Abstract
In this work I outline the rational, science-based arguments that question current wisdom of replacing fossil plant fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) with fresh plant agrofuels. This 1:1 replacement is absolutely impossible for more than a few years, because of the ways the planet Earth works and maintains life. After these few years, the denuded Earth will be a different planet, hostile to human life. I argue that with the current set of objective constraints a continuous stable solution to human life cannot exist in the near-future, unless we all rapidly implement much more limited ways of using the Earth's resources, while reducing the global populations of cars, trucks, livestock and, eventually, also humans.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy Systems |
Subtitle of host publication | Benefits and Risks |
Publisher | Springer Netherlands |
Pages | 19-55 |
Number of pages | 37 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781402086533 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Agriculture
- agrofuel
- biomass
- biorefinery
- boundary
- crop
- ecology
- energy
- ethanol
- fuel production
- mass balance
- model
- net energy value
- plantation
- population
- sustainability
- thermodynamics
- tropics
- yield
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Environmental Science
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences