Bio Fuels
This is probably the second most annoying myth that I feel is important to clear up.
Not all bio fuels (or bio-mass as it is sometimes referred to) are created equal. Using corn presents several downsides. One is the price fluctuation which has ocurred as a result of the current investments in corn based fuels. The poorest of the poor in Mexico are now having a difficult time affording corn for the simplest of staples, the corn tortilla. On top of which (this is not a popular idea in Iowa) there is virtually no net gain involved with corn based alcohol fuel.
Another unsustainable source would be palm kernel oil. More info on that can be found reading The Western Appetite for Biofuels Is Causing Starvation in the Poor World by George Monbiot
We are waiting for the technology to catch up with the concept. The real solution to using bio-mass is to derive our feedstocks from already developed "waste" streams. This would include things like switch grass or algae (all the rave these days in bio-mass circles).
This does not make pursuing biofuels and biomass a dead end. It has in fact a very promising future. As I've mentioned before, the technology lags a little around biofuels but in the end they will play an important role in getting us off our addiction to oil.
Listed below you will find some of the most promising of all emerging and existing technologies and strategies for using biofuels sustainably.
