Re: OT Gas Prices and the Blame Game

In article <1a12a$48313b7c$10145@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Martin Brown wrote:
Don Klipstein wrote:
In article <483051B5.15C2042@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Eeyore wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

More damage will probably be done by the various "solutions"
to global warming than the effects of global warming.
It's already happening. For example demand for biofuel in Europe
(specifically palm oil for use in diesel fuel) is causing deforestation in
Asia as they rush to plant palm trees.

As it turns out, deforestation is a transient event transferring carbon
from the biosphere to the atmosphere. Switching fuel consumers from
fossil fuels to biofuels is a long term reduction of a mechanism that
transfers carbon from the lithosphere to the "carbon cycle" (sum of
atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere).

That is actually less clear. So much damage is is being done by
destroying forests in developing countries to feed this new trendy
biofuel habit.

Non-sustainable destruction of rainforest to grow biofuel cash crop
plants for a few years until the soil is wrecked and then clear cutting
another chunk of virgin forest is pretty bad for the environment.

It makes perfect sense to generate biofuels from wastes like straw.
But to make it from quality foodstuffs like corn is crazy (unless of
course you are a lobbyist for US grain farmers).

I'm all for biofuels, though preferably from stuff along the lines of
straw. Preferably stuff that we would rather get rid of, like crabgrass
and the other weeds that people are trying to exterminate.
This appears to me to want some sort of genetically engineered
"frankenyeast" or whatever to ferment cellulose. Or find a way to make
good use of whatever enzyme is used by bacteria in ruminants' guts to
break down cellulose - may be better done with genetic engineering.
Once we can make ethanol economically from cellulose, we can make it
from shredded scrap wood, and waste paper products including (insert
newspaper of choice).

Turpenes may make some pretty decent motor fuels. Biological mechansms
to produce these already exist, since pine oil and citrus oils are mainly
turpenes. Just use some selective breeding and genetic engineering and
maybe we can farm algae that ooze something similar to lemon oil or orange
oil.

We have already made a little use of biodiesel - as in vegetable oils.
I think a little genetic engineering can get us some bacteria or yeast
or whatever that can live off of something we value little (or negatively)
and ooze out something something similar to a vegetable oil, and then we
build our cars and trucks to run on that.

- Don Klipstein (don@xxxxxxxxx)
.

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