Biofuel

Biofuel is simply taking plants that are alive today and using them to convert sunshine and CO2 into energy we can use. Using the sun's energy, they recycle the carbon that is already in the atmosphere - adding no new CO2 that will increase global climate change. There is certainly a place for biofuels in meeting our future energy needs. I am not, however in favor of using food products to produce biofuels. Today's agriculture takes nearly a gallon of fossil fuel to grow a gallon of biofuel. On top of that, it uses perfectly good food that could be used for humans or farm animals. However, there are some biofuels that make use of waste and do not compete with our food supply. Greasecars, already mentioned by one respondent, are great. Used fryer oil should never be dumped-it is a great resource; but how many cars can we actually run on it. The amount of fried food Americans consume is limited (and hopefully decreasing). Using another technology, called cellulosic ethanol production, straw, weeds, wood, and other fibrous plant matter are turned into fuel-grade alcohol with the help of bacterial enzymes. I think there's a lot of promise there. However, there are no big ag chemical companies lobbying for more research like they are for corn-based fuel. Could that be because, when the farmers are able to grow weeds for profit, the Monsantos of the world loose out? I also have hope that biodiesel and other fuels may someday be made from algae. Our local sewage treatment plant is experimenting with using algae for water purification. They allow wild algae to colonize ponds filled with treated effluent, document everything, and experiment with finding uses for the algae. Some researchers are trying to grow specially-hybridized -high-oil-producing algae under artificial light. There is something wrong with that picture. We need to be harnessing the free energy of the sun. (Even if the artificial light is produced via PV cells, they 1) aren't very efficient, and 2) take a lot of energy to build.)