The Biofuel
Explosion (and why savvy hedge fund managers are quietly
accumulating staggering positions in tomorrows leading
companies)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have
ranked the potential for biodiesel production by nation. The study, published
by Matt Johnston and Tracey Holloway in Environmental Science and Technology,
highlights biodiesel production potential in many developing countries, in
addition to current industrialized agricultural exporting nations.
Matt Johnston, a Ph.D. candidate at the center for
Sustainability and Global Environment at UW-Madison, explains that the
importance of biofuel production stems from the dependence of diesel and
gasoline vehicles and remote areas. We need direct replacement of these fuels
because “few options… work with existing infrastructure.”
To estimate existing potentials for production, Johnston
and Holloway used public information on production and export of oil-rich
crops. To determine possible revenues they used prices current to publication
date (October, 2007). The authors also considered possible investment and
employment impacts of biodiesel production.
The authors found that "Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina,
the United States and Brazil, collectively account for over 80% of the total"
biodiesel production in the current market (Johnston and Holloway 2007).
However, other nations could see revenue increases from biodiesel production.
These countries include Thailand, Colombia, Uruguay and Ghana.

Responding to concerns that these developing
countries do not have the cropland to spare for biodiesel production,
Johnston explains that biodiesel production will not necessarily increase
world hunger. According to Johnston, we must remember not only that hunger
problems result more from distribution than production but also that
“soybean biodiesel [industry] was founded by soybean growers.” In many
cases, farmers sell soybean oil as a bi-product of more profitable soybean
meal.
Despite this efficiency in the use of biodiesel
crops, there are still problems with relying on biodiesel. Johnston
cautions that biofuels will not solve fossil fuel dependence or global
warming. If countries wish to take on these larger issues, they must take
the “first step of conservation.”
Future research will look at agricultural systems
beyond what currently exists. Johnston wishes to track how technological
advances and trade pressures will change the locations and extent that
peoples farm biodiesel. His goal is to discover, “how much, realistically,
can we improve.”
Written by Nicholas Buttino
Biodiesel
Power
Whether we are nearing the end of oil or merely
nearing the end of inexpensive oil, it is becoming increasingly clear that we
need to find alternative ways to meet our energy needs. Biodiesel is one such
alternative -- and is one of the fastest growing sectors of the US
economy.
Biodiesel in North America is in its infancy. As air
quality deteriorates in major centers, governments are scrambling for ways
to reduce emissions and are embracing biodiesel in their fleets.
Conferences on biodiesel are often "inaugural," as society begins
discussing this fuel in earnest.
Biodiesel Power is a chronicle of this emerging
industry. Lightly touching on the technical aspects of the fuel, its
qualities and specifications, the book is largely about the people and
stories of the biodiesel movement. It explores the tensions between
grassroots activists and their altruistic co-ops
the profit minded commercial producers and the voices of agribusiness, and
the current administration - or "the coalition of the
drilling."
Far from a third party account, Biodiesel Power
comes from one who has experienced it from the grease dumpster to the
boardroom. Lyle Estill has made the journey from back yard brewing, to
being part of a producer and distributor cooperative, to commercial
production.
Compelling and timely, Biodiesel
Power is the history of biodiesel in the making. It will appeal
to a wide audience including farmers, truckers, backyarders and commercial
producers, investors, politicians and all those concerned about the end of
oil.
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