Northwest’s biofuel boom goes bust

The headline should read “corn ethanol,” not biofuel-

Despite the past, and continuing subsidies, ethanol made from corn produces little net energy and a lot of political conflict as it consumes a quarter of the country’s corn crop.

Advanced biofuels might hold promise, especially those using bacteria to directly produce ethanol or other low carbon fuels. However, the creation of vast monocultures of vegetation on lands unsuited for crop (such as corn) production, could pose a planet changing environmental cost. “Waste” trees and brush from all over the countryside fed into a bottomless biofuel energy machine could leave the countyside looking like Haiti.

Northwest’s biofuel boom goes bust. By Scott Learn, The Oregonian