Algae production consumes more energy, has higher greenhouse gas emissions and uses more water
than other biofuel sources, like corn, switch grass and canola, Clarens and his colleagues found by using a statistical model to compare growth data of algae with conventional crops.
Not exact matches
Cheaper
than other vegetable oils, another use for palm oil is as a
biofuel.
If
biofuels are to free us from rising prices at the pump and rising sea levelsthey must be produced from agricultural and urban wastes rather
than corn, soy, and
other food crops.
«We estimate that this
biofuel would cost the airline industry $ 5.31 / gallon, which is less
than most of the reported prices of renewable jet fuel produced from
other oil crops or algae,» said Deepak Kumar, a postdoctoral researcher at Illinois, who led the analysis.
One of the major problems with
biofuels that algae could solve is space, since algae can yield as much as 100 times more fuel per unit area
than other so - called «second generation»
biofuel crops (e.g. non-food crops or non-food waste parts of food crops).
One of the studies Tim has referenced basically concludes that the only thing policymakers can do is work on the assumption that
biofuels, at this moment in time, are worse
than petroleum fuels because of the future risk of land clearing and
other GHG emission increases.
While
biofuels from crops, grasses, wood, agricultural residues and
other materials emit less carbon
than fossil fuels over a crop - to - vehicle life cycle, recent studies have questioned the availability of material to make fuels on a large scale.
Using corn crop residue to make ethanol and
other biofuels reduces soil carbon and can generate more greenhouse gases
than gasoline, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Dutch airline KLM has completed a fifth jet
biofuel test flight — and the first with passengers
other than flight crew.
«In looking for
biofuels microbes in the cow rumen, we found that Prevotella bryantii, a bacterium that is known to efficiently break down (the plant fiber) hemicellulose, gears up production of one gene more
than others when it is digesting plant matter,» Cann said.
In contrast, the grasses and
other flowers and plants that grow naturally when such lands are left fallow — species such as goldenrod, frost aster, and couch grass, among
others — can deliver roughly the same amount of
biofuel energy per hectare per year if fertilized, yet also reducing CO2 by more
than twice as much as corn.
Andy, you have given many openings for topics
other than climate change and today's post on
biofuels and yesterday's on earthquakes and schools certainly gets off the main thread.
Biofuel and diesel auto initiatives seem to be doing more harm
than good because there are a few
other kind of important issues to consider.
Although some have acquired modest solar businesses and
others have dabbled in
biofuels, the expenditures for these lower - carbon sources are often less
than 3 % of company budgets.
This means that an energy / look at each source in more detailed And you are in charge of that... Coal Nuclear energy
Biofuel —
Other than Ethanol Ethanol and Natural gas Wind energy Hydroelectric and Geothermal Wave and Tide power Solar /
Since going into operation in 2009, ARPA - E, as it is known, has provided about $ 1.3 billion in funding to more
than 475 projects involving grid - scale batteries, power storage,
biofuel production, wind turbines and
other technology, according to a May report on the agency.
Other research has shown that several common
biofuel feedstocks — including corn and rapeseed which have considerably lower yields
than oil palm — also have high emissions from direct and indirect land use.
Indeed, corn is not the optimal basis for providing all the ethanol fuel we will need, but, as the President says,
biofuels are needed to reduce our addiction to oil and to slow climate change — and the emerging
biofuels market is spurring major investments in using biomass
other than corn to make ethanol.
The causes of deforestation have been extensively studied, and it is clear from the empirical evidence that forces
other than biofuel use are responsible for the trends of increasing forest loss in the tropics.
-LSB-...] Tallow - waste
biofuel is more ethical
than other alternative fuels, since it does not displace food crops such as corn... ``
According to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, «Economic Assessment of
Biofuel Support Policies», not only is public support of
biofuels costly it has little impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions: All the tax incentives, blending targets and
other public support policies in the EU, US, and Canada total $ 25 billion per year, but will ultimately result in less
than a 1 % reduction in emissions from transport by 2015.
In
other words, it's certainly more scalable
than trying to use most
biofuels for aviation, but if this was the only source of «green» aviation fuel, there's some massive contraction in order of the global aviation industry.
· Substantially increased use of
biofuels can only occur if they can be used in forms
other than the low - percentage blends of ethanol and biodiesel that account for nearly all of their current use.
(1) Feedstock
other than corn; (2) Decentralized network of small advanced
biofuel manufacturing facilities; (3) Variable blending pumps in lieu of splash blending; and (4) Hydrous ethanol.