Biofuel a Bust?

While we and a number of others have been championing biofuels as a potential savior from our oil dependency, recent news suggests we may need to look elsewhere for the next big energy resource.

The current issue of the esteemed journal Science features two studies , both of which conclude that the environmental cost of producing biofuel is higher even than that of producing conventional forms of energy. The revelation in the studies is that while previously only the relative carbon excess from burning bio and fossil fuels had been compared, the impact caused by clearing swaths of land to grow the crops has been calculated as well. The final conclusion was that the reduction in emissions from using biofuels would be outweighed 93 times by the negative impact of the land clearing required to grow biofuel crops.

On green forums around the web a sea change has occurred within the two days since the NY Times article announcing the news was released. Whereas a month ago the biofuel bandwagon was filled to capacity, it's now towing a very light load, which certainly saves on fuel, bio or otherwise.

Of course, while the growing of crops specifically for biofuel may no longer be a desirable fuel option, biofuel shouldn't be totally counted out yet. Using waste vegetable oil to fuel diesel cars is still a great way to save on fossil fuel and make use of something that otherwise would have gone to waste. Also, a system of extracting oil from algae is being developed by companies like GreenFuels Technology Corporation of Cambridge, Massachussetts. Not only does the algae produce an oil that can run a car, but the algae itself actually absorbs CO2, much like a plant.

The efforts of people like Veggie Van owner Josh Tickell is also invaluable in that it sparks interest in renewable, sustainable energy and inevitably begins new conversations revolving around curing us of our fossil fuel fixation.

The real tragedy in the release of this study would be if a single person threw up their hands with the thought that alternative energy is a pipe dream. In the end it may not be biofuel, at least not the vegetable kind, but it will certainly grow from the same spirit that brought us vegifuels.