Posted on 02/03/2009 6:14:01 AM PST by PROCON
Some biofuels cause more health problems than petrol and diesel, according to scientists who have calculated the health costs associated with different types of fuel.
The study shows that corn-based bioethanol, which is produced extensively in the US, has a higher combined environmental and health burden than conventional fuels. However, there are high hopes for the next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods. They have less than half the combined health and environmental costs of standard gasoline and a third of current biofuels.
The work adds to an increasing body of research raising concerns about the impact of modern corn-based biofuels.
Several studies last year showed that growing corn to make ethanol biofuels was pushing up the price of food. Environmentalists have highlighted other problems such deforestation to clear land for growing crops to make the fuels. The UK government's renewable fuels advisors recommended slowing down the adoption of biofuels until better controls were in place to prevent inadvertent climate impacts.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Ping!
Climate Research NewsClick on POGW graphic for full GW rundown
Ping me if you find one I've missed.
Climate Research NewsClick on POGW graphic for full GW rundown
Ping me if you find one I've missed.
We just had a natural disaster here in SEMO and people were lined up to buy gasoline not bio fuel. Gas stations ran out of gasoline not bio fuel.
Leni
“...there are high hopes for the next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods...”
Bell Bio-Energy www.bellbioenergy.com The Ft. Stuart test plant has been running for almost a month. I will post a short update sometime next week after I speak with Dr. White.
Well then we’ll just wait until the muzzies take over and use those carpets to get around unless there is a profound danger of inhaling rug fuzz.
Starting in 1998 the climate has trickled down the old thermometer like a Slinky on an uneven staircase, leading us to to wonder when it will get back on the carbon-rise escalator.
This had led to numerous strange conclusions, assumptions and counter intuitive predictions that refuse to undergo reconciliation.
It would seem that for every fix there is a fracture and the faster the glue is applied, the quicker the apparatus comes back apart.
Rather than step back and take a hard look at the machine in all its parts, the master machinist keeps sending in a new batch of mechanics to tinker even that much harder.
They better patch this thing fast or the mess will collapse like a house of cards and the game will be over.
I used biofuel once made from ued cooking oil from McDonalds my car gained 30 pounds.
Using arable land to create biofuel crops is a waste of time and money. Algae based biodiesel is far more efficient, and no great industrial or agricultural change is needed to use it now.
To start off with, just in the making of algae based biodiesel you save money, because it consumes a LOT of CO2 and nitrous oxides (NOx) gases that companies have to spend a fortune on disposing of right now.
Instead of wasting the gas, you are turning it into fuel. A no-brainer.
Other than that, you use low grade recycled water, you can do it anywhere where it is reasonably warm and sunny. And you make biodiesel by squeezing the 50% of vegetable oil out of the algae, then mixing it with some ethanol and lye. Filter, add 1% petroleum diesel as a preservative, and you’re good to go if it’s not freezing out. If it is, then you add more petroleum diesel.
There are huge numbers of diesel engines out there, from cars to trains and ships. Powerful engines that work a lot better than hybrid or electric, ethanol or hydrogen, etc.
Just wait. They’ll find something wrong with electric cars, burning hydrogen, and any other alternative fuel or energy source we switch to. Windmills are already controversial because they kill birds.
It went straight to your car’s rear fender, right?
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