machinery in large
scale hay fields can even lead to baled up rabbits and animals like
that are relatively mobile because such wide swaths are taken with the
cutting and rakes. This is not an attack on farmers haying, or
production of biofuels specifically. It is just looking at some of
the negatives I see. Maybe the positives outweigh the negatives for
some folks. As an environmental scientist, I recognize that we must
manage the environment with humans considered because damage to human
populations will feedback into the environemnt and environmental
policy. It always does.
The business of business is to make money, all other goals are secondary.
On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 11:52 PM, Wayne Tyson <landr...@cox.net> wrote:
If I understand the purpose of Ecolog correctly, it is a place for
announcements of matters of interest to ecologists and their
fellow-travelers, and a place for informal discussion of such matters.
The
most basic unwritten rule that governs discourse in a forum of any kind
is
to be specifically responsive to the points made by fellow participants.
Condescension in any form, direct or indirect, is considered by most to
be
unkind at best, but rude, really--"bad form," as some might say.
I look forward to an open and honest discussion of the points made by the
discussants. It should be pretty simple to clearly and concisely state
the
evidence for and against such hare-brained stunts as converting CRP lands
to
switchgrass monocultures. Similarly, those knowledgeable enough to foster
conferences should be able to state the net energy yields of switchgrass
plantations, a simple matter of an input/output calculation.
I hope that these pivotal issues will not be evaded by those who have
vested
interests in, say, switchgrass culture.
WT
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Raasch" <jaraa...@tds.net>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 9:59 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] ENERGY Biofuels and their questionable potential
Re:
[ECOLOG-L] Switchgrass Conference September 2013
Hello Wayne and David.
Thank you for voicing your concerns and contributing to the discussion.
It
is important to look at the big picture and recognize the full impact of
human activity on the landscape.
Regarding the switchgrass conference, there will be a session devoted to
environmental services and impacts. The first speaker for this will be G.
Philip Robertson, Professor of Ecosystem Science, Michigan State
University.
There's also a two-day poster session and still room in the schedule for
additional oral presentations. I hope people will take adavantage of the
opportunity to present research covering their concerns.
http://www.dfrc.wisc.edu/switchgrass/
John
On Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:40:38 -0500, David L. McNeely <mcnee...@cox.net>
wrote:
I did not see conservation listed as a discipline involved
in "Switchgrass II." There is a move afoot in Oklahoma and Kansas to
convert Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands, which have been
succeeding toward something resembling a prairie in those states after
having been inappropriately farmed, to switchgrass production. Some of
these CRP lands are important Lesser Prairie Chicken habitat, a formerly
hugely abundant grouse that has been seriously declining and is proposed
as an endangered species.
Farmers and ranchers, partly because of misinformation, partly because
of
experience, distrust the endangered species program but work
cooperatively
with the CRP program -- mostly because it pays to do so, but the result
is
more habitat for chickens.
If it is all converted to monoculture, where will the Lesser Prairie
Chickens go?
David McNeely
---- Wayne Tyson <landr...@cox.net> wrote:
Do I hear a "Giant Sucking Sound?" What is the evidence that
switchgrass can
produce more energy that it takes to get said energy to the point of
doing
work more efficiently than alternatives? What are the implications for
the
ecosystems that would be effectively destroyed by widespread planting
of
switchgrass? Upon what theoretical foundations is the whole concept
based,
including the "use" of "marginal" lands? Does anyone really think that
marginal lands will not produce marginal amounts of energy? At what
cost in
dollars and degradation/destruction of ecosystems?
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Raasch" <jaraa...@tds.net>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 10:11 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Switchgrass Conference September 2013
Announcing SWITCHGRASS II, taking place in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, 10-
12
September 2013 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. Registration,
housing, and abstract submission information available at the following
website: www.dfrc.wisc.edu/switchgrass.
The conference will bring together scientists and students interested
in
switchgrass and other prairie grasses to discuss the state of the art
of
prairie grass research. It will be an excellent opportunity to meet and
interact with researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including
agronomy, physiology, ecology, soil science, pathology, entomology,
genetics, genomics, and molecular biology. The conference will include
a
field tour, several plenary presentations, selected volunteered oral
presentations, a poster session, and a community workshop.
Program Highlights:
All-day tour of prairie/savanna and bioenergy research.
Eight topical areas, each with one invited speaker.
One-day poster session, organized according to the eight topical areas.
A small group of abstracts from each topical area will be chosen, with
the
author's permission, for oral presentations. The committee will make
this
decision before the conference, so that authors have time to plan for
an
oral presentation.
Abstract submission deadline: 11:59pm Friday 16 August (Central
Daylight
Time USA)
Registration deadline: 1 September
For more information contact mdcas...@wisc.edu or jaraa...@tds.net.
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Malcolm L. McCallum
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University of Illinois at Springfield
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