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Food turned to fuel
Myths Home   Acquire the DVD, The Myths of Biofuels   The Myths of Biofuels FAQ   Sound Bytes from the Myths of Biofuels   Even More Sound Bytes from The Myths of Biofuels Information about scientist, David Fridley  
Animation samples from the Myths of Biofuels   SF Oil Awareness   the Trailer   Press Review of the Presentation   Movie Credits
David Fridley

“The Myths of Biofuels” is a video production by "Sutro Tower Video" of a presentation made by David Fridley (of Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and San Francisco Oil Awareness) given to the public by Post Carbon Santa Clara Valley on June 7, 2007. Mr. Fridley has been concerned about the potential effects of petroleum depletion (peak oil) for a number of years and has done extensive work in this area. This presentation concerning biofuels has been given to numerous interested groups. His bio at LBL is available here.
 

Topics Covered In “The Myths of Biofuels”
The Myths of Biofuels
  • Large-scale biofuel production is sustainable
  • Biofuels are environmentally friendly and reduce CO2 emissions
  • Biofuels will help us achieve "energy independence"
  • Biofuels will help the farmers
  • "Second-generation" biofuels (cellulosic ethanol etc.) will save us
  • Biofuels will let us continue our current way of life
 What are biofuels?

Biofuels are any fuel derived from biomass (recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts). They may be solids, liquids or gases.

"The Myths of Biofuels" video is being made available in DVD format for the cost of materials and postage. The entire movie is (will be) available as well at the Internet Archive, and in the maximum 10 minute chunks on YouTube. The main advantage of the DVD is clearer video, and some additional material including the complete set of slides, originally in PowerPoint, reformatted for better video use. These slides appear during the course of the video as well, but not all the points of information are available through that medium.

To see more information on the other chapter points of the DVD, roll your mouse over the images below. Sound snippets from the presentation are available (on most modern browsers) by pushing the start button on the media players which appear in the rows between chapter information.

On sustainability

On the media and biofuels
Why the rush to biofuels? How do biofuels and oil differ? Ethanol Ethanol distilling is not your grandfather's still
Distillation is the most energy intensive part of ethanol production In 2007 corn for ethanol will exceed corn for export in the U.S. Corn acreage comes at the expense of other crops Limits to corn ethanol

On peak oil

How are biofuels different from oil?
Cellulosic ethanol 1.3 Billion Ton Biomass Study by the USDA Cropland assumptions for biofuel growth are aggressive Nature recycles for a reason
Biomass lacks energy density The environmental impacts of ethanol production Biodiesel Many plants are biodiesel feedstock

Other crops have suffered as corn is being used for ethanol

Our entire grain crop used as ethanol
Limits to soy biodiesel Worldwide vegetable oils are limited Palm oil Deforestation in Indonesia for palm oil plantations
Worldwide biomass is limited Degradation of our soils from industrial agriculture Net energy gain after production of energy matters Paradox: low energy return requires high energy inputs
Scalability of biofuels/alternative fuels The linking of food products to the price of petroleum Public policy surrounding biofuels

Assumptions of the 1.3 billion ton study

Farmland has been lost to development
Myths Home   Acquire the DVD, The Myths of Biofuels   The Myths of Biofuels FAQ   Sound Bytes from the Myths of Biofuels   Even More Sound Bytes from The Myths of Biofuels
Information about scientist, David Fridley   Animation samples from the Myths of Biofuels   SF Bay Oil - a web site dedicated to six local San Francisco Bay Area peak oil groups   the Trailer   Press Review of the Presentation   Movie Credits
The Myths of Biofuels
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