3 Responses

1. The fact of the matter is we have to find something new, fossile fuel wont last forever. Though it is a long way off (biofuel) if we can mass produce it and make it readily available for the future I think it will be great.

2. My college has a small research group that studies the production of bioethanol. Judging from talks I had with the professor in charge I would say that it is highly beneficial. We are running out of oil and need other fuels and biofuels are perfect because of their low greenhouse gas emissions and the possibility of easy mass production by microorganisms.

3. There is one major problem with most biofuels, and that is that actual food must be used to create the fuel. It is not at all beneficial for the environment (or the world as a whole) to grow food to turn it into gas. However, there are other types of biofuels being designed. There is a company out of Ottawa, ON called Iogen that is working on cellulose to ethanol technology that would allow you to take, for instance, corn stalks and turn that into bioethanol for fuel. That would allow the food portion of the corn to be used for food, and allow the left over waste to be used for fuel. This approach is much better and is gaining momentum and if biofuels are going to be done ethically and sustainably, it must be done in this way. Turning food into gas does not really help the world in the long run. Its slightly better than burning pure fossil fuels, but cannot be a long term solution.