Richard Branson’s new push, biofuels; coconut oil fueled airliner

“Critics dispute the green benefits of biofuels however, claiming that biofuels damage developing countries by driving up food prices and harm the environment by encouraging deforestation. In the end, it seems there is opposition to all atempts to do good, what a shame….”
This isn’t a very economist thing to say. It’s not a shame to evaluate the pro’s and con’s of new initiatives. We’ve gotta do it. My biggest concern about biofuels is that they ulitmately cost more carbon to produce than they save in using them.

Here here, BobGreenie. I agree wholeheartedly! Biofuels (corn, coconut, sugar cane, switch grass) are going to level the world’s forests if they are to replace gas/oil. If all agriculture land was used to make ethanol, it wouldn’t even power 1/2 of the US fleet of cars. If all humanity attains the material wealth of the US, this planet will be nothing but farms.

There is not opposition to do good… there is opposition to dragging people furthur into poverty and tearing down more forest land. Just a few weeks ago ENN published an article about how the use of biofuel in Indonesia ruined forests and lead to more poverty in the country. They may have published this one for the content, but the ending in very biased, especially when the article starts out criticizing the amount of coconuts being used.

It frightens me that we could use our food supply to make fuel for our car addiction. Our country does not stop driving when threatened with the loss of our environment, do you think they will stop at the loss of lives from starvation in some country they can’t even locate on a world map? I praise Branson for showing us that change can happen, but please, don’t put my lunch in your fuel tank. There are other alternatives! We are way to smart to rely only on hydrocarbon chains!

National Algae Association
Algae: The Next Biofuel
Inaugural
Algae Commercialization
Business Plan and Networking Forum
April 10, 2008
http://www.nationalalgaeassociation.com

Let me tell you about the fallout of using corn for bio fuels-the farmers are now in jeopardy of losing the family farms because of jacked up fertilizer costs, fuel costs and taxes-no profit-
AND
The Horse Industry is now being seriously affected now as horses are being neglected, abandoned and shipped off to foreign slaughter now because so many people cannot afford to pay for the grain, hay & bedding that horses must have to survive=
Now non profits are overflowing with the need to raise money to support these animals-with no money left to receive with the skyrocketing fuel costs-
AND
driving up our food costs-anything made with petroleum is skyrocketing-SO NOONE CAN MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY A BILL OR EVEN DRIVE TO WORK–
The trickle down effect has trickled like the Great Mississippi River and let me share with you from a horse rescues viewpoint-this is quickly becoming a devastation—

Dear Sir, I have relatives “across the pond” whom I’d visited in 1987. Since I’ve achieved degrees in art and design, taught, and sailed with the United States Navy as a navigational assistant. I find the work that you and Jean-Michel Cousteau are accomplishing to be inspiring. Our state(Iowa) is leading edge in wind energy output and I’ve friends involved with bio diesel.
I bike and had horse breeding cousins. I wasn’t aware of what the ransom ranch was experiencing though recall our farm crisis from 1986. My grandfather grew up dairy farming. I am currently researching engineering to troubleshoot any natural disasters which may befall Shanghai and have ideas for other options regarding potential disaster (Rising sea levels trigger fear over Shanghai’s future
http://www.ccchina.gov.cn/en/NewsInfo.asp?NewsId=7518 [not my site, just info here]) hoping to get engineers from Netherlands involved (since still rebuilding from Katrina). Other projects as well but felt like saying I’m much encouraged as of late by your activities and thank-you, sincerely.