[malcolm]

Seems that not everyone is onside regarding biofuels being a reasonable alternate to oil.

Quote

Legislate in haste, repent at leisure: is that the syndrome afflicting the EU's biofuels policy?

Environmentalists fear it is - and their latest manoeuvre to stem the biofuel tide is a legal action to force the European Commission to publish thousands of pages of evidence of the impacts of plant fuels on the environment.

The Commission's evidence is being compiled as part of a cross-directorate investigation into the potential downsides of biofuels, which goes public later in the year.

Green campaigners want to see all the background research immediately because they believe that some of the papers already confirm that biofuels may do more harm than good.

Link to the complete article

[dagger]

There are many biofuels and their impact varies greatly. For Europe, biofuels includes Palm oil. Tropical countries have been chopping down rain forests and turning them into palm plantations to feed Europe's thirst for Palm oil. Corn ethanol is a dubious idea because it seems to take more energy to produce it than we end up with, and in some countries diverting corn to energy pushes up a lot of food costs. On the other hand, algae could be a game changer for future energy needs, and cellulosic ethanol and bio-oil hold some promise too so long as they are made from wood waste - bark, sawdust, shavings, wood chips, branches too small to turn into lumber, etc.

[malcolm]

Quite right Dagger, there is a real mixed bag of results / impacts. Regarding Palm Oil, the down side is of course the rape of the rainforest's / removal of wildlife habitat but on the other hand there is a very positive impact on the financial side to those producing it (Countries that is).

I can see a time when we will not only need alternate bio fuels but also have the need to control the production of them. Unlike carbon credits, there would appear to be merit in paying some countries to not produce certain bio fuels. Sadly, I don't think that will happen soon enough for some of the animals that are now on the brink of extinction.

Following is a link to a interesting article on the subject.

Palm oil: environmental curse or a blessing