It’s a slow day in Blogistan

Lisa Margonelli over at the Atlantic has a very in-depth article on termites, cellulosic ethanol and low-carbon energy supplies. Will termites solve the climate crisis? I don’t know, but it sure is a fascinating topic!

Here’s an excerpt from the article “Gut Reactions”:

With oil prices at historic highs, the quest is on to turn such plant materials into a replacement for gasoline—call it grass o line. Since 2007, U.S. energy policy has been shaped by the premise that we can brew enough biofuels to replace 35 billion gallons of gasoline by 2017, and 60 billion by 2030. Corn ethanol has been a bust, blamed for wasting water, exhausting croplands, and causing tortilla shortages in Mexico and rice shortages in Asia. For all these problems, it currently contributes the equivalent of only about 4.2 billion gallons of gas a year. And the carbon dioxide emitted in the process of growing and fermenting corn and then distilling and burning ethanol is nearly as much as that emitted by extracting, refining, and burning gasoline.

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Tags: biofuel, biokraftsoff, carbon, climate, ethanol, forschung, klima, kohlenstoff, nachhaltigkeit, naturwissenschaften, research, science, sustainability