This is one of those stories that need thinking about more than the first sight. First reaction -good for reducing global warnming. Second reaction; but how will it affect land use, food production etc given that there is no way that we can grow all the present fuel-oil consumption of the UK? Third and most serious thought of all: is this really 'saving' oil? Well I suppose it is but it will still involve using some mineral oil unless the biofuels are organiscally farmed. You see the thing we need to remember is that in effect if we are not eating organic, we are probably, to some degree, eating mineral oil. It goes like this non-organic farming using fertilisers and pesticides, these are derived on the whole from mineral oil [and rely on it for transport]. So biofuels are similarly likely to be a way of converting mineral oil into bio-oil by passing it throug chemical processes and the soil. Not such good news then. Has anyone told the UK government?
Planet Ark : Biofuels Seen Key to UK Farming Future
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"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"
I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...
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"'Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell yo...
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from: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/online/2012/5/22/1337672561216/Annular-solar-eclipse--008.jpg -
I'm not sure people have believed me when I've said that there have been discovered uncaffeinated coffee beans. Well, here's one...
2 comments:
Point well-taken but...the use of biomass in IC engines at least ALLOWS for a totalyl organic and sustainable renewable fueling structure. A farmer can theoretically produce and process fuel, as well as run an entire farming operation solely off of biofuels. In our world of billions, likely-not really. Yet it is completely feasible, with no net energy losses.
Regardless, the realities of global peak oil will trump any further impact of climate change. It is a more immediate and pressing concern. As such, any technology options that allow us to extend the life of fossil fuels for industrial use (to say, power plants producing solar panels and wind turbines) versus transportation are wholly necessary.
You're right if a farm did become self-sustaining by growing it's own fuel, though, as I say, it would need also to be organic, that is to say avoiding inputs from petrochemical fertilisers and pesticides. BUt you're right, it makes possible a healthy, virtuous cycle. I lke your reflection inthe second paragraph about extending the life of fossils to help the transition.
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