Biofuels emit 400 percent more CO2 than regular fuels

[Wild and Free]

http://www.naturalnews.com/029421_biofuels_CO2.html

(NaturalNews) A recent report issued by the European Union has revealed that biofuels, or fuel made from living, renewable sources, is not really all that beneficial to the environment. Rather than reduce the net carbon footprint as intended, biofuels can produce four times more carbon dioxide pollution than conventional fossil fuels do.

Common biofuels like corn ethanol, which has become a popular additive in gasoline, and soy biodiesel, which is being used in commercial trucks and other diesel-fueled vehicles, are often considered to be environmentally-friendly because they are renewable. But in order to grow enough of these crops to use for both food and fuel, large swaths of land around the world are being converted into crop fields for growing biofuels.

In other words, millions of acres of lush rainforests are becoming corn and soy fields in order to provide enough of these resources for their new uses. The net carbon footprint of growing crops for fuel is far higher than what is emitted from simple fossil fuel usage.

According to the report, American soybeans have an indirect carbon footprint of 340kg of CO2 per gigajoule (GJ), while conventional diesel and gasoline create only 85kg/GJ. Similarly, the European rapeseed, a plant similar to the North American canola, indirectly produces 150kg/GJ because additional land in other nations has been converted to grow rapeseed for food in order to replace the native crops that are now being grown for fuel.

Ironically, the amount of direct and indirect resources used to grow food for fuel is quite high compared to that of conventional fossil fuels. Biofuels also do not burn as efficiently and can be rough on the engines they fuel. Ethanol-enriched gasoline can also reduce gas mileage efficiency by upwards of 25 percent, depending on the vehicle.

Growing food for fuel ends up increasing the price of food for consumers. It also puts additional strain on families, many of whom are already having difficulties making ends meet in current economic conditions.

When all is said and done, biofuels seem to be a whole lot of hype with not a lot of benefit. Environmentally, fiscally and practically, biofuels are a disaster. Fossil fuels may not be an ideal form of clean energy, but at this point in time, they make a lot more sense than biofuels.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/en...

http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/ne...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/b...

[ISX]

So you have to use more of it since it gets less mileage, and you pollute 400% more, incredible. Seems to always be a tradeoff. The way I see it, all fuel should be B2 to give everyone all their lube back. Only problem with that is I think it reduces BTU a little bit even at 2%.I think everyone who drives only 20 miles a day should be driving electric cars. Of course those of us who need trucks have an exception but there are millions of people driving 20 miles a day max, who don't need the range of a gas vehicle. Electric cars will start instantly in any weather, will get better traction in winter due to more controllable, smoother roll on of power, and they are charged from things that have an efficiency more than twice what our diesels get (from powerplant turbines). So if you trace everything back, they are running around in incredibly efficient vehicles that cost them a lot less to do that 20 miles. You have no oil to change or any of that other crap either. I think it would save billions in the economy. Then the people who do have to drive long distances would have $1/gal prices because of the extreme surplus of fuel. I think all the money they used on the cash for clunkers and other ways of boosting the economy could have funded research for doing this and would have ended up paying everyone back huge in the long run. But I don't watch the news or anything so I can't say I am right lol.

[guesswho512]

Then the people who do have to drive long distances would have $1/gal prices because of the extreme surplus of fuel.

thanks to the players in charge, there will NEVER be a extreme surplus of fuel. they'll just pump it slower

You have no oil to change or any of that other crap either. I think it would save billions in the economy.

that puts the lube jockeys outta work. but i agree that is how our nation should be. exporting large amounts of wealth is not sustainable or sane

Seems to always be a tradeoff.

too true

[Mopar1973Man]

Ummm... ISX how about dispose of the lead acid batteries? How about the replace price of them? The batteries cost nearly as much as the car does... I figure the biofuel craze will come to close now...

[ISX]

Yeah that gets back to it all being a tradeoff. We emit pollution through the exhaust or through old batteries. I guess what we need is just more diversity, instead of 99.9% relying on gas/diesel vehicles. If everyone in the world drove a 2nd gen 24V, there would be enough mechanics to fix them in no time. So 100 mechanics for 100 people...that doesn't support the mechanics at all, they wouldn't make anything. So we have diversity, 5 mechanics work on the 24V, 5 work on the 12V, 5 work on audis.... and the world works well with this. In the fuels scenario, we need more outlets/producers of fuel because we have so many people wanting fuel. So the fuel producers are overburdened, so they say ok, supply/demand. Everyone raises their prices. The key is diversity. We can drill another million oil wells and bring the price down to $0.50 a gallon but then the cost will just be seen in producing the million wells and prices will be right back to $3/gal. The more wells we need, the more it costs to get that oil because that oil is harder to get. We have reverted to deep sea oil drilling and that costs a ton more than just pumping it out of a Kansas pasture. It becomes exponential, costing more and more for less and less oil. So I believe we need to diverge into different sources of energy but more importantly, ways to store it. If there was a way to store energy for long periods of time, that would solve almost all problems. Power plants have to fire up diesel generators at 3pm because they don't have enough capacity to run everything solely off their turbines, however, at nighttime, power plants hardly move. If they were able to run just 50% continuously (and therefore have a place to store the power) they could charge at night and expel during the day, without the need for running the overload generators. I formed this theory as I typed so it might not be right at all

[Mopar1973Man]

Problem is some has to create a better battery... Or... Produce a better fuel with more BTU's... So far everything anyone has done as far a alternate fuels (biofuels) has always produce a fuel that is 10-20% less BTU value requires more fuel to do the same distance or work. Then on top of it the price for these "Biofuels" happen to be higher than standard petroluem fuels... (Double loss)... There is lot of option out there for AC power but as for vehicle power well there isn't much options...

[cummins2k]

Bio fuels certainly can be rough on engines. Biodiesel that does not meet standards is hard on any engine because the trans-esterfication processor typically involves methanol and lye. Any biodiesel is hard on common rail engines, especially those with multiple injection events per power stroke mostly due to fuel/oil contamination.However the amount of CO2 being released from biofuels is a big debate. Because the CO2 was already here in the present time, it was absorbed through the plant during photosynthesis so really you are just releasing the CO2 the plant stored rather than digging up oil from millions of years ago and releasing CO2 that was sequestered millions of years ago.However don't for a minute think that I am a global warming buff. Personally I think the earth has a few tricks up it's sleeves still that man doesn't know about and we may just be in for a shock. Seems like every time we think we have it figured out it proves us wrong.I do believe the automotive market needs to diversify. I really think the United States needs to lead these changes because we need to be exporting more and importing less to truly improve the economy.

[Mopar1973Man]

I do believe the automotive market needs to diversify. I really think the United States needs to lead these changes because we need to be exporting more and importing less to truly improve the economy.

Kind of hard to do when the US don't have any industry left... It all been moved to foreign countries...

Give you an idea... Here is a large normal city like Denver Co.

Now here is Detroit, MI...

Now you can clearly see that Detriot is got a lot of vacant ground and all the big 3 auto builder are gone for the most part. I got a old high school friend living with his grandmother in Detroit and he calls me off and on and his comments is jobs are hard to find and pay very little...

[guesswho512]

Kind of hard to do when the US don't have any industry left... It all been moved to foreign countries... Now you can clearly see that Detriot is got a lot of vacant ground and all the big 3 auto builder are gone for the most part. I got a old high school friend living with his grandmother in Detroit and he calls me off and on and his comments is jobs are hard to find and pay very little...

thats what happens when you outsource labor(and why we have an immigration problem). for so long americans want everything at the bottom dollar. the only way left to lower the price is to have it made cheaper(ie having it made where minimum wage laws don't exist). during this last hail storm, i talked to a lot of roofers. several of them told me how insurance companies pay so low, that they have little/no choice but to "contract" illegals. why? they work for less than you or i do.

[Wild and Free]

The sacary thing about it for me is our food supply has been compromised in a huge way by GMO crops through which the biggest resason being is to produce more biomass fuels rather than feed living creatures of the planet. People are too willing to put brand name poisons into their bodies rather than whole natural foods and then wonder why they are sick with illnesses and diseases. See the connection between GMO super foods and the ever growing Super bugs like MRSA ect?

[elshadow001]

Driving 20 miles won't even get me to the store to buy food!

[Mopar1973Man]

The sacary thing about it for me is our food supply has been compromised in a huge way by GMO crops through which the biggest resason being is to produce more biomass fuels rather than feed living creatures of the planet. People are too willing to put brand name poisons into their bodies rather than whole natural foods and then wonder why they are sick with illnesses and diseases. See the connection between GMO super foods and the ever growing Super bugs like MRSA ect?

Yea... You so right...

[MadMikeX3]

However the amount of CO2 being released from biofuels is a big debate. Because the CO2 was already here in the present time, it was absorbed through the plant during photosynthesis so really you are just releasing the CO2 the plant stored rather than digging up oil from millions of years ago and releasing CO2 that was sequestered millions of years ago.

However don't for a minute think that I am a global warming buff. Personally I think the earth has a few tricks up it's sleeves still that man doesn't know about and we may just be in for a shock. Seems like every time we think we have it figured out it proves us wrong.

I do believe the automotive market needs to diversify. I really think the United States needs to lead these changes because we need to be exporting more and importing less to truly improve the economy.

This is very true, Its emitting already present CO2. Now My personal theory is that with the constant release of CO2 we will be eventual creating a similar atmosphere similar to that of which helped wipe out the Dinosaurs. Now what created that atmosphere in the first place is beyond my research right now. But whether or not the Co2 emissions are creating "Global warming" or not, we should all want to use alternative energies. Its good to help reduce health risk that are associated with petroleum diesel particulate matter which is known to be Carcinogenic. Stopping the Fat Cat big oil companies from profiting so much off of the people and giving money to these countries that have been linked to supplying terrorist with resources should be another reason for motivation. I myself plan on making my own Biodiesel once I get enough space to set my own refinery.

[mr.mindless]

Their math on the CO2 biofuel impact is cloudy at best, it's like when government accountants claim money "saved" by reducing planned growth.regarding electrics, we don't have the electrical generating or transmission capacity to support large scale deployment - and if you're concerned about the CO2 impacts most of that electricity comes from coal anyway. it's not an emissions reduction or elimination just a shift. To say nothing of the lack of supporting battery tech or the nasties that come about with lithium based batteries.electric and hybrid may be the way of the future but it's still a long road. I think fuel cell still has more potential with current tech but they are massively expensive.

[Mopar1973Man]

But the thing that everyone forgets is that all plant absorb CO2 emissions and convert it to O2... Then if CO2 emissions were such a problem why is USFS lighting off control burns that are so big that even Idaho skys can compete with California smog.

Here is a sample of USFS control burns and what it does.

So the whole idea of carbon footprint etc... I think is all BS to get more $$$ from our pockets in taxes. Because it sure doesn't bother USFS to light up over 1,000 arces to burn and let a whole part of the state fill with orange/grey smoke for days. :banghead:

My though on the the whole fuel thing... The less fuel you burn (high MPG's) the less emissions you expelling in the air...

[mr.mindless]

My though on the the whole fuel thing... The less fuel you burn (high MPG's) the less emissions you expelling in the air...

Good thing the CARB states had VW TDIs outlawed for 3-4 years for "emissions" then, right!

[Mopar1973Man]

Good thing the CARB states had VW TDIs outlawed for 3-4 years for "emissions" then, right!

That only because someone sitting behind a desk that never picked up wrench in his life looks at some staggering report of how poorly some engines did in "Their Test" and then put the FAIL stamp on it. I'm sorry to say but I don't think EPA, CARB, and a few other agencies are telling the full truth because the oil industry is a controlling factor too. We don't want to many people saving money with fuel efficient vehicles that means big oil loses profits so they will mark them as polluters... :banghead: Like way back in the 80's with my 1973 Charger I had to do the smog thing. I would hook up the EGR valve, etc. Everytime I would try and pass I would just barely make it under the wire. So I got bold one day and unhooked all the smog crap and went back to a buddy's shop and re-tested again without EGR, etc. I passed with flying colors for tail pipe emissions. But failed because all the smog equiptment was missing. Now with 73 Charger with all the smog equiptment in place I got like 14-15 MPG now pull it all off I was up to 18-20 MPG with a light foot. Once again I don't think EPA and CARB are tell the full truth like Al Gore and "Global Warming" which we all know is a lie...

[jonathan1950]

I have run biodiesel in both a 93 and 99 CTD. The mileage did drop, but only by about 2 mpg and I did not notice a drop in hp, but then again I was running empty most of the time. As far as CO2 goes, if we did not produce CO2 then plants would not grow. It amazes me that people complain about the amount of CO2 produced, but every time you exhale you are exhaling CO2, so I guess that we should outlaw breathing? As far as electricity goes, I am thinking nuclear. Enviormentalist want clean energy, but don't want dams because of fish, wind mills are popular right now but how many birds have to die before they start dismantling them and solar works great when it is light but at night when you need to recharge all those electric cars they don't works so well. I do not know what the answer is, I just hope that people smarter than me are working on these problems. If it where up to me I would just have everyone go back to horse back, but I am sure that a whole lot of people would be against that as it is cruelty to animals or something.