Sunday, March 02, 2008

Biofuels: cost or benefit?

Quod Felix tipped me off to this Feb 8 article in the NYTimes about the "true cost/benefit" of biofuels (by Elizabeth Rosenthal).

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded.

The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy....

The destruction of natural ecosystems — whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America — not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces.


Just something to ponder.

And in a related topic... I'm hoping to attend this renewable energy conference this week in Washington. With names, such as Negroponte and Khosla, I think is supposed to be a pretty big-to-do. Finally, something that may be of interest to people who have ever tried understanding the "who's who" of the "renewable energy" field, this floor plan of the adjacent trade show may be helpful as a basic tutorial.

Tim White

p.s. the conference may make it difficult for me to post much this week.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

im, did you see the article in today's NH Register about Branford High becoming a "green" school?
Why aren't we looking into this since it is being paid for through grants and energy savings with no extra costs to the taxpayers??
They received a $450,000 state grant.
I guess we would rather turf with our grant then energy conservation.
Perhaps we should have someone looking into this rather than spend more on fuel dependent systems and turf.
Is Branford that much ahead of Cheshire in energy conservation?

Anonymous said...

When will people understand that one biofuel (ethanol) requires the equivalent of 1.25 gal of oil to produce one gal of ethanol.
This is almost as senseless as plugging your electric car in to an outlet powered by a coal burning energy plant.

Anonymous said...

"Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces."

Malls that replace woodlands absorb zero carbons. W/S's contribution to global warming.

Let's pave and turf all of Cheshire. Who needs grass and trees?

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:07 Good question to ask Mr. Altieri and Rep. Fritz. If we conserve energy use in our schools we would be able to do more with our tax dollars.

Anonymous said...

I think the turf is great
The north end is going to be a great development
so many great things going on

Anonymous said...

The Town is behind in energy efficiency because the town manager and others do not either understand or choose to work on these projects. Because some amount of risk needs to be taken that eliminates any opportunity for potential savings because of old age Yankee thinking. New Haven is going green along with so many others. I guess we have to wait until all the schools in our ERG (Economic Resource Group) like Greenwich go green, then the Supt and Town Manager will use that as a reason for us to do the same. We are followers, not leaders in oh so many ways.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:59 You are dreaming again. Read the papers about what is happening in the retail sector.
No money = no shopping = no customers = no sales = can't pay the rent. Hello.

Anonymous said...

anon 11:07 "Why aren't we looking into this since it is being paid for through grants and energy savings with no extra costs to the taxpayers?? They received a $450,000 state grant."

No extra cost to WHICH taxpayers? The state got the money somewhere.

Anonymous said...

To JP from 11:07

No EXTRA costs is the key. I am not saying that we aren't indirectly paying for it, but aI would much rather have by tax dollars going towards something that will make this world a better place then "turf".
Tim, has the council or anyone looked into this?

Anonymous said...

9:31 that's basically true, but you also need to consider that some of the most successful tech enttrepreneurs in the world (for example, Vinod Khosla) are currently researching the possibility of making ethanol production more efficient.

If for instance you currently make 1 gallon of ethanol from one corn of cob, then the 1 gallon of oil (such as for tractors) required to grow the corn... makes the process cost prohibitive. But if someone learns how to extract 3 gallons of ethanol from that one ear... well, then you have a real opportunity.

As for whether it will happen... I figure if we can send a man to the moon... we can probably find those efficiencies in ethanol production. The only issue I see with more efficient ethanol is a market driven barrier... if plug in vehicles become widely used... and wind and solar become more efficient... then the urgency of ethanol will fade.

But that's just my guess.