Welcome to Gaia! ::

Having just joined there's something I've wanted to ask the guild, their opinion on biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

It's rather inconvenient really, these fuels have proven to be rather wonderful...

Unfortunately, many of the most efficient fuels are located in the tropics, fuels such as ethanol from sugarcane and palms. Countries have started to take advantage of the fuel locked up inside these plants.

But, as a result, forests have been cut down for sugarcane and palm plantations, pretty much destroying the environment in order to protect it.

In a not so direct method, we too may very well be destroying the environment with our corn based fuel. Africa is so infertile because farmers are trying so hard to grow food on the once fertile soil, too much food, and as a result the soil is degrading or has already degraded to the point of becoming useless. By using our excess corn we're not sending as much food to the needy who are still trying to grow too much food on infertile land.

Like I said, not so direct, hard to find the link. But there's still the issue of not sending as much food aid due to using excess corn for fuel, leaving the morals of biofuel to be questioned.

Also, there are actually some plants that are powered by fossil fuels to produce our biofuels, which defeats the purpose. There is a plant being built near a town around 60 miles from where I live that's 1/3 methane powered (cows) yet still relies on fossil fuel energy to power the other 2/3's.

It's a start, one that could lead to truly green fuel, but I want to see what YOU think.

I agree, it is a start, but we have a ways to go before all of this eventually pays off. I personally think hydrogen would be ideal because the source of it (once we perfect the method) is nearly inexhaustable on this planet, and the emmissions are supposed to be only water vapor. as of now we only have the capability to use pure hydrogen for fuels, but with time, we may be able to seperate hydrogen from oxygen eficiently enough for it to be an applicable fuel source compared to how it stands now. best part is, hydrogen powered vehicles supposedly only emit water vapor as emmissions. find some way to recirculate the water vapor back into the water filled fuel tank and you would get a far more efficient vehicle. but again, while the technology exists, it is highly unpracticle to use now adays because it is not refined enough for widespread, easy use.

If I remeber my history correctly, The patent office briefly closed in the early 1900's because they thought everything that could be invented had already been invented.

Burning these fuels still creates CO2 and thus contributes to global warming.



Excellent point.



Sadly, the same is happening in the American Midwest and around the world. It takes approximately 100 years to regenerate 1 inch of topsoil, yet it's eroding 10x faster than that. We're leaching the soil of its nutrients and using oil-based fertilizers to keep production up.




World hunger isn't a food production problem, but a food distribution problem. There is more than enough food to go around, even with the production of ethanol and other biofuels. Don't believe me? The reasoning is simple: The human population is rising, especially in impoverished 3rd-world nations. Our food aid is actually giving large portions of the population food surpluses, which allows their population to grow. If there were no food surpluses, then these added millions of humans would not exist. Humans aren't made of thoughts and air -- they're made of biomass, which comes from food. Ironically, our culture keeps trying to outpace our growing population by producing more food... which only creates more people, resulting in the need to increase food production, and so on.

Sorry, but giving food to hungry children (or adults) is just as immoral. Instead of a few starving people today, we create many more starving people tomorrow. Basically, we need to stop playing the role of god and stop shifting our food surpluses around. That biomass that creates these humans is coming from somewhere. It's coming from the rest of the nature. It's no coincidence that animal and plant populations are declining while our population rises. We're stealing their biomass. We're literally consuming the world.

Energy discussions are equally as troubling. The media doesn't even begin to cover the full scope of the problem. The truth of the matter is that, collectively, we're usurping a large portion of the planet's photosynthetic output -- either for food or for energy -- while also rapidly depleting non-renewable energy stores -- again, for energy or for food. Although I'm having a difficult time finding reliable estimates, it would not surprise me to find that humans are consuming more energy every year than what we receive from the sun yearly (our annual solar income). Needless to say, this is not sustainable. If we're to find solutions before it's too late, we need to start getting to the root of the problem immediately.

For an interesting (and alarming) read, check out the following:

Eating Fossil Fuels
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html

Peak Oil
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

FYI: I have my own guild for discussing sustainability. If these types of discussions interest you, PM me and I'll send you a guild invite. We're always looking for people who wish to probe very complex and serious environmental and social issues.