Comments on: ANOTHER FAILING BIOFUEL “MIRACLE”, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY http://www.cgfi.org/2010/02/another-failing-biofuel-%e2%80%9cmiracle%e2%80%9d-by-dennis-t-avery/ Growing More Per Acre Leaves More Land for Nature Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:50:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: t brandt http://www.cgfi.org/2010/02/another-failing-biofuel-%e2%80%9cmiracle%e2%80%9d-by-dennis-t-avery/comment-page-1/#comment-127 t brandt Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:02:15 +0000 http://www.cgfi.org/?p=828#comment-127 While petroleum supplies us with amazing fuels with high energy density, portability and short "fill up time" for our engines, it represents solar energy charging our batteries, so to speak, over millions of years. We're on the brink of having used up those batteries in just two centuries. It would be nice if we could turn current solar energy into liquid fuel, but: right now, 1/3rd of the US corn crop is turned to EtOH for fuel each year. If the ENTIRE crop were used for fuel, it would offset only about 2% of the world demand for automotive fuel. To put that in perspective, we can save about 5% of our fuel if we all just kept our tires properly inflated. I agree that growing crops, whether it be corn, palm trees or saw grass,etc is a dumb use of land. In doing so, we either reduce our food producing capabilities or encroach on more natural, valuable habit, as your article points out. Crops are grown over two spatial dimensions. Algae, used to produce diesel oil, can be grown in vats in three spatial dimensions. Perhaps this is the answer to our portable fuel needs. While petroleum supplies us with amazing fuels with high energy density, portability and short “fill up time” for our engines, it represents solar energy charging our batteries, so to speak, over millions of years. We’re on the brink of having used up those batteries in just two centuries.

It would be nice if we could turn current solar energy into liquid fuel, but: right now, 1/3rd of the US corn crop is turned to EtOH for fuel each year. If the ENTIRE crop were used for fuel, it would offset only about 2% of the world demand for automotive fuel. To put that in perspective, we can save about 5% of our fuel if we all just kept our tires properly inflated.

I agree that growing crops, whether it be corn, palm trees or saw grass,etc is a dumb use of land. In doing so, we either reduce our food producing capabilities or encroach on more natural, valuable habit, as your article points out.

Crops are grown over two spatial dimensions. Algae, used to produce diesel oil, can be grown in vats in three spatial dimensions. Perhaps this is the answer to our portable fuel needs.

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