Biofuels

Biofuels are fuels made from biological sources, such as corn, soybeans, sugarcane, jatropha, palm oil, or cassava. While these fuels are touted as "renewable," their efficiency rests on whether it requires fewer than one calorie of oil or other energy source to grow, process, and transport a biofuel for each calorie of energy produced. Additionally, unlike the renewable energy sources solar power, wind power, and tidal power, biofuels do not solve the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, some debate "food vs. fuel," as biofuel crops are often consumed as food or fed to livestock. Demand for biofuel crops puts upward pressure on crop prices, although there is widespread debate over how much biofuels demand actually impacts commodity prices.

Corn-based Ethanol in the United States
"In 2008, 25% of all corn produced in [the United States] was set aside for ethanol production, and plans show that in 2010 this proportion will reach 33%."

Eliana Monteforte writing in June 2007 notes that:


 * "As the Bush administration continues to push its alternative fuels agenda, it has become increasingly evident that corn-based ethanol could be as much the global villain as a boon to society. Instead of improving the environment and moderating oil prices, corn-based ethanol could result in mass deforestation, strained land and water resources, increased food prices, augmented poverty and swarms of farmers uprooted from their land. While the negative effects of corn-based biofuels are obvious, Washington continues to emphasize their importance, while increasing the size and number of subventions to the ethanol industry. This is being done despite the adverse ramifications that its cultivation is having on the sites where it already is being produced, with the situation likely to further deteriorate in the near future."

Sugarcane-based Ethanol in Brazil
Brazil, the world's top sugarcane producer, uses a large percent of its sugarcane to produce ethanol.


 * "Ethanol production based on sugar cane monocultures has resulted in in numerous social and environmental impacts including: provoking a re-organization of land, forcing people off the land, exacerbating conflicts over land, exploiting indigenous labour, and reducing food production, etc."

For more information, see the article on Sugarcane Production in Brazil.

2011 MIT study
In a 2011 study, MIT researchers found that when a biofuel's origins are factored in — for example, palm oil grown in a clear-cut rainforest — conventional fossil fuels may sometimes actually be the "greener" choice. James Hileman, principal research engineer in MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and his team performed a life-cycle analysis of 14 fuel sources, including conventional petroleum-based jet fuel and "drop-in" biofuel alternatives.

In a 2011 Environmental Science and Technology paper, Hileman considered the entire biofuel life cycle of diesel engine fuel compared with jet fuel, and found that changing key parameters can dramatically change the total greenhouse gas emissions from a given biofuel. In particular, the team found that emissions varied widely depending on the type of land used to grow biofuel components such as soy, palm and rapeseed. For example, Hileman and his team calculated that biofuels derived from palm oil emitted 55 times more carbon dioxide if the palm oil came from a plantation located in a converted rainforest rather than a previously cleared area. Depending on the type of land used, biofuels could ultimately emit 10 times more carbon dioxide than conventional fuel.

Hileman said the issue is not so much the technology to convert biofuels - companies like Choren and Rentech have built small-scale biofuel production facilities and are looking to expand in the near future - but is instead the challenge in allocating large swaths of land to cultivate enough biomass, in a sustainable fashion, to feed the growing demand for biofuels. He said one solution to the land-use problem may be to explore crops like algae and salicornia that don't require deforestation, fresh water, or fertile soil to grow. Hileman also suggested using co-products like husks to produce electricity, for animal feed or as fertilizer.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Bioethanol
 * Biodiesel
 * Archer Daniels Midland
 * Ethanol Ventures
 * Renewable Fuels Association
 * Green Future Innovations, Inc.
 * Renew Energy
 * VeraSun Energy
 * Lisa Kubiske
 * Nicholas E. Hollis
 * Buchanan Renewables

External Resources

 * Biofuels, The Guardian
 * "Social Impacts of Current Biofuels," Birdlife International.

Critiques of Biofuel

 * Ben Courtice, "Biofuels - the answer to the wrong question", Green Left Weekly, October 20, 2006.
 * Brian Tokar, "The Real Scoop on Biofuels: Running on Hype", Counterpunch, November 1, 2006.
 * George Monbiot, "If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuels", The Guardian (UK), March 29, 2007.
 * Fidel Castro, "Foodstuff as Imperial Weapon: Biofuels and Global Hunger", CounterPunch, March 31, 2007.
 * Eliana Monteforte, "Maize of Deception: How Corn-Based Ethanol Can Lead To Starvation and Environmental Disaster", Znet, June 19, 2007.
 * Eric Holt-Giménez, "Biofuels: The Five Myths of the Agro-fuels Transition", Global Research, June 30, 2007.
 * F. William Engdahl, "The Hidden Agenda behind the Bush Administration's Bio-Fuel Plan: Buy Feed Corn: They’re about to stop making it…", Global Research, July 25, 2007.
 * Robin Mittenthal, "The Biofuels Trap: My Kingdom for a Horseless Carriage", Counterpunch, August 31, 2007.
 * Hannah Holleman and Rebecca Clausen, "Biofuels, BP-Berkeley, and the New Ecological Imperialism", MRzine, January 15, 2008.
 * Robert Bryce, "The Ethanol Apologists: The Mandates Aren't Just Wrong, They're Immoral", CounterPunch, Apri1 17, 2008.
 * Stuart Munckton & Barry Healy, "Global food crisis: biofuels threaten hunger", Green Left Weekly, April 19, 2008.
 * Stephen Lendman, "Global Food Crisis: Hunger Plagues Haiti and the World", Global Research, April 21, 2008.
 * Stan Cox, "Drive 1,000 Miles or Feed a Person for a Year? The Biofuels Dilemma", AlterNet, May 11, 2008.
 * Sérgio Schlesinger, Lúcia Ortiz, Camila Moreno, Célio Berman, Wendell Ficher Teixeira Assis, "New roads to the same old place: the false solution of agrofuels]," Núcleo Amigos da Terra Brasil – NATFederação de Órgãos para Assistência Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional – FASE, Terra de Direitos, October, 2008.
 * Robert Bryce, "The Unraveling of the Ethanol Scam: 14 Studies Have Exposed the High Cost of Ethanol and Biofuels", Counterpunch, February 5, 2009.
 * Robert Bryce, "Corn Dog Update: Another Study Exposes Bio-Fuel Scam', Counterpunch, February 6-8, 2009.
 * Rachel Smolker and Brian Tokar, "Biofuels: Promise or Threat? A Disaster for People and the Environment", Counterpunch, February 24, 2009.
 * Robert Bryce, "The Ethanol Scammers Rent a General: Wesley Clark Attacks the "Blend Wall"", Counterpunch, April 24-26, 2009. (Wesley Clark)

External Articles

 * Tom Laskawy, "SciAm op-ed: Kill biofuels to solve the food crisis," Grist, June 17, 2011.
 * Timothy Searchinger, "A Quick Fix to the Food Crisis: Curbing biofuels should halt price rises," Scientific American, June 16, 2011.
 * "In this special agrofuels issue...," GRAIN, July 28, 2007.
 * "Stop the agrofuel craze!," GRAIN, July 2007.
 * "Agrofuels in Asia: Fuelling poverty, conflict, deforestation," GRAIN, July 2007.
 * "Jatropha the agrofuel of the poor?," GRAIN, July 2007.
 * "The new scramble for Africa," GRAIN, July 2007.
 * "Corporate power: The sugar-cane ethanol nexus," GRAIN, July 18, 2007.
 * "Snapshot of the agrofuel situation in some Asian countries, GRAIN, July 12, 2007.
 * "Latin America - Soya nexus in South America," GRAIN, July 4, 2007.
 * "Further reading: good materials on agrofuels," GRAIN, July 2007.