According to ChannelNewsAsia:
SINGAPORE : This week, the European parliament voted for new rules that require lower emissions from commercial vehicles.
With governments globally continuing to set stiff targets for the use of “clean” energy, Biofuels Asia – a Singapore-based clean-energy company – is betting on Jatropha, a hardy plant that is a source of biodiesel.
Biofuels may be alternative fuel but by no means very “clean”, however it’s much “renewable” then fossil fuel.
What I mean it’s not clean because of the following.
- Fertilizers (Natural gas)
- Pesticides (Oil)
- Huge Mechanized Harvesters/seeders/plough (Oil)
- Water pumps for irrigation (electricity – probably by oil powered generator)
After all the fossil fuel being consumed to get the biofuels, the high cost may means if one day the oil price collapsed again after some kind of major economic crisis (maybe due to high oil prices -> hyper inflation -> banking & subprime or other kinds of crisis) MAY also means that the biofuel may be NET Loss in “cost” & “energy”.
EROEI – Energy Return over Energy Invested must be higher then fossil fuel to get a net gain, if the world blindly goes “green” just because of the carbon tax reduction it will not be a long term solution but a rather short term one.
Personally I still believe in true “renewable” energy from the Sun, Wind, Hydro, geothermal, wave, and other harvest-able natural energy from the environment.
However, due to unstable environmental circumstances in different countries may means some renewable energy cannot be “cost” effective to be utilized.
Nuclear is one way to go for some countries but it may pose risk of major disaster issues but it’s a medium term solution until a new & better way to harvest the natural energy “efficiently” & less cost intensive to maintain the system.
Biofuels is at best a temporary solution but it’s better then no solution so the best system may be a balance of all solutions to make up a way to counter the PEAK OIL crisis that may had already started.
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