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Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don’t

By crooky | February 11, 2008

This post is not of my usual calibre. I have worked 75 hours in the last week and I’m bone-tired. Instead of going off on a crazy rant about how bleak the future looks to me at the moment (which I just wrote and subsequently deleted) - I’m going to post an article from the New York times that claims biodiesel and other “biofuels” are so much more harmful to the environment than traditional petroleum that we should essentially stop their production immediately to avoid any more damage:

“Biofuels Deemed A Greenhouse Threat” - New York Times, February 8, 2008

I can only add to what this article is saying that I have always been a big proponent of full-cost accounting when it comes to environmental matters - a view that has had me shouted down on more than one occassion at conferences where GHG emission reducing technology has been featured prominently. Apparently, I’m “unnecessarily confrontational” by saying that any technology that produces more emissions (from a full-cost accounting perspective) than it saves is worse than useless and constitutes a “green wash” solution.

But, what the fuck do I know? I need a drink.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten tiring, largely unrewarding years.

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Topics: Policy, Technology |

3 Responses to “Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don’t”

  1. crooky Says:
    February 11th, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    Also: This kind of shit doesn’t help the cause:

    http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1362/

  2. GTS Says:
    February 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    I think the media’s generalization about biofuels is unfair to the industry. Fuels made from waste and Saw Grass hold great promise. It is when you use food crops and the massive fertilizer inputs that the trouble starts.

  3. crooky Says:
    February 12th, 2008 at 7:34 pm

    It’s not totally unfair. It’s just unpopular. I’ll agree with you that this article is painting it with a broad brush. There are, as you say, some biomass sources that yield useable fuel. What do you think about using Pine Beetle ravaged wood to create ethanol as I suggested in this post:

    http://friuch.com/wordpress/?p=35

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