

"thanksgiving in the car's gas tank' [#89]
Similarly to the first posting of 2-16, a very well researched article appeared in the German weekly "Der Spiegel" (#8/2007), arguing that fuels derived from biomass can indeed replace fossil fuels if and when better technology will be applied in the future. Along the lines of the paper Gerard Aleng refers to (from the proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the US on the topic of the environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and bioethanol fuels), the article askes whether or not plants are the source of power of the future. One way out from the dependency of fossil fuels seem to be raw materials growing on the earth's soil. Biomass can produce electricity and heat, but also power cars and airplanes. However, biodiesel derived from rapseed and sugar (alcohol) are non economical and not more climate friendly than fossil fuels. But new production methods on the horizon (the so-called second generation) give rise to more optimism.
posted on 2007-02-23 14:52 UTC by Dr Christian Schmidt, SBT Southern Online Bio Technologies LTD

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