In Barack Obama’s energy speech this week, he promoted the idea of new biofuels: “We’re making new investments in the development of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel that’s actually made from a plant-like substance known as algae. Believe it or not, we could replace up to 17% of the oil we import for transportation with this fuel that we can grow right here in America.”
Newt Gingrich thinks this is hilarious, saying that it is funny enough to be on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
What makes this ironic is that Gingrich’s idea for a permanent space colony on the moon, which he detailed in a speech in January, actually was parodied on SNL in February.
I guess he is just jealous.
Personally, I’m all for biofuels (as long as they use the right kind of bio). After all, oil, coal, and natural gas are all biofuels — they just take millions of years to convert the “bio” into the “fuel”. Speeding this process up makes them non-fossil fuels, so they are sustainable. Plus, since the “bio” in biofuels takes carbon out of the atmosphere, they can be carbon neutral. If you twist your mind a bit, because plants use the energy of the sun, biofuels are almost a form of solar energy.
UPDATE: Congressman accidentally reveals true GOP energy agenda.
UPDATE 2: Biofuels like this one, which takes grass and turns it into gasoline (not ethanol), and is carbon negative (better than carbon neutral).
5 Comments
I’m all for bio-fuels, but only the right kinds of biofuels. I’m all for algae derived biofuels, but giving subsidies to corn farmers so that they can convert food-crop into more lucrative energy-crop, at the expense of everybody who relies on cheap food to survive (that being pretty much everyone), is a terrible idea.
I’m for biofuels as long as they don’t interfere with the food supply. I think it could be dangerous to use food crops as fuel. That also goes for using farmable land. But the basic idea is sound.
Well, I see that Newtie has come forward with an energy plan to eliminate the national debt and reduce pump prices to $2.50 a gallon. Something about drilling everywhere and royalty payments. Take that Mr. President!! The Newtster is on his game. ‘>D
Steve: exactly what I came to say. Using food is the problem, not the concept of biofuel.
Enough people have commented on this, so I edited the original post to make it clear that biofuels should use the right kinds of bio.