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Biofuels get mixed review

Ethanol does well on efficiency, but only so-so for the environment.

Ethanol fuel from plants may be more efficient that petrol, but for now it offers only marginal environmental benefits. That's the message from scientists who have analysed exactly how much energy goes into making such biofuels, and how much carbon dioxide they emit as they power your car.

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Posted by Mark Peplow on January 26, 2006 06:40 PM |

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Regarding your story,Biofuels get mixed review, Ethanol does well on efficiency, but only so-so for the environment.
by Mark Peplow:

In all the debate (and hype) about energy values of ethanol, I find the following info ito be both the most relevent and ignored:

"To produce, deliver & consume 1 million Btu of gasoline requires 1,241,000 Btu of fossil energy - more than double the amount required for corn starch ethanol." Total energy calculation for gasoline includes recovering crude oil from the well, transporting the crude to a refinery, refining crude oil to gasoline and finally transporting the gasoline to a service station (the energy expended in exploration for crude oil is not included).

http://www.biofuels4oregon.com/biofuels/ebgraph

Carl Lehrburger
PureVision Technology, Inc.
Carl@purevisiontechnology.com

Posted by: Carl Lehrburger | January 27, 2006 09:44 PM

The practice of monoculture threatens biodiversity and promotes continued pesticide as insects and plant diseases adapt to resistant crop species. Mechanical tillage, wasteful irrigation and fertilizer use promote soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. The boundary conditions of UMN’s life cycle analysis of biofuels may not have addressed these factors; if not, it might have understated the impacts associated with putting more acres under cultivation for biofuels production.

Posted by: Douglas | December 13, 2006 01:13 PM

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