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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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7

Biofuel Boom Runs Out of Gas

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(Newser) – Once considered a win-win for the environment and energy independence, America’s biofuel industry is sputtering to a halt, the Wall Street Journal reports. Thanks to the recession, lower oil prices, and government delays, two-thirds of American biodiesel refineries—dozens of plants—are idle, and companies across the country are shutting down. The crisis could scare investors away from newer technologies more promising than much-maligned corn-based ethanol.

"If your investors are losing money in first-generation biofuels, I guarantee you they'll be more reluctant to put money into more biofuels, including next-generation fuels," an observer says. In one high-profile case, a company that was supposed to supply 70% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s biofuels allegedly defrauded investors, making it all but impossible for the government to hit its green targets.

Josh Taylor, front, a chemical engineer at Gevo, Inc., pours biogasoline into the tank of a Jeep Rubicon in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008.
Josh Taylor, front, a chemical engineer at Gevo, Inc., pours biogasoline into the tank of a Jeep Rubicon in Englewood, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Steve Korrow of Gillespie Fuel of Northfield, Vt., loads biodiesel fuel in Essex Junction, Vt., Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007.
Steve Korrow of Gillespie Fuel of Northfield, Vt., loads biodiesel fuel in Essex Junction, Vt., Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
In this photo taken June 12, 2009, an ethanol plant in Fulton, N.Y., recently purchased by Sunoco, is shown.
In this photo taken June 12, 2009, an ethanol plant in Fulton, N.Y., recently purchased by Sunoco, is shown.   (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)
Palm tree farmer Dylan Bailey, 30, explains the process of growing the jatropha plant in Delray Beach, Fla., Friday, June 12, 2009. The jatropha plant is a source of biofuel.
Palm tree farmer Dylan Bailey, 30, explains the process of growing the jatropha plant in Delray Beach, Fla., Friday, June 12, 2009. The jatropha plant is a source of biofuel.   (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
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7 comments
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Robert_Dada
Aug 27, 09 12:54 PM CDT
It's not a viable long term source anyway. Biofuels tend to utilize almost as much oil that is refined into pest control products. It also reduces the amount of land that could otherwise be used in food production, which helped to trigger the recent worldwide food price hikes and shortages. Reply
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+4
IN RESPONSE:
newsrmandan
Aug 27, 09 1:14 PM CDT
besides that there is plenty of untapped oil. What we need is not biofuels so much but better motors that run on less fuel. More horses less dinosaurs
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+1
IN RESPONSE:
dax
Aug 27, 09 1:28 PM CDT
But that "untapped oil" runs into the same unit cost issues undermining the biofuels, and must be supported by higher "per gallon" market price than is current. This issue is far from over, global population keeps expanding. Biofuels will be revisted. And there are biofuel sources not as resource intensive as corn.
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IN RESPONSE:
UrUndertaker
Aug 27, 09 1:32 PM CDT
@ dax, if indeed bio fuels are revisited as you say they take into consideration how much unforeseen damage is being done to the environment by run off of fertilizer into the Mississippi river? The dead zone exploded in size fueled by the run off when unused farm land in the delta was placed in use for bio fuel usage...a total waste and destruction due to this bio fuel ignorance which takes as Robert states more oil to create than it actually saves
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IN RESPONSE:
IndependentThinker
Aug 27, 09 2:55 PM CDT
Also there is the issue of water that has been showing its head for the last 15 years. We are running low on it for human consumption and we even have less for live stock and food crops.
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+3

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