Especially when we (the United States) have ample natural resources to produce domestic biodiesel.

Forests in Malaysia and Indonesia began to be cleared to plant oil palm beginning 20 years ago.

Biodiesel became a alternate fuel concept on a commercial basis in the EU, Canada, Australia and the U.S. beginning in the past 3 to 5 years.

Some of forests were cleared in recent years in Brazil to grow soybeans. The purpose for growing soybeans was to fill a contract with China for FOOD having nothing to do with oil feedstock for biodiesel manufacture.

In the U.S. through the year 2005, 99.99 percent of all biodiesel is currently produced from domestically grown soy and canola and a few other oilseed crops like sunflowers. Less than .1 percent comes from imports of biodiesel made from palm oil.

The most promising biodiesel oil feedstock is Jatropha Curcas - a shrub / bush which grows on marginal land not in competition for food crops or replacing forests.

In the next 10 years Jatropha Curcas will become the major biodiesel oil feedstock other than soybeans and canola (_apeseed oil). The entire country of India and many countries in Africa have chosen Jatropha Curcas as their future for biofuels.

In the next ten years Jatropha Curcas plantations will become major contributors in consuming CO2 and producing Oxygen. And J. Curcas will contribute heavily in soils management on formerly marginal lands.

The castor bean tree / shrub has been promoted by Brazil as the primary oil feedstock for biodiesel. The castor bean tree is a native plant of Brazil.

In short, world wide Biodiesel is not a significant reason forests are cleared - there are other markets that generate the demand.

Cordially - Joe-in-Texas
joegreene@terrasolbiofuels.com

I agree

I'm interested in algae as a producer of oil for biodiesel. Apparently, according to "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank" algae produces more oil for its weight and and grows faster than any other plant. It is possible to meet all of our oil needs by growing algae. Also huge algae blooms are a major problem in many of the worlds ocean's. How much would an offshore algae processor cost?

But the issue is that up to now, we had been using very little of our agricultural land to raise fuel. It has been producing food.

Our fuel currently is coming from underground (sometimes right under pastures and fields), and was comprised of 'condensed' energy, collected over thousands of years.

But now we are raising crops that can only produce one growing season's worth of collected energy, and competing with land allocated for food.

I would like to see calculations for the amount of energy per acre that can be generated in this fashion. I have a feeling the numbers are not going to be favorable.

If biofuels and bioplastics are adopted in great numbers, you will need vast tracts of land to produce fuel and material that previously required very little land to create.

Joe-in-texas: it doesn't matter which crop is chosen to supply biodiesel fuels. Once we start large-scale centralised and distributed production of biofuel, then we get land use conversion from food crops or from forest to biodiesel production. Marginal lands won't be used by fuel distribution companies to produce large quantities of biodiesel.

Decentralised (many local sources) production of biofuels using by-products is fine on a small-scale level of the individual/farm/small business. But if biofuels become widespread, don't you think the big fuel companies will want most of the action?

Damon: rather than fertilising the oceans and waterways to cultivate algae, we should attempt to clean up the sediment and chemical runoffs that cause algal bloom problems in the first place. Most of the world's oceans are barren like deserts - only the shallower coastal areas are highly productive and these are the nurseries of most of our fish stocks and the life support of the biodiversity in the oceans and coasts (eg birdlife and mammals). We need to protect these areas, not convert them. Perhaps algae could be grown on land in tanks though.

Bio diesel from Jatropha Curcus is natures Substitute bio fuel. We are Manufacturers and Exporters of Bio Diesel Units in different quantities.