[Terrapreta] [Gasification] new studies on GHG footprint of biofuels darkens the picture

[MMBTUPR at aol.com]

          from          Lewis L Smith

While I have not read the "new studies" alluded to, in the NYT article, I 
have both petroleum and bioenergy experience going back to 1966. So it is very 
hard for me to believe that all forms of bioenergy have a worse impact on global 
warming than petroleum fuels.

Moreover, I am highly suspicious of people who make sweeping generalizations 
about bioenergy. Of all the renewables, bioenergy has by far the richest 
variety of inputs, processes and outputs. Moreover, the projects are very sensitive 
to site conditions. So there should be something for almost everyone and 
almost every place. You   just have to do your "homework" and come up with a good 
configuration for your neighborhood, something which pontificators seem 
reluctant to do. 

[ Too much like hard work ? ]

There are in fact, few currently useful generalizations that one can make 
about bioenergy. One of the few is that if you insist on replacing most US 
gasoline with ethanol derived from corn, you will drive up the price of pizza in 
Chicago, spaghetti in Rome and tortillas in Mexico !   Otherwise I would tend to 
err on the cautious side.

Cordially.   ###


**************
Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on 
AOL Music.
     
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002548)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /attachments/20080207/3eb3bd20/attachment.html