Biomass: Reseaching crops and crap

I recently read three articles from Science magazine on Biomass and its implications for a clean energy future. (Science Vol 324, 22 May 2009 and two articles in Vol. 325, 17 July 2009). Let me preface by saying the force and blindness we asserted in upscaling corn production for biofuel use in the US was wishful thinking at best, and a dire mistake all around. In my travels to the midwest in 2007, I noted signs at the entrance of various towns proclaiming something along the lines of, "X is Green! We grow corn!"

It was simply laziness and greed that led to this assessment by agricultural communities, whereby they could keep planting and harvesting corn - and even increase their production and land-use with the government's blessing - while raking in government subsidies, and on top of this, they could call themselves stewards of the environment! Of course it blew out of proportion; people took advantage of some government and media lingo to promote their own agenda and make themselves look good all at the same time.

The recent articles from Science talk about a more broad yet directed use for the production and consumption of biomass as biofuels. As Tilman et al. asserts, there is a delicate balance between growing biofuels, avoiding land-clearing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Choose the wrong angle and biofuels become more of an environmental hazard than relief. Choose, investigate and monitor your assumptions wisely, and biomass/biofuels can lead to land conservation and a reduction in emissions when compared with conventional fossil fuels.

Ohlrogge et al. poses that biomass converted to electricity is 20 to 25% more efficient when powering a vehicle than converting biomass into ethanol, or fuel. Given the relative inefficiency of the internal combustion engine (less than 20% of gasoline energy is transformed into mechanical work) and accounting for its widespread use, this allows for massive savings of GHGs.