| Earth Meanders Earth Meanders Insightful original Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues including peace and freedom. Thought-provoking, raw and frequently outrageous - but always Bright Green. These are the personal writings of Dr. Glen Barry. Saturday, March 15, 2008 Burning Forests to Feed Cars The Ecological Madness of Biofuels, Take Two How cellulosic ethanol will fail, exacerbate the global forest and climate crises, and why it must be rejected along with other quick fixes in favor of an environmental sufficiency agenda If you thought burning food for fuel agrofuels has been an unmitigated disaster, just wait until we start chopping up our last natural forest habitats for cellulosic ethanol biofuel. Much heralded second generation biofuels, to be based largely upon woody biomass, will be a resounding ecological disaster, and must be stopped now. It is a myth that enough unused forest and agricultural waste, and a surplus of land to grow various grasses and wood, exists to base an industrial energy source. Humanity must stop seeking easy answers to perceived energy shortages that in fact are a result of over-population and ecological limits to growth. Agrofuels were heavily promoted for climate benefits and pursued at much expense, yet have been catastrophic to the world's food security, habitat, water and climate. The same will be true of ethanol production from trees. Cellulo...
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