From the war in I Iraq and Afghanistan, which many believe is merely a push for crude oil, to the spill in the Gulf, our resources are becoming more and more questioned. Enter: bio-diesel, the alternative. Cheep, clean, and renewable. Everything that we need or want in a fuel source. In a world of few options bio-diesel seems like a dream: too good to be true. Is it?Maybe.
And yet the Oregon legislation has mandate it as the sole fuel source in this state since last year. Why is this a problem. Because Bio-fuel is extremely inefficient; not in its consumption but in its production. Bio-diesel is a product of a number of naturally grown plants such as wheat and soy, but the amount of fuel which a single crop yields puts a strain on the agricultural production of land. If there was a complete shift today from gasoline engines to bio-diesel, the amount of land required to meet the consumption of fuel would [in the case of Europe] would leave no room for growing food.
That is not to say that the collaboration of electric engines and bio-diesel would not be a positive shift from our reliance on crude oils. Just that people need to be aware of the benefited as well as especially the downsides to our options.
I am going to skip over the myriad of grammatical errors and comment on the content of your post. I completely agree. I am sick and tired of people saying 'look at all these options' without actually considering what those options MEAN on a large scale. At this point there is enough oil on this planet to last another 2 - 3 generations. If we reach that point without a change in our dependency we will hit a catastrophic wall. Bio0diesel is definitely not the answer though, as it encounters the same problem as ethanol. Land is precious and it is needed to produce food and raise livestock. The amount of land needed to produce enough bio-diesel to take us off of oil completely is incalculable. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert on the issue but I know there are a lot of options out there when it comes to choosing what plant you want to use to produce bio diesel from. I know one plant that people have suggested due to its high energy concentration and quick growing times is hemp. Unfortunately Hemp is illegal to grow in the US because of its similarity to pot. The French grow a lot of Hemp. Turns out it is useful for a lot of stuff. Either way, I don't think bio diesel is the final answer, neither are hybrids but they are both good steps in the right direction and can maybe extend oil to 4 or 5 generations.
ReplyDeleteAlso, some of the points made in the second article where ridiculous. Some were valid. Others were simply engineering problems that would need to be solved before bio diesel could go mainstream. Nothing different than any other new technology.