Why were biofuels considered as a better alternative energy source?

Question

Now days biofuels are revealved to be of no difference than regular fossil fuels, and even worse especially with the food crisis all over the world.

What were the initial assumptions that people have about biofuels, and did they have "science" to back them up?

Could you please give me links to sites

(this is for a project and im short on references)

Answer 1

ditto on the answer from cometkatt. finally someone who knows the facts about ethanol and biodiesel. why the public continues to believe the propaganda from oil company studies that say biofuels are bad is astounding. brazil is not cutting down rain forest for corn production only. they were cutting down the rainforest 20 years ago. OK, EVERYBODY LISTEN ONE MORE TIME. ETHANOL IS NOT, I REPEAT IS NOT DRIVING UP THE COST OF FOOD. THE CULPRIT IS OIL AT 136 DOLLARS PER BARREL. THE CORN THAT IS USED FOR ETHANOL HAS A BY-PRODUCT LEFT OVER THAT CAN BE FED TO LIVESTOCK. ITS NOT AS GOOD AS PURE CORN BUT IT MAKES UP FOR SOME OF THE CORN THAT WOULD BE FED TO LIVESTOCK.  so what will we do now that the oil companies have convinced most of the public that biofuels are bad and oil is good? same thing we always do, keep buying 65% of our energy from foreign countries and continue to send those billions and billions of dollars out of the country.

Answer 2

I think it's because biofuels itself was seen as a good thing, while not a lot of attention was focused on the process of getting biofuels.

Either that or it's another marketing scheme.

When I first heard about it, I thought... oh wow! great!

Now, it isn't all that great. Brazil's cutting down the amazon just to get money out of producing biofuels from corn fields that used to be a rainforest, and food prices are increasing. Even the value of rice has doubled.

Answer 3

I believe your Hypothesis is inaccurate and your assumptions incorrect.

as you requested Here are a bunch of sites and resources - they will however Refute your opening statements----

and yes biofuels ARE far better- they are RENEWABLE where fossil fuels are finite and damaging to our ecosystem

and they DONT HAVE to be foods either! waste vegetable oil is no longer considered food but Can be used as fuel.

and yes there is a LOT of science to back this up ---- YEARS worth that the oil types REALLY dont want people to know about. they WANT us to think that biofuels arent good enough.. more money in Their pockets.

and you have to remember that the oil types have Billions invested in Trying to make SURE that biofuels appear to be failures  -

it really bothers me that so many are ready to buy into the oil industries lies rather than make the effort to learn the truth about these things themselves. we as a nation have no real NEED to be dependent on them. but we do have to be willing to learn how not to.

Even Henry Ford was interested in biofuels- he died before he could get them in the public eye (oil was cheaper then)

**************************************...

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_ma...

http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/eng/

http://www.geocities.com/vegoilcar/

http://www.noendpress.com/caleb/biodiese...

http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/

http://www.vegpoweredsystems.com/

also check the yahoo groups they may help too

MakeFreeDiesel

vegoil-diesel

vegetable_oil_vehicles

wvobus

waste_to_oil

articles about Henry Ford- and not just fuels! --

interesting stuff. so no- biofuels are NOT failures -nor are they of NO difference and they Are NOT causing food shortages ===but one has to be open minded and interested in learning the truth in the matter

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/02/...

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/10/3...

http://www.thesoydailyclub.com/MOS/MOShe...

http://www.hempplastic.com/newSite/hp_ab...

http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/About...

Answer 4

In theory, using biofuels doesn't increase the CO2 since it is not adding new CO2.  The carbon from the corn came from the atmosphere.  The problem is that it takes almost as much energy in the form of fossil fuels to produce ethanol from corn as is returned as energy from the ethanol.  That is not the case with ethanol made from sugar cane and potentially switch grass.  As typically happens with left wing ideas, the unintended consequences of stupid policies will make us all pay higher prices for food with nothing good coming from it.

Answer 5

Bio fuels were really pushed on us hard by the environmentalists.

Funny thing how now the environmentalists are all opposed to bio fuels.