I think its interesting to note how biofuel crops compete with food production. Most of the feritile land in the world is already being used for food. In the long run, I don't see how biofules can produce enough fuel without starving us to death unless they can convert the food crop by-products into fuel (french fry grease). Jatropha can grow in a lot of places other plants cannot, so it may be one of the best biofules, but biofuel in general may not be such a great idea. Plants only get 1-3% effeciency in converting sunlight into energy, while solar arrays can get >40%. Obviously, solar arrays are much more expensive than plant seeds, so biofules may be worth it for poor countries, but there are a lot of clean alternatives to biofuel that won't starve us to death.
Scientific American ran a similar article back in July.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=71EF7817-E7F2-99DF-3BD5B4BB0F2B9FBE&pageNumber=1&catID=2&colId=5
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I think its interesting to note how biofuel crops compete with food production. Most of the feritile land in the world is already being used for food. In the long run, I don't see how biofules can produce enough fuel without starving us to death unless they can convert the food crop by-products into fuel (french fry grease). Jatropha can grow in a lot of places other plants cannot, so it may be one of the best biofules, but biofuel in general may not be such a great idea. Plants only get 1-3% effeciency in converting sunlight into energy, while solar arrays can get >40%. Obviously, solar arrays are much more expensive than plant seeds, so biofules may be worth it for poor countries, but there are a lot of clean alternatives to biofuel that won't starve us to death. Scientific American ran a similar article back in July. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=71EF7817-E7F2-99DF-3BD5B4BB0F2B9FBE&pageNumber=1&catID=2&colId=5