[LINK] Electric vehicles and generation

[Karl Auer]

On Sun, 2006-07-23 at 16:40 +1000, Greg Taylor wrote:
> > It runs deeper than that.The real question in all this (apart from
> > the question of why we need to use energy travelling) is the *kind*
> > of energy we use. Fossil fuels are finite and they pollute (even
> > the so-called "bio" alternatives, although renewable, still burn
> > into CO2 etc).
> 
> No, biofuels recycle CO2 and are effectively carbon neutral.   If the
> biomass is produced sustainably, carbon dioxide is removed from the
> atmosphere during photosynthesis and stored in plant structures. When
> the biomass is burned, the carbon released back to the atmosphere will
> be recycled into the next generation of growing plants.

Yes - *IF* the biomass is produced sustainably. If (as is happening in
developing countries already) the production of biomass adversely
affects the environment, such as by cutting down rainforest to make room
for canola crops, then you no longer have such a tidy zero-sum game.

Burning fuels also transport the pollution to where the people are. It
may be absorbed again, but not before it has passed through our lungs...

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)                   +61-2-64957160 (h)
http://www.biplane.com.au/~kauer/                  +61-428-957160 (mob)