ETHANOL often gets a bad rap as a biofuel, but accusations that it is too inefficient to replace petroleum may be misguided.
Ethanol makes up about 2 per cent of the fuel used for transport in the US, and recent studies have argued that it takes more energy to make than it provides. But when Alex Farrell at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues reviewed six studies on ethanol, they found that much of the data and many of the manufacturing practices cited were out of date (Science, vol 311, p 506).
The old studies also ignored useful by-products, says Farrell. With "cellulosic" ethanol from plant wastes, for instance, the main by-product is lignin, a renewable fuel that can power the bio-refinery.
By Jack Rhinesmith
Thu Nov 01 18:03:23 GMT 2007
The solution to the oil crunch is for our political "Representatives" get off their money grabbing a--s and get behind the biofuel program. I was in Brazil in the 1980's and the automobiles were having a great time on the biofuel being fed.All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
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