UN thinks bio fuels may hurt environment/economy

[Big Dave]

This is one of the (very) few times I agree with the UN.

Any biofuel that competes with food crops for resources (arable land, agricultural quality water, fertilizer of any sort) is going to drive the price of food crops up. Which of course is the whole idea of US biofuel subsidies. It is a form of price support for commercial corn and soybean farmers and biofuel processors.

The only biofuel scheme that makes any sense is the notion of using algae as the feedstock. It does not need arable land. It uses seawater and is fertized by sewage sludge and concentrated CO2. It grows at an astonishing rate when conditions are right. The algae is essentially a mixture of sugars, fats, and proteins. Ethanol can be made from the sugars. biodiesel can be made from the fats and the residual proteins fed to farm animals. It is natures' perfect solar collector/energy storage. By itself algae is almost 50% efficient at converting sunlight into sugars and fats. Even if the whole system were only 5% efficient, we would only need about 25,000 square miles of desert (about half of the Mojave) to provide for 1005 of the transportation fuel for the US.

This process is decades away. we know a whole lot more about killing algae than growing it. I have confidence that agricultural scientists can figure this out and chemical engineers can figure an economical way to separate the fats, sugars, and proteins. It is just a matter of time and money.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by SD26

Why would they expect to do the same thing and get different results?

that would be on par for govt insanity--doing the same thing over(and over) and expecting different results.

[Snax]

<cough>

<cough> <cough>

Excuse me. Just choking on the dust stirred up with the resurrection of this thread . .

[Jay2TheRescue]

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Snax

<cough>

<cough> <cough>

Excuse me. Just choking on the dust stirred up with the resurrection of this thread . .

good to hear from you again my friend. i hope all is well w/ you and the fam!

Originally Posted by FormulaTwo

Yes...
I think ethanol is a horrible idea.
They really need to leave corn and soy alone.
If they go with corn then the price of food( beef etc...) will shoot up.
If they go with soy, then I am going to be in a bad spot because I am vegetarian and the majority of my food is soy.

And I need to stay alive on the cheap. You understand.

I agree with you about the corn/soy! But you should watch your soy intake if you're a man anyways... high levels of estrogen Better off getting the protein from nuts.

The bio fuels debate rages on... We have some busses powered by bio-diesel where I live but haven't found anywhere selling it. I would be against a crop that we normally eat being used for fuel because of our nation's food distribution service, using food to deliver food? Interesting, but not sustainable. If we could find a crop that grows like a weed in less than optimum conditions (dryer climates etc) we might be able to give it a shot, but it's going to take a lot of research.

I think if farmers were given solutions to manufacture their own bio diesel on site with their own waste (husks, stalks etc) it could be beneficial in the same sense that solar panels are beneficial to places more cut off from the grid.

[Fuel Miser]

Originally Posted by Gforce

The bio fuels debate rages on... We have some busses powered by bio-diesel where I live but haven't found anywhere selling it.

How's 2% suit you? Good luck.

Sunoco Offering Biodiesel
Yesterday

PHILADELPHIA -- Customers traveling along the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway can now refuel using Sunoco Inc. biodiesel blends.

According to the company, the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuels contain 2 percent biodiesel, which is a renewable resource that can be manufactured from vegetable oils, recycled grease or animal fat. Biodiesel fuels aim to be more environmentally friendly than their predecessors by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

Customers visiting New Jersey Turnpike service plazas can fuel up at these Sunoco stations using the biodiesel blends: The Vince Lombardi, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Edison, Grover Cleveland, Joyce Kilmer and Molly Pitcher rest areas. Garden State Parkway service stations offering biodiesel fuel blend are: Montvale, Brookdale, Vaux Hall, Cheesequake and Monmouth.

Sunoco sells transportation fuels at more than 4,900 locations in 23 states.

http://www.csnews.com/top-story-sunoco_offering_biodiesel-58752.html