Do we want to risk another knee-jerk mistake??

Question

Brazil just announced that deforestation is on track to double this year; "It's like witnessing a rape."

the Amazon rain forest happens also to be an incomparable storehouse of carbon, the very carbon that heats up the planet when it's released into the atmosphere. Brazil now ranks fourth in the world in carbon emissions, and most of its emissions come from deforestation. This land rush is being accelerated by an unlikely source: biofuels. An explosion in demand for farm-grown fuels has raised global crop prices to record highs, which is spurring a dramatic expansion of Brazilian agriculture, which is invading the Amazon at an increasingly alarming rate.

But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.

• Backed by billions in investment capital, this alarming phenomenon is replicating itself around the world. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html

Answer 1

yea, i know.. but al gore and his SUV say biofuels are better, so you're wrong... thats what the eco-nuts believe and they're retards for it.

drill here, drill now, and invest in Fuel cells and Cold Fusion

Answer 2

it would appear, but is not at all clear, that you think we should burn more coal and oil.

that's just not so.

in fact, CO2 is almost like a cancer spreading around the world, causing problems all over.

i'll agree that bio-fuels are not an improvement.  burning up your food is rarely a good idea.

the problem is that, at the moment, there isn't a good, immediate alternative.

however, it's way past time the US took the lead, starting on such.

both to reduce the trade deficit, and to build up the science and technology to sell around the world, as oil prices become prohibitive.

finally, as soon as the oil lobby moves out of the white house, i assume that we'll see more progress.

Answer 3

It's not a mistake to reduce fossil fuel use, a source of energy that's expensive, unstable, and makes people who don't like us VERY rich.

In general, you're exaggerating some valid points.

The Brazilian rain forest was being developed way too much long before biofuels.

Corn ethanol is pretty much a break even thing, neither "disastrous" nor a boon.  Some pros, some cons.  Not a game changer.

Care to provide a reference about how cellulosic ethanol is a bad thing?

EDIT - The deal about switchgrass is that it grows on poor land, and needs little water.  Land unsuitable for farming.  And cellulosic ethanol can also be made from a variety of waste materials.  I'll agree that the technology is not yet developed.

As I said, this question is an exaggeration of the problems with ethanol, and attributes problems to ethanol that are also due to other causes.  Some good points, but over the top.

Answer 4

The use of biofuels isn't such a great idea for the most part.  Corn prices have risen and supplies have dropped, it's true.  What was once thought to be a good idea seems to be not so good.

Brazil is in a different position in a way.  Nobody wants to see the Amazon deforested for sure.  But for Brazil it's been a boon, having relieved them of importing oil from anywhere.  The crop they use is sugar cane, not corn for their ethanol fuel.  At the pumps it's known as E-85.  It is more affordable than paying world oil prices, and burns much better than corn based ethanol.  Also, even with all the sugar that's used for it, there is no sugar shortage.  It does work well.  The fact that large tracts of the Amazon are disappearing is a contentious issue.  I'm no tree-hugger, but it's definitely not a good thing.  For Brazil though, sugar cane ethanol gasoline is a good thing.  If only they'd find alternate growing areas instead of the Amazon...I think they need to try to do so.

Answer 5

Can`t cut dead, dieing trees in America. So what do you expect