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142 comments on Open Letter on Biofuels

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Nate Hagens on January 20, 2009 - 10:56am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Thanks Gail - this is going to be the true litmus test of the administration - whether Vilsack and Obama can wade through the political/corporate backing of their agro-fuel states and repeal/change the corn ethanol mandate. There are many important and valuable uses of that productive land other than growing fuel. If they throw down that mandate, or change it to be procured from waste biomass, etc. instead of a national scaling - only then will I have 'hope' for a better energy policy.

I think embracing biofuels was probably a natural step in awareness/denial/acceptance of peaking in crude oil. It was too tough politically to tackle the 'reduced consumption' aspect of the equation (and still is), so 'hey we can make vehicle fuel from corn' seemed popular and optimistic at the time. Many years later, the wide boundary science references have caught up to this policy mistake.

We have to optimize the return on our most limiting resources - water, natural gas, liquid fuels are foremost among them domestically, with food (globally) being a close 4th. (p.s. banks and stock market don't make this particular list)

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BilBb on January 20, 2009 - 2:51pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

No thanks Gail,

Glancing down the EndNotes I see you've assembled a selection of the worst of the worst of the worst examples of the biofuel experience. I am amazed that you haven't found some desparate example of backyard biofuel production and held it up as the reason for Zimbabwe's failed food production. If I put my mind and Google to the test a truly horrendous oil equivalent would be a believable argument for the immediate abandonment of that energy source. The sad thing here is that this entire parade is in the interests of making a case for expanding the search for more cheap sources of oil so that Americans can drive comfortable but excessively squanderous vehicles a few years longer. Squeezing the very last drop of oil out of the earth is not the answer.

It is time to face up to the very reality that this blog is largely about........PEAK OIL is real. We are in the transition time. Oilmen need to become bio-oilmen. Researchers need to become bio-oil researchers. Financiers need to become bio-oil financiers. But car manufacturers need to become...electric car manufacturers. Bio oil is a transition fuel. The only viable motive energy source for the future is electricity. All energy comes from the sun. It is time to take the 300 million time lag out of the process and use the energy directly.

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Gail the Actuary on January 20, 2009 - 3:28pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Remember, this is not my assemblage of anything. The only part I had anything to do with writing was the introductory paragraphs. I am afraid I didn't look too closely at the particular references the biofuels group give. I am sure they did not give evidence where biofuels were working well, but I am also certain that there are problems in some places.

The authors do indeed come up with the recommendation that we give up nearly everything (biofuels, wood, fossil fuels, and nuclear). I have said I do not agree with their recommendations.

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x on January 20, 2009 - 6:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Obama said again in his inaugural speech that wind, solar and soil would be the renewable energy sources. Those who think that soil i.e. bio fuels will not be part of the the energy program of the Obama administration are delusional.

He ran on a bio fuel platform, was elected on it and has given every indication that he intends to follow through. He has nominated Vilsack as Agriculture Secretary.

It was Vilsack who led Iowa to try to be a leader in alternative energy production. Wind, ethanol and bio diesel have renewed Iowa's long faltering rural economy. Now comes ideologues like the author with straw-man arguments that ignore the benefits of bio fuels and concentrate only on problems. Every change has winners and losers. There are more winners than losers with bio fuels IMO.

The article is heavy on global think. The most any country has is control of its own resources. There is no way to enforce the ideological agendas of those who see bio fuels as the devil. The United States has the right to maximize the utility of it's own resources, be it soil or what ever. And so does every other country.

Tough, but that is the way it is.

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ANewLand on January 20, 2009 - 6:49pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Nice lecture X. It's your biofuel scam that's delusional, given its failure in spite of record petroleum prices and government subsidies. If the stuff can't run under those perfect conditions then when?

My country and my president certainly do understand the stupidity of wasting good crops and soil on this senseless mess. Tough. That's just the way it is.

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paal myrtvedt on January 21, 2009 - 1:46am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

U say : There is no way to enforce the ideological agendas of those who see bio fuels as the devil

I say : There is no way to enforce the ideological agendas of those who see bio fuels as the saviour

Can you spot the plank in your own eye X ?

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jmygann on January 20, 2009 - 9:55pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Its called PHOTOSYNTHESIS from Daily Sunlight. Its going to be interesting ...

Oilmen need to become bio-oilmen ........ Fossil fuel Miners need to become farmers

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142 comments on Open Letter on Biofuels

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