Having said that, let me also say that biofuels offer a great opportunity for permaculturists. Every permaculture project should consider incorporation plants for biofuel production, to make itself more self-sufficient in fuel, and as a cash crop. Permaculturists can produce biofuels in a sustainable way. If only the biofuel is exported, all the organic matter can be recycled and a closed system reached which will keep producing without much external inputs. There are many possibilities:
- Use land that has been abandoned or degraded by agriculture, mining, etc. or cannot otherwise be used for food production.
- Use inputs like sewage sludge that are prohibited by organic farming certifiers for food production.
Biodiesel production can be done on a small scale. In the tropics, oil palms produce more oil per hectare than most other oilseed plants. I'm not sure about ethanol production, I don't think it is economical on a small scale. Conventional sugar cane production is very destructive to the soil. I think there are ways to grow sugar cane organically, in rotation with legumes like pigeon peas, but I think such practices have disappeared almost completely from the tropics.
While I agree that biofuels will not provide a complete replacement for fossil fuels, I think biofuel technology should be developed as much as possible and permaculturists should develop sustainable ways to grow crops for biofuel production.
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