The bright side of biofuels isn't so bright

Darkfrog submitted, created time 4 months 3 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

The argument in favor of biofuels--petroleum-replacement fuels made from plants like corn, soybeans and switchgrass--is that while burning oil releases new carbon into the air, burning biofuels would release only the carbon that the plants had absorbed from the air during their growth cycle. The net effect would be zero.

However, if one looks at the big picture, biofuels lose their luster. Not only has the conversion of food farms to fuel farms driven up food prices worldwide, but in the tropics, farmers are cutting down carbon-absorbing forests for corn plantations

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Deep-ocean vents are a source of oil and gas

sumsung submitted, created time 10 months 1 day (www.nature.com)

Undersea thermal vents can yield unexpected bounty: natural gas and the building blocks of oil products. In a new analysis of Lost City, a hydrothermal field in the mid-Atlantic, researchers have found that these organic molecules are being created through inorganic processes, rather than the more typical decomposition of once-living material.

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Oil-eating bacteria make light work of heavy fuel

Eric wu submitted, created time 11 months 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Researchers have worked out how natural bacteria deep within the Earth break down crude oil and produce methane. This knowledge could help with projects to encourage these bacteria to covert more oil, faster. And it could point towards a way to produce hydrogen — an even cleaner fuel — by using these natural fuel-processing plants.

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: fuel cells energy hydrogen methane fossil fuels pollution oil ecology heavy fuel Oil-eating bacteria