image by: Government of Brazil

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The unpalatable truth about bio-fuels, hunger and political unrest

The justification for the production of ethanol from food is that it is an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum based fuels in that it produces less CO2. When measured at the tailpipe, bioethanol does reduce CO2 emissions, but when the entire process of growing the product and producing ethanol is taken into account, a different picture emerges. CO2 is released in the production of ethanol through fuel for machinery, the production of fertilisers and pesticides, energy required for distillation, concurrent soil degradation and nitrous oxide release.

As a consequence, the net benefit is either minimal or in some cases, as with corn, produces more CO2 than just burning…

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Featured

  Ethanol is renewable, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for us

Ethanol, a grain-based alcohol, is controversial among renewable fuel advocates, farmers, environmentalists, and petroleum groups. While ethanol fermented and distilled from corn is considered a renewable fuel because corn growth, which removes carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis, offsets carbon dioxide emitted during combustion, its production also takes a sizable toll on the environment.

  Ethanol Tanks

More suggestions that biofuels are not an environmental free lunch

 Ethanol and the environment

The effect that increased ethanol use has on net CO2 emissions depends on how ethanol is made and whether or not indirect impacts on land use are included in the calculations. Growing plants for fuel is a controversial topic because some people believe the land, fertilizers, and energy used to grow biofuel crops should be used to grow food crops instead.

 Seaweed: The New Ethanol?

The future of biomass could be growing under the sea.

 Stop the Ethanol Madness

The mainstay of the Renewable Fuel Standard is an unmistakable social and environmental failure. Why does it persist?

 The Benefits of Ethanol Are Oversold, Again

It isn’t ‘clean,’ and if it were truly the most cost-effective option, there would be no need to mandate its use.

 With Ethanol And Biomass No Longer Viewed As 'Green,' Will Other Renewables Soon Follow?

Beyond the quantity of energy they provide, biomass and biofuels always had a major advantage over solar and wind: their reliability. A biomass power plant can generate electricity day or night, wind or no wind. Biofuels can power your car no matter the weather.

Previously Featured

A Nebraska Plant Used A Toxic Ethanol Source. A Town Is Now Living With Contamination

Normal gasoline is blended with ethanol made from corn. But a Nebraska plant used surplus crop seeds treated with pesticides, leaving a town with tons of toxic waste, bee die-offs and health issues.

Bio-Ethanol Can Replace Charcoal And Improve Indoor Air Quality And Minimize Deforestation In Africa

Most Americans are still grilling and using propane to do so — at a cost of $35 for a 20-pound canister. But urban Africans rely mostly on charcoal and kerosene, which leads to indoor air pollution and deforestation. While it is not yet practical for Africans to switch to propane, they are benefitting from bio-ethanol, which is becoming a cleaner and cheaper cooking fuel than the alternatives.

Bioethanol fuel 'as big a health risk as gasoline'

The use of ethanol as a gasoline substitute for motor vehicles may not be the environmental panacea that its proponents would have us believe, according to a US atmospheric scientist.

Blood in bio-ethanol: how indigenous peoples’ lives are being destroyed by global agribusiness in Brazil

She told us of the challenges to her people’s livelihood and the unbearable situation to which they are now condemned. One of the indigenous leaders claimed “Europeans should know that in the bio-ethanol they are importing from Brazil they will find our blood”.

Is ethanol really worse than gasoline? The debate, revisited

Now I’m here to say that I have to eat my words about corn ethanol being worse than gasoline. That, however, doesn’t mean that ethanol is better than gasoline, either. Instead, that broad question (is corn ethanol always better than petroleum?) is impossible to answer in a fully convincing way.

Study: The newest corn biofuels may be worse for the climate than gasoline

The green biofuels of the future might not be so green after all.

Understanding The Basics Of Bioethanol Fuel

Perhaps you haven’t yet heard the buzz surrounding Bioethanol fuel or the latest trend in Bioethanol fireplaces. If not, read on to discover more about how this environmentally friendly fuel could change your life for the better:

Resources

Opposing ethanol in Iowa used to be the touch of death. Is that still true?

For a while, it seemed like supporting ethanol and the RFS was a prerequisite for topping the Iowa heap — but that’s changing.