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Food turned to fuel

“The Myths of Biofuels” is a video production by "Sutro Tower Video" of a presentation made by David Fridley (of Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and San Francisco Oil Awareness) given to the public by Post Carbon Santa Clara Valley on June 7, 2007. Mr. Fridley has been concerned about the potential effects of petroleum depletion (peak oil) for a number of years and has done extensive work in this area. This presentation concerning biofuels has been given to numerous interested groups. His bio at LBL is available here.
 

Topics Covered In “The Myths of Biofuels”
The Myths of Biofuels
  • Large-scale biofuel production is sustainable
  • Biofuels are environmentally friendly and reduce CO2 emissions
  • Biofuels will help us achieve "energy independence"
  • Biofuels will help the farmers
  • "Second-generation" biofuels (cellulosic ethanol etc.) will save us
  • Biofuels will let us continue our current way of life
 What Are Biofuels?

Biofuels are any fuel derived from biomass (recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts). They may be solids, liquids or gases.

“The Myths of Biofuels” video is being made available in DVD format for the cost of materials and postage. The entire movie is (will be) available as well at the Internet Archive, and in the maximum 10 minute chunks on YouTube. The main advantage of the DVD is clearer video, and some additional material including the complete set of slides, originally in PowerPoint, reformatted for better video use. These slides appear during the course of the video as well, but not all the points of information are available through that medium.

Rush to Biofuels

What rationale is behind the current rush to use biofuels?

How is the decline of petroleum resources linked to this rush?

Biofuels vs. Oil

How do biofuels compare to petroleum?

In what ways are they different?

Ethanol

What are the facts about ethanol that normally are not presented in the media?

Ethanol Production

What is involved in ethanol production?

How complex of a procedure is it?

Where will the biomass needed to produce ethanol come from?

Distillation

What technical hurdles are involved in producing ethanol that is 99.8% pure?

Exports vs. Ethanol

How does ethanol production in the U.S. impact our exports of corn?

What effect will this have on our economy, and the economies of the world?

Corn Acreage

Where does the farmland used for growing corn for ethanol come from?

Limits to Ethanol

What effect would using all our corn crop actually have on our use of petroleum for transportation and in the rest of our daily life?

Cellulosic Ethanol

What is cellulosic ethanol?

Why is it being promoted, and how close are we to actually being able to produce it in real-world situations?

1.3 Billion Tons

What is the U.S.D.A. 1.3 billion ton study, and how realistic are its goals with respect to biofuel production?

Aggressive Cropland Assumptions

Is there really enough cropland to fulfill the U.S.D.A. predictions for our increased production of biofuels?

Nature's Sustainable System

What is an ecological definition of sustainable?

What is the purpose of nature recycling the nutrients from biomass?

Energy Density of Biomass

How much energy is left to use after using energy to produce energy?

Why does this matter?

Impacts of Ethanol

What are the environmental impacts of ethanol production?

At what levels does ethanol blended into gasoline pollute the environment, and by how much?

Biodiesel

What is biodiesel, and how is it made?

Biodiesel Feedstocks

What plants are used in biodiesel production?

Soy Biodiesel Limits

What limits are there to soy biodiesel production in the U.S.?

Vegetable Oils are Limited

What limits are there worldwide on vegetable oil production?

If all the vegetable oil produced in the world were used to make biodiesel, how much of a difference would this make vs. the world use of petroleum?

Palm Oil

Why is palm oil in such demand?

What advantages does palm oil have over other biodiesel feedstock?

Deforestation for Palm Oil

How has palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia affected the environment?

What are the actual carbon and greenhouse gas impacts of deforestation associated with palm oil and its production and use?

World Biomass Limits

What natural limits are there to worldwide biomass, and how do these compare to our use of petroleum?

Soil Degradation

What effect has industrialized agriculture had on the soils of the world?

Net Energy of Alternatives

What is net energy gain or loss (EROEI) of biofuels?

(An animation example is included.)

Low Energy Return Paradox

In order to maintain a business-as-usual economy using biofuels, how much energy would have to go into producing the energy we need for such a continuation in comparison to the energy we presently use to get energy from the use of petroleum?

Scalability

How well do biofuels scale against the energy sources we presently have?

How can we define any useful alternative energy?

Food linked to Fuel Prices

What are the effects and what is the downside to linking the price of our foodstock to the price of a dwindling, non-renewable resource, petroleum?

Public Policy

What parts of public policy are questionable regarding biofuels?

Why are such high levels of subsidies required to fund this industry?

How might we better apply the money?
The Myths of Biofuels
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