biofuel

The biofuel delusion: synopsis of the argument and implications for ZeroCarbonBritain 2030’s land use proposals

Nick Bardsley, a Feasta member and lecturer in climate change economics at the University of Reading, has prepared a slideshow presentation for the recent Feasta Climate Group weekend which is now available for download. In it he discusses the problems associated with a biofuel-based economy, drawing on the work of energetics analysts Mario Giampietro and Kozo Mayumi. Nick also discusses his own challenges as a lecturer in ecological economics.

Energy and water: the real blue-chips

In this week's Fleeing Vesuvius article, Nate Hagens and Kenneth Mulder explain why today’s prices and costs provide a very bad basis for making investment decisions. They reflect temporary relative market scarcities rather than long-run underlying physical ones. The world needs to abandon money as its measure when determining energy and economic policy if it is to invest its scarcest, most limiting resources in the best possible way.

The costs and benefits of moving out of beef and into biofuel

Most beef farmers in Ireland are losing money. In view of this, some policymakers and commentators think that it would be in the national interest to encourage a lot of them to give up their loss-making hobby and to switch to growing biofuels instead. The Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network is preparing a report which explores this idea and draws some unexpected conclusions, and comments are very welcome.