The great danger of biofuels is that the bellies of the poor will end up in direct competition with the bowsers of the relatively privileged. That would be an uneven contest with truly dreadful consequences.
Biofuel sources that are not based on sustainable agricultural practices, such as Indonesia's palm oil and our own sugar cane industry, should not be granted a new lease of life in the rush to 'grow' fuel.
I think the best case that can be made for biofuels, at present, is that plenty more small-scale experimental work needs to be done, before we risk leaping from fire to frying pan.
A local, small-scale but potentially scaleable biofuel industry could be justified as part of what we need to build more resilience into our local economy. If externally-sourced fuel then becomes unaffordable or unobtainable, we'd have an emergency supply to expand.
Those who talk big about biofuel are all too often flim-flam merchants, who until very recently were scornfully dismissive of the entire problem of climate change and impending fuel scarcity.
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The great danger of biofuels is that the bellies of the poor will end up in direct competition with the bowsers of the relatively privileged. That would be an uneven contest with truly dreadful consequences.
Biofuel sources that are not based on sustainable agricultural practices, such as Indonesia's palm oil and our own sugar cane industry, should not be granted a new lease of life in the rush to 'grow' fuel.
I think the best case that can be made for biofuels, at present, is that plenty more small-scale experimental work needs to be done, before we risk leaping from fire to frying pan.
A local, small-scale but potentially scaleable biofuel industry could be justified as part of what we need to build more resilience into our local economy. If externally-sourced fuel then becomes unaffordable or unobtainable, we'd have an emergency supply to expand.
Those who talk big about biofuel are all too often flim-flam merchants, who until very recently were scornfully dismissive of the entire problem of climate change and impending fuel scarcity.
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