Well, I guess it's starting to become my role- that whenever a diary appears in the recommended list that generalizes about biofuels based on corn, palm, and soy, I need to ride in and show off my Atrios-derived bumper sticker...
No, wait a minute. That ill-conceived image will only further alienate my cause. How many people here even watch(ed) Dave Chappelle? I have a better idea. Continue after the fold to hear version something.0 of my well-reasoned argument.
(Cross-posted at my blog, Fueled for Thought)
My friend Dave Smith, owner of Mulligan Books and formerly half of Smith and Hawken, wrote me an e-mail where he brought up the concerns about soybeans, corn, and palm. He referenced this well-written article from Grist. A quote from the article:
Ethanol and biodiesel are being promoted as cures for our energy and environmental woes not just by flacks for corporations like Archer Daniels Midland, BP, and DuPont, but by many eco-minded activists and some prominent environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council as well.
As intuitive as it may seem that fuel from plants would be more benign than petroleum-based fuels, the ecological impacts of biofuel production are more complicated, and wider-reaching, than an environmentalist might first imagine.
Frankly, I agree with everything written in the article. The only thing that bothers me is that it implies that biodiesel=soy and palm, and that ethanol=corn. Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, biofuels journalists! Cry feedstock freedom!
My response to Dave
Dave,
I agree with all of the major points of that article- 100%
The problem is when people equate biodiesel with any one or two or any particular number of its feedstocks. The beauty of both biodiesel and ethanol is that they can be manufactured in MUCH better ways (employing many ecologically responsible methods) than they currently are, which really gives rise to companies like mine. For my part, yes, I am proud to say that we are dedicated to ONLY ecologically responsible feedstocks, starting with used fryer oil that we collect from restaurants in trucks powered by our biodiesel.
In the future, I want to work with local scientists and farmers to develop higher-yield regional feedstocks, like Chinese Tallow Tree (see here and here), which could be grown under nets to preserve diversity, and yield over 500 gallons per acre, or even better- microalgae, which friends of mine in numerous institutions are studying. Algae has its own set of concerns, of course (see here and here).
Please click on my links to learn more than you bargained for.
And for ethanol, check out what Parallel Products is doing.
Peace,
Kumar