Today in Biofuels Opinion: “Technical feasibility does not mean economic feasibility…Economic feasibility does not mean environmental, political or social feasibility.”
David Swenson of the Iowa State University Department of Economics: “Right now, I’m not very optimistic about how [ethanol] will affect our rural economy. …Technical feasibility does not mean economic feasibility…“Economic feasibility does not mean environmental, political or social feasibility.”
Bernard Keane in crikey.com: “The greenhouse benefits of biofuels have long been debated. The then-Australian Greenhouse Office commissioned a study by the CSIRO that indicated there was little difference in emissions between E10 derived from molasses and premium unleaded. Data from the International Energy Agency collated in a Masters thesis by grain merchant Dennis Ward suggests a 5% biofuel mandate across the OECD – that is, if 5% of all transport fuel in the OECD were replaced with ethanol – the reduction in world greenhouse emissions would be a quarter of 1%.”
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lawman | Jan 21, 2009 | Reply
We must address some major challenges if the holistic effect of biofuels is to be positive.
– The debates about food-based biofuel feedstocks and the effect on
hunger, food prices, agricultural lands, and rainforests is ongoing and
passionate.
– Recent studies suggest it takes more energy to produce some biofuels
than they provide.
– Some biofuels use considerably more potable water than the volume of
biofuel produced.
– Biodiesel production uses fossil based methanol, thus linking costs
and availability to that of fossil fuels.
– Certain biofuels gel or even solidify at typical winter temperatures.
A company USSE/SSTP has the answer to all of these questions.