Myths abound regarding the pros and cons of biofuels. Here is a scorecard to separate truth from fiction.

In the flood of media attention that biofuels have received, it is difficult to distinguish the facts from the fanfare. Generally made from corn, sugarcane, soy, and other crops, biofuels for powering automobile engines have been hailed as a panacea that will arrest global climate change, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, ensure energy security, and turbocharge agricultural economies. Yet biofuels have also been denounced by critics who claim they will do more harm than good to the environment and they are not economically sustainable absent government protection.

To determine who is right, we spoke to dozens of experts in government, corporate, academic, and nonprofit organizations — people such as Prabhu Pingali, director of the agricultural and development economics division of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations; Miguel Pestana, vice president of global external affairs for Unilever PLC; venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures; and Greg Stephanopoulos, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT — and reviewed studies on the growth and viability of the biofuels market. Based on this research, we explored the truth of prevalent assumptions regarding both biofuel’s promise and its impact on markets and the environment. ...

Bill Jackson is a senior vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton in Chicago. He works on major organizational change programs, including restructurings, postmerger integrations, and growth, for a variety of industrial clients, especially in the global automotive industry.

Eric Spiegel is a senior vice president with Booz Allen in McLean, Va. He leads the firm’s work in global energy and utilities.

Leslie Moeller is a vice president with Booz Allen in Cleveland. He leads the firm’s North American work in the consumer, media, and retail industries, and previously led the firm’s global efforts in marketing and sales.

Also contributing to this article were Booz Allen Senior Associate Praneet Gupta, Booz Allen Principal Martha Turner, and Frank Bogaert

strategy+business (s+b), a thought-leadership business magazine for senior business executives and the people who influence them, reaches more than 100,000 readers worldwide.

Alone among major business publications, s+b draws on a combination of journalists, academics, consultants, and corporate strategists to contribute articles that set the agenda for business leaders and guide them through its execution.

Read A Clear Look at Biofuels Online

A Clear Look at Biofuels
By Bill Jackson, Eric Spiegel, and Leslie Moeller
04/22/2008
a strategy+business exclusive

© 2008 Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Download A Clear Look at Biofuels

PDF format, 91KB, 6 Pages.

About Biofuel:

Biofuel (if cultivated, then also called agrofuel or agrifuel) can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived from recently dead biological material, most commonly plants. This distinguishes it from fossil fuel, which is derived from long dead biological material.

Biofuel can be theoretically produced from any (biological) carbon source. The most common by far is photosynthetic plants that capture solar energy. Many different plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacture.

Biofuels are used globally. Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The most common use for biofuels is automotive transport (see Liquid fuels for transportation). Increased demand for biofuels, particularly in America and Europe has led to deforestation (see deforestation) and food shortages (see 2007-2008 world food price crisis‎ ). This is increasingly making biofuels into a political issue throughout the world. Locations such as Indonesia are subject to deforestation and the accompanying displacement of indigenous peoples. In some areas use of pesticides for biofuel crops are disrupting clean water supplies.

The use of renewable biofuels in lieu of fossil fuels is said to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security (but see Carbon emissions).

One of the greatest technical challenges is to develop ways to convert biomass energy specifically to liquid fuels for transportation. To achieve this, the two most common strategies are:

    1. To grow sugar crops (sugar cane, and sugar beet), or starch (corn/maize), and then use yeast fermentation to produce ethanol (ethyl alcohol).
    2. To grow plants that (naturally) produce oils, such as algae, or jatropha. When these oils are heated, their viscosity is reduced, and they can be burned directly in a diesel engine, or the oils can be chemically processed to produce fuels such as biodiesel.

Wood and its byproducts can be converted into biofuels such as woodgas, methanol or ethanol fuel. Some researchers are working to improve these processes.

(From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment