permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

> Folks...
> 
> Here's another bit of coverage on that Berkeley-Cornell study on net energy
> loss for biofuels...
> 
> <http://www.tri-cityherald.com/24hour/healthscience/story/2562508p-10978657c
> .html>

Yes, the numbers on all biofuels, including biodiesel, show that they are
totally unsustainable ways to produce fuel except when they use waste
products that would otherwise be lost. There's not enough land on the planet
to grow enough biofuel to replace even a fraction of our oil.

On a related note, Ag giant Cargill is building a single biodiesel plant
that will produce more biodiesel than is being made in the entire US right
now. So the big boys are onto it, which I suspect spells doom for all the
small operations. When Cargill and the local biodiesel co-op are both
competing for the fryer oil from McDonalds, who do you think will get it?

Toby
www.patternliteracy.com