The Lubin Files

Biofuel from crop residue? Maybe not...

Using crop residues to produce biofuel sounds a lot better for the environment than using crops otherwise meant for consumption, doesn't it?  But according to USDA soil scientist Ann Kennedy, crop residues play an important role in the soil nutrient balance, and we might be better off just leaving them where they are.

This post is from the Grist blog.

Biofuel policies in OECD countries are costly and ineffective

Government support of  biofuel production in OECD countries is "costly, has a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security, and has a significant impact on world crop prices,"

This, according to the OECD report: Economic Assessment of Biofuel Support Policies

In search of the perfect cash crop

This article from the BBC News recalls the boom in coffee production that made many penniless Kenyan farmers rich in the 1970s.

Could biofuel crops be the next golden opportunity?

More unintended risks from biofuels

I have read a lot about the argument of crops for food vs crops for fuel. But I had never considered the possibility that plants grown for biofuel might also act as invasive species.

Read more at the Dot Earth blog.

Small-scale bio power plants have higher emissions

Small-scale community based bio-power plants produce higher levels of emissions per unit of electrical output than large facilities, according to new research presented at the United Kingdom Energy Research Centre’s Sustainable Energy UK conference in Oxford...

Read more here.

Make your own petrol

Are you tired of paying high prices for auto fuel?  Why don't you make your own?  Just don't go around thinking that you're doing the planet any favors...

Article from Scientific American.

Cloth-eating fungus: Just the answer to the biofuel dilemma

Check out this podcast offered by Scientific American.

Podcast transcript: It sounds like something out of a bad science fiction novel. During World War II, a fungus called Tricoderma reesei ate its way through US military uniforms and tents in the South Pacific. It chewed up the cloth and used special enzymes to convert the indigestible cellulose into simple sugars. Now that infamous fungus is getting some good publicity. It looks like it might hold a key to improving the production of biofuels.

Download it here.

Biodiesel from seaweed

Summary: Royal Dutch Shell plc and HR Biopetroleum have announced the construction of a pilot facility in Hawaii to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biofuel. The project is part of Shell's program to develop a new generation of biofuels using sustainable, non-food raw materials. Algae hold great promise because they grow very rapidly minimizing the use of fertile land and fresh water. They can double their mass several times a day and produce at least 15 times more oil per hectare than other alternatives. Moreover, facilities can be built on coastal land unsuitable for conventional agriculture. Over the long term, algae cultivation facilities also have the potential to absorb or capture waste CO2 directly from industrial facilities.

Article published in "Appropriate Technology." Full text available to FAO staff members via subscription to Proquest.

Are Synfuels the answer?

The planet has been experimenting with synthetic fuel-- making gasoline from coal-- since the Nazis first tried it during World War II.  Jimmy Carter tried it again during the oil crisis of the 1970s.  South Africa has a functioning synthetic fuel plant which is the biggest single point source of CO2 in the world.

But some believe that synthetic fuels could offer us the hope that the current generation of biofuels do not.  Proponents of the technique believe that the trick is to add significant biomass to the production process, and to store the carbon produced as a byproduct.  Neither of these processes has ever been implemented on a commercial scale...

Read more from Science.

Biofuel Byproducts

Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, but what effect does it have on the environment when byproducts of biodiesel production are illegally and improperly disposed of?

Read Pollution is called a byproduct of clean fuel, from the New York Times.