by Joan Linney

Created on: June 01, 2009   Last Updated: June 02, 2009

Plants have been turning sunlight into energy since the dawn of photosynthesis. In fact, the fossil fuels we have now were originally made by plants that used sunlight for chemical energy and carbon from CO2, to build their little plant bodies. When we burn fossil fuels, we release that energy along with CO2 from the carbon that's been trapped and concentrated in those plant bodies for so many eons. (This isn't rocket science; sixth graders learn about photosynthesis and how plants store carbon in their cells.) What we're doing by burning all that ancient plant material though, is raising CO2 levels higher than they have been since the Carboniferous period.

Biofuel is simply taking plants that are alive today and using them to convert sunshine and CO2 into energy we can use. Using the sun's energy, they recycle the carbon that is already in the atmosphere - adding no new CO2 that will increase global climate change. There is certainly a place for biofuels in meeting our future energy needs. I am not, however in favor of using food products to produce biofuels. Today's agriculture takes nearly a gallon of fossil fuel to grow a gallon of biofuel. On top of that, it uses perfectly good food that could be used for humans or farm animals. However, there are some biofuels that make use of waste and do not compete with our food supply. Greasecars, already mentioned by one respondent, are great. Used fryer oil should never be dumped-it is a great resource; but how many cars can we actually run on it. The amount of fried food Americans consume is limited (and hopefully decreasing). Using another technology, called cellulosic ethanol production, straw, weeds, wood, and other fibrous plant matter are turned into fuel-grade alcohol with the help of bacterial enzymes. I think there's a lot of promise there. However, there are no big ag chemical companies lobbying for more research like they are for corn-based fuel. Could that be because, when the farmers are able to grow weeds for profit, the Monsantos of the world loose out? I also have hope that biodiesel and other fuels may someday be made from algae. Our local sewage treatment plant is experimenting with using algae for water purification. They allow wild algae to colonize ponds filled with treated effluent, document everything, and experiment with finding uses for the algae. Some researchers are trying to grow specially-hybridized-high-oil-producing algae under artificial light. There is something

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