Biofuel Monocultures - Does The ‘Revolution’ Add Up?
Just read a very interesting article at EcoWorld called “Biofuel Monocultures”
Its somewhat ‘doom and gloom’ BUT as I mentioned in a recent post (Home-Scale Renewables - A Flawed Idea?) it still important weigh the evidence on both sides of any environmental debate.
The argument asserting that the ‘biofuel revolution’ may do more harm than good definitely seems to be gaining some steam from what I can tell. I’ve now seen a number of articles on the topic just within the last month or so (including a lengthy feature in New Scientist).
The article I read today provides a fairly compelling (albeit brief) argument, referencing a number of other good articles on the subject as well.
Here is a blurb:
Most environmentalists as well make much of the “carrying capacity” of the planet. They point out, correctly, that there is a limit to how much the Earth’s biosphere can generate. Their concerns are manyfold - we will run out of forests, we will run out of farmland, we will run out of wilderness, we will run out of water - with all the attendant catastrophes that each of these depletions would cause.
So why are environmentalists so happy that we’ve just found a new way to deforest the planet and plant monocultures? Why are the Americans in particular suddenly embracing biofuel as though it is the solution to everything from global warming to energy shortages?
I find the entire debate as a whole extremely interesting, and I’m certainly starting to get a feel for what all the ‘hubbub’ is about.
That being said, I absolutely would NOT write-off biofuels completely! (not that anyone is necessarily saying that)
Sure, it may require large quantities of land and resources to produce biofuels via traditional crops, but what about cool ideas like making biofuel from algae (as I discussed in a recent post), a technology which apparently requires MUCH less space in general, and does not require valuable farm land or freshwater at all.
Bottomline - let’s keep the channels of communication open, and the ideas flowing! Its when progress takes on a ‘my way or the highway’ mentality that we really get ourselves into trouble, in my humble opinion.
If this topic interests you, be sure to check out the EcoWorld article: Biofuel Monocultures
Technorati Tags: monoculture, biofuel, biodiesel, biofuel revolution, ecoworld, biofuel economy, green fuel, ethanol, renewable energy
Written by Bentley on October 25th, 2006 with
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