Food and Fuel: Biofuels Could Benefit World’s Undernourished - WorldWatch Institute

[JohnWxy]

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5302">Food and Fuel: Biofuels Could Benefit World’s Undernourished

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Growth in biofuels production may have unexpected economic benefits, according to the experts who contributed to the report. Of the 47 poorest countries, 38 are net importers of oil and 25 import all of their oil; for these nations, the tripling in oil prices has been an economic disaster. But nations that develop domestic biofuels industries will be able to purchase fuel from their own farmers rather than spending scarce foreign exchange on imported oil.

World biofuels production rose 28 percent to 44 billion liters in 2006, according to the figures compiled since research on Biofuels for Transport was completed; fuel ethanol was up 22 percent and biodiesel rose 80 percent. Although biofuels comprise less than 1 percent of the global liquid fuel supply, the surge in production of biofuels in 2006 met 17 percent of the increase in supply of all liquid fuels worldwide last year.

“It is critical to the stability of the climate that we prevent biofuels from expanding at the expense of rainforests and other valuable ecosystems that store carbon and provide other ecological services,” says Suzanne Hunt, who directed the team of 15 researchers from four countries.“Energy crops should instead be established on the millions of hectares of degraded land that can be found around the world.”
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http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Global_biofuel_land_area_estimated_999.html">Biofuels could supply 26% to 56% of world's transportation fuel needs - using marginal and abandoned land. Univ of Illinois study

Researchers said an estimated land area of 2.7 million acres was available globally, an area that would produce 26 to 56 percent of the world's current liquid fuel consumption.
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The Illinois study focused on marginal land for biofuel crops. Marginal land refers to land with low inherent productivity, that has been abandoned or degraded, or is of low quality for agricultural uses.

In their computer modeling, the researchers ruled out current crop land, pasture land, and forests.

They also assumed biofuel crops would be watered by rainfall and not irrigation, so no water would have to be diverted from agricultural land.
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NOte: the MIT designed Ethanol enabled Direct Injection engine (http://www.ethanolboost.com/">Ethanol Boosting Systems) gets 30% BETTER gas mileage using 5% ethanol - directly injected. If all the cars were using this engine, any amount of ethanol above 5% of the fuell supply would be used to displace gasoline directly. So, using 5% of the 26% to 56% of the fuel supply, mentioned in the research above would get you a 23% reduction in gasoline consumption (1/1.3 = .23077) added to what's left out of 26% to 56% means you would reduce gasoline consumption 44% (23% + 21%) to 74% (23% + 51%).