>[OPINION] this is crap. Agree.
>[EDUCATED GUESS] this guy assumes ethanol and soy are the only >viable feedstocks. >[FACT] they are not. >[OPINION] Mr. McNeely has not looked into his options very well, >/and/ biofuels are only a stopgap measure to give us a few more >decades to come up with a decent working solution. as for using >fossil fuels to harvest ethanol crops, i would say it is a nessecary >evil until the harvesting equipment can be fueled entirely by >alternatives. there is by default going to be some turnover time. More fossil fuels than that Jason, those are industrialised monocrops, heavily dependent on fossil-fuel inputs far beyond just fuelling the machinery. Sustainable biofuels produced this way are not sustainable, but then neither is industrialised monocropping, and not just because of all the fossil-fuel inputs. The other mistake he makes is to think that industrialised grain crops feed people, and that making ethanl from them deprives those people of food. That's the basic mistake all these guys make - we could call it the Pimentel syndrome. Re who, or rather what, industrialised grain feeds, please see: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_food.html Biofuels - Food or Fuel? http://journeytoforever.org/ethanol_energy.html Is ethanol energy-efficient? But this is a trendy view at the moment, a way of showing you're ahead of the game: ie, showing people who're even more ignorant than you are that you're ahead of them. One might call it the Monbiot syndrome. If we can't produce biofuels sustainably, then we can't produce food sustainably either, but we can, and are. Not that way though. Best Keith >Jason >ICQ#: 154998177 >MSN: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >----- Original Message ----- >From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Randall >To: <mailto:biofuel@sustainablelists.org>biofuel@sustainablelists.org >Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 2:18 PM >Subject: [Biofuel] From the BBC -- Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper? > > >Original Article: ><http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5369284.stm>http://news.bbc >.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5369284.stm > >Send your comments: ><http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=3971&&edition=2 >&ttl=20060922184357>http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?thread >ID=3971&&edition=2&ttl=20060922184357 > >Jeffrey A McNeely > >Biofuels could end up damaging the natural world rather than saving >it from global warming, argues Jeff McNeely in the Green Room. >Better policies, better science and genetic modification, he says, >can all contribute to a greener biofuels revolution > >With soaring oil prices, and debates raging on how to reduce carbon >emissions to slow climate change, many are looking to biofuels as a >renewable and clean source of energy. > >The European Union recently has issued a directive calling for >biofuels to meet 5.75% of transportation fuel needs by 2010. Germany >and France have announced they intend to meet the target well before >the deadline; California intends going still further. > >This is a classic "good news-bad news" story. > >Of course we all want greater energy security, and helping achieve >the goals (however weak) of the Kyoto Protocol is surely a good >thing. > >However, biofuels - made by producing ethanol, an alcohol fuel made >from maize, sugar cane, or other plant matter - may be a penny wise >but pound foolish way of doing so. > >Consider the following: > >The grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with >ethanol is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the >petrol tank is refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain >required would feed a hungry African village for a year >Much of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil, >where the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans, >and Southeast Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying the >rainforest habitat of orangutans and many other species. Species are >dying for our driving >If ethanol is imported from the US, it will likely come from maize, >which uses fossil fuels at every stage in the production process, >from cultivation using fertilisers and tractors to processing and >transportation. Growing maize appears to use 30% more energy than >the finished fuel produces, and leaves eroded soils and polluted >waters behind >Meeting the 5.75% target would require, according to one >authoritative study, a quarter of the EU's arable land >Using ethanol rather than petrol reduces total emissions of carbon >dioxide by only about 13% because of the pollution caused by the >production process, and because ethanol gets only about 70% of the >mileage of petrol >Food prices are already increasing. With just 10% of the world's >sugar harvest being converted to ethanol, the price of sugar has >doubled; the price of palm oil has increased 15% over the past year, >with a further 25% gain expected next year. > >Little wonder that many are calling biofuels "deforestation diesel", >the opposite of the environmentally friendly fuel that all are >seeking. > >With so much farmland already taking the form of monoculture, with >all that implies for wildlife, do we really want to create more >diversity-stripped desert? > >Others are worried about the impacts of biofuels on food prices, >which will affect especially the poor who already spend a large >proportion of their income on food. > >Biotech boost > >So what is to be done? The first step is to increase our >understanding of how nature works to produce energy. > >Amazingly, scientists do not yet have a full understanding of the >workings of photosynthesis, the process by which plants use solar >energy to absorb carbon dioxide and build carbohydrates. > >Biotechnology, its reputation sullied by public protests over GM >foods, may make important contributions. According to the science >journal Nature, recombinant technology is already available that >could enhance ethanol yield, reduce environmental damage from >feedstock, and improve bioprocessing efficiency at the refinery. > >The Swiss biotech firm Syngenta is developing a genetically >engineered maize that can help convert itself into ethanol by >growing a particular enzyme. > >Others are designing trees that have less lignin, the >strength-giving substance that enables them to stand upright, but >makes it more difficult to convert the tree's cellulose into ethanol. > >Some environmentalists are worried that these altered trees will >cross-breed with wild trees, resulting in a drooping forest rather >than one that stands tall and produces useful timber and wildlife >habitat. > >In the longer run, biotech promises to help convert wood chips, farm >wastes, and willow trees into bioethanol more cheaply and cleanly, >thereby helping meet energy needs while also improving its public >image. > >Public stake > >But that is not nearly enough; bioenergy is too important to be left >in the hands of the private sector. > >Many of the social and environmental benefits of bioenergy are not >priced in the market, so the public sector needs to step in to >ensure these benefits are delivered. > >An easy immediate step would be to mandate improved fuel efficiency >for all forms of transport, beginning with the private automobile. A >20% increase in fuel-efficiency standards is feasible using current >technology, and would save far more energy than Europe's biomass >could produce. > >Governments also need to provide leadership in the form of economic >incentives to minimise competition between food and fuel crops, and >ensure that water, high-quality agricultural land, and biodiversity >are not sacrificed on the altar of our convenience. > >Calculations of energy return on investment need to include >environmental impacts on soil, water, climate change, and ecosystem >services. > >The bottom line is that biofuels can contribute to energy and >environmental goals only as part of an overall strategy that >includes energy conservation, a diversity of sustainable energy >sources, greater efficiency in production and transport, and careful >management of ethanol production. > >Jeffrey A McNeely is chief scientist of IUCN, the World Conservation >Union, based in Switzerland > >The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental >topics running weekly on the BBC News website > ><http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5369284.stm> > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.6/453 - Release Date: 9/20/2006 > > >Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg=cert; charset=us-ascii >Content-Disposition: inline >Content-Description: "AVG certification" > >No virus found in this outgoing message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.6/453 - Release Date: 9/20/2006 > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
