We have come to rely on vehicals way too much. We are so reliant on non-public transportation we have no way to ride bicycles if we choose to do so, in a safe manner.
We need to rethink our entire energy use.
Here's my problem with things like this.
It really boils down to the way people seem to think about politics in America. They're so focused on competitive dynamics and a single winner in all outcomes that it prevents real thought on this.
So no, biofuels shouldn't be the only way to get energy independence. But they can definitely be a major part of a mixed package of tactics.
You push biofuels, you push better public transit and bike-friendly cities, you push ethanol made from algae scrubbers (being developed currently by MIT, which could easily knock out a major percentage of American fuel use), you push urban smart growth so driving time decreases, you push hybrid technology. You push electric cars and solar recharging zones, even municipal ones.
Why can't we just say this? Instead of a mix of triumphalism and deflation, why can't we just use reason and say "you can do more than one thing in the universe, it isn't a bloody football game"?
I mean people who care about this understand this fact, that there are an array of alternative energy sources and oil reduction strategies, and we should dovetail them together rather than presume we're in a zero sum game. Putting up wind turbines doesn't mean that solar cells suddenly become bad. Using agricultural and algal ethanol doesn't mean the public transit and bikes become bad.
If we can just coordinate this sensibly we can break away from the idiocy of interest politics in washington and get this mother going.
Maybe it's good to have deflating editorials like this one, but I don't know. I think while people who are genuinely interested will know the difference between prudence and resignation, I think the general public is trained to look for a quick and universal fix. We shouldn't play into that, we should get them used to thinking of the array of options we all have possible.
At least the US has got capability to install and utilize ethanol facilities quickly. Think of countries that have little or no capability, instead of becoming net oil importers, they become net-ethanol importers instead. The world doesnt change for them!
I am sure that there will be many ways we get our energy, now that people across the US, and the world for that matter, are focused on this issue. Most the the valid points have already been made so there's no point in stating them again. It must be said that people (consumers) have the greatest control over the situation. I know a lot of bikers who ride their bikes, but have never asked the stores they shop at regularly if they'd install bike racks. When it comes to cars, people pretty much know that diesel is more efficient that unleaded cars, yet what cars are people buying? Auto manufactures build the cars that sell, and cancel the ones that don't. If you want to change things, why not get everyone together and have them write to a car manufacturer and uniformly demand electric cars, or diesel hybrids? Why not talk to businesses and ask them why they support their employees driving to work in cars by themselves rather than biking, or carpooling? Why not ask these corporations why it is that they don't create financial incentives for biking to work, taking mass transit, or carpooling? In most cases, these things never happen. I would hope that as more people become aware of these issues, we'll be able to talk less about how much ethanol and biodiesel can be realistically produced and spend more time discussing the options we have aside from just replacing one fuel for another and keeping a business as usual mentality.
A bit late for this comment, but nonetheless...
The Washington Post article misses what is the biggest negative for cellulose-based ethanol -- the fact is, almost all major sources of agricultural waste are already being burned in waste-burning power plants, and pumping a lot of electricity into the power grid. Burning waste this way is a much more efficient way to extract energy, rather than trying to create ethanol. And if we do see a huge upswing in energy crop growing (for example switchgrass) then those new energy crops will be much cheaper, easier, and more efficiently burned in existing power plants. Coal plants are already trying to buy up switchgrass supplies to burn.
This shouldn't bother you folks at Sustainablog, but it does call into question the whole ethanol craze. If anything, the folks asking for big research bucks to investigate cellulose bacteria are taking funding away from more practical, immediate research.
Tom Benson
http://inuclear.blogspot.com/200...ethanol-
is.html.
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