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Posted by on March 18, 2010 in Uncategorized

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By Joe Smith on April 21, 2010 at 8:58 am

Only economic impacts were of commodities. Cellulosic ethanol wouldn’t effect commodity prices (i.e. inputs to process is “anything green”). Economics are also better as a producer than corn-based. Therefore, cheaper for consumers.

By Rose on April 27, 2010 at 2:06 pm

The European Union is one of several jurisdictions that require a minimum proportion of biofuels to be blended with diesel and gasoline fuels for car consumption (Flavin, 88). Though, the United States does not have such a mandate. Instead private investors support biofuels, e.g. The DuPont Company, and are responsible for integrating such renewable technologies into the national grid (Flavin, 85) at the same time promoting themselves by demonstrating that they support renewable energies, which is why the United States as a whole is not a leader in renewable energy technologies. In addition, although biofuels are primarily meant for cars it should have been explained that the chance of them ever being a primary source of fuel is slim. As a result of ethanol's different consistency from that of gasoline or diesel it will always have to be blended with a fossil fuel to prevent engine damage. It is not until car engines are reformatted that pure ethanol can be combusted in a car engine; however, cars are not being redesigned to burn biofuels, instead new cars being introduced to the market have adopted hybrid or electric technologies. Additionally, because car engines are not made to combust biofuels a vehicle will on average get 2.2 miles less per gallon when running on a fuel that is partially ethanol (Radich), and is one of many reasons why biofuels are not a sustainable method of mitigating the effects of climate change.

Radich, Anthony. “Biodiesel Performance, Costs, and Use.” Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government. Energy Information Administration, 8 June 2004. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .

By Ashley Miles on April 29, 2010 at 6:07 pm

Hi Biofuels group! I really enjoyed reading your analysis and thought you did a thorough job discussing the history of biofuels as well as the environmental, economic and social repercussions of its use. The one issue I had with your analysis is that you seem to conclude that besides algae, all other forms of biofuels are unsustainable. I argue that recycled cooking and vegetable oils and animal fats could be a sustainable, small-scale fuel source as part of an eco-industrial park, or a "network of firms and organizations, working together to improve their environmental and economic performance" (Lowe, 1). For example, a sustainable biofuel refinery facility could be situated near a large food manufacturer (preferably one like an Entenmanns which uses vegetable oil as a central input in its food production processes) and a meat packing facility which would yield large amounts of animal fat through the meat rendering process. Since the biofuel inputs in this model would be strictly by-products of the neighboring industries, their use would not encourage additional habitat destruction, water scarcity, large-scale agriculture, or additional trace greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers. Instead, the fuel produced could be used to power the vehicles of the neighboring industries, as they would, presumably, use tractor-trailer based shipping methods to move their products. It could also be used to the fuel veg-diesel operating, privately owned cars of local community members. While not the type of solution that could replace the use of gasoline in all vehicles, situating recycled vegetable oil and animal fat biofuel refinery plants in appropriate eco-Industrial parks is a local answer to what is generally construed as a large-scale problem. By not discussing the possibility for the small-scale sustainable use of recycled biofuel inputs, you ignore the possibility of biofuels playing a key role in industrial symbiosis.

Lowe, Ernest. (n.d.) "Eco-Industrial Parks: A Foundation for Sustainable Communities?" Indigo Development. Date Accessed: 29 April 2010 http://www.globallearningnj.org/global_ata/Eco_Industrial_Parks.htm

By Anthony on April 29, 2010 at 8:56 pm

Biofuels provide the newest form of hope in the world of sustainable energy. In the biofuels blog, they gave a history of the energy and explored the effects of biofuels, such as environmental consequences and social injustices that occur as a result of the biofuel industry. Well the group provides good insight into the industry, I would have liked to learned the extent of biofuel research worldwide and if countries such as China and India are also exploring the new form of energy without the use of crops. As mentioned in "New Consumers", the ever growing numbers of individuals that can buy goods, may cause catastrophic effects for densely populated countries that have difficulty growing their own food. It seems to be a tradeoff in these areas whether to have enough food or be able to produce crops for biofuels.
Also, the algae production videos and analysis provided an accurate and clear portrayal of the future of fuel. The only critique or questions that were not explained was how cars were going to be converted into a diesel engine-like vehicle. The conversion looks like it will take the average population a lot of time to be able to buy a new type of vehicle that is able to run on a different type of fuel. This potential problem seems that it will delay the process of bringing the clean fuel to gas stations around the world. Even though the scientist explains in 25 yrs the algae fuel will play a significant role, the ability for many populations that have trouble bringing food to the table seems unlikely to be able to make a swift conversion to a clean burning car. But the ability to incorporate a video that describes the work of bioengineers to move the technologies seems to be the best hope for clean energy to be achieved in the future.

By an4zj on April 29, 2010 at 9:14 pm

Greeting Biofuels group! First off, I wanted to congratulate you guys on a serious job well done. I found your blog and the corresponding presentation to be extremely stimulating and informative. Before I had read into your research, my initial thoughts on Biofuels were hesitant. As you mentioned in your blog, there is actually a greater environmental cost in using certain organic sources for the production of biofuels. The graph you supplied under your "Environmental Impacts" section manifested a lot of the skepticism I have had concerning biofuels as a future fuel source. It's curious how governments, despite the public accessibility to this kind of information, are still willing to throw millions of dollars worth of subsidies at biofuel resources like corn, soy and rye; three of the most environmentally devastating resources when they're utilized for biofuel production. I was further perplexed by the government's reliance on these sources when there is an emerging prospect for algae to serve as a reliable and largely more sustainable biofuel. Changing algae into a biofuel is presently an expensive process, but if all the money that governments are throwing at unsustainable corn and soy ethanol were used for algae production, then the market should be more than economically viable. Algae is extremely renewable as "algae can double its volume overnight€¦" and "unlike other biofuel feedstocks, such as soy or corn, it can be harvested day after day" (Haag). With such sustainable conditions, I hope algae begins to emerge as a more prevalent option for a fuel source over the current strategies.

Haag, Amanda Leigh. “Pond-Powered Biofuels: Turning Algae into America’s New
Energy.” Popular Mechanics . N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2010.
.

By Serena Benigno on April 30, 2010 at 1:05 pm

Your blog did a really great jobs at clearly explaining things step by step and in a simplified way. Theoretically, biofuels do seem like the perfect alternative solution to climate change because they use agricultural products and elements straight from nature (sugar cane, corn, etc.) in order to work, however the environmental costs from these practices seem to significantly outweigh the environmental advantages. The graph you used under the environmental impacts tab is a very informative visual depiction of the different types of biofuels that exist and the extent to which they are or are not actually effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The fact that the making of biofuels relies on deforestation, habitat destruction, large-scale agriculture and other environmentally damagin practices is comparable to the effects of carbon trading as discussed in Peck and Gilbertson and Reyes. In the efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in another country through offsetting, certain offsetting projects involve, for example, the construction of a monoculture plantation that sequesters carbon dioxide. Although this practice has the intention of benefiting the environment, it can be severely detrimental to the land and the surrounding ecosystems in the area. The environmental costs can outweigh the benefits in this case as well, despite its ‘eco-friendly’ intentions.

By Sara Johnson on April 30, 2010 at 5:09 pm

This blog was very well presented with a nice flow of topics and a comprehensive view from the past and looking to the future. I really liked that they included the history of biofuels, how they were looked at and then discarded when petroleum became big, showing how we have come full circle. The economic analysis was thorough, going over all externalities under Environmental impacts and interestingly looking not straight at budgeting of numbers for biofuel production, but evaluating more from a microeconomic viewpoint the effects biofuel production has on other economic markets. I found it especially notable how the blog ended on a positive note of a look forward into the future with algae, showing how we may start with the wrong solution but trial and error and tweaking over time can potentially get us on the right track. The only section of the blog that I felt could be expanded on was €˜Social Injustices.' I feel they could easily go off their points here into the injustices of biofuels' as a Clean Development Mechanism Project, with the biofuels often changing the natural landscape the people are dependent on and putting them working in horrible farming conditions, all in violation of the sustainability CDMs were designed to promote (Chafe and French). This could segway into a conclusion that supports carbon markets by discussing biofuel CDM projects in the context of them as carbon offsets, how current biofuels as an offset contribute to the illegitimacy of carbon markets, and then wrapping up looking at algae as a carbon offset.

By CM3Geography on April 30, 2010 at 8:18 pm

Well, I have to give it you guys for what is a pretty extensive presentation of information. You definitely presented what was a pretty novel idea in a manner with which I now have a more clear understanding of not just what Biofuels are but more importantly, the history (although a little dense to read), the economic cost and the environmental impact. I can particularly appreciate the honesty of the the Economic Implications this form of energy production has. In all honesty the actual concept of incorporating economic theory and thought into the assessment of these alternative energies has been somewhat lacking in this class and I liked how you guys presented the problems this system would pose to other sectors such as the agricultural sector. By addressing the very real social problems and complications that arise from the growth of this sector as well reviewing a ‘new generation’ system you guys managed to make your own perspective on the sustainability of this fuel discernible yet maintain some sense of optimism. Your approach was realistic, honest and yet comprehensive enough to offer some hope for the future.

By curt thomas on April 30, 2010 at 11:46 pm

Great work on this Biofuels blog site! A lot of information is covered here in a very engaging manner. One critique associated with the content of the blog is that there could be more images and videos to break up the text on some tabs. The Social Injustices and New Generation tabs do a good job of adding videos to enhance the material. I found the New Generation to be particularly excellent. To often we focus on the negatives arising in these debates, however blossoming new technologies are promoting promise for the future. The algae research definitely opened up my eyes because I had previously never heard of such tactics in biofuel. I was under the misconception the all biofuels come from food crops, thus adversely affecting crop prices for farmers. The graph on the environmental impacts page is very interesting, as one would not assume that gasoline, diesel, and natural gas production would be considered more sustainable than biofuel processing of soy and sugarcane. Many proponetes of biofuels don't take into account for the landscape alterations and intensive agriculture methods that go into these crops. This blog efficiently covers the background and history of biofuel production, which helps viewers understand the intricacies. It would be beneficial to conduct a greater study on the true impact that biofuels have on food pricing and how much of the production is first, second or third generation biofuels. The effect and levels of subsidies could be explored more because they have the potential to spark or halt the processes. Also, current statistics can be acquired to realize the true rising in food prices since the outset of biofuel production. It will be interesting in the coming years to see how algae takes off as a potential energy source, as it is a more sustainable source that first generation sources that come from food crops. Biofuel criticism has been prevalent for years and this blog effectively addresses those concerns while also providing insight into potential solutions for the future, phenomenal job.

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