> A couple of interesting points: Brazil already has 3.6 million pure
> ethanol driven vehicles on the road...
And they're turning the Amazon Basin into a wasteland at an alarming
rate. Maybe Jay has the figures to do the accounting on this. Enough
"cellulosic biomass" -- typically, that means trees -- to generate
enough ethanol to replace a significant fraction of fuel protroleum
use is how many trees? I live in a generally woodland area of what
the industry would consider second-rate trees for any use but pulp.
And we're already seeing ecologically unsustainable clearcutting by
hungry small woodlot owners to feed megacorp buyers. A tree is
marketable if a semiautomated mill can cut a single grade C 2x4 out of
it.
I would expect an ethanol industry to promote massive clear cutting of
"over-mature" and "inefficient" woodlands (read healthy, diverse
biome) with monoculture replanting of fast-growing plantation species.
Feh.
Anybody have the numbers on acres of woods per supertanker-load of
crude equivalence?
- Mike
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Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/mspencer/home.html
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