Bio fuels. How many acres of land is needed to produce enough fuel to run an average car?

Question

I saw a programme where huge amounts of forest were being destroyed to to grow bio fuels. It made me wonder if this really is the answer we are looking for.

Answer 1

i am a rancher and not a farmer but from what i have seen from the increase in the price of grain for feeding my cattle and the sale of pasture and farm land to non crop producing developers for housing we are working ourselves into a corner between raising cheap food or not being able to get to the grocery due to the price of fuel.as i look at it right now we are on a downward spiral in a fight between mother earth and human survival and one cant live without the death of the other.the only problem is....nature eventually wins!

Answer 2

We will never have enough land to provide for food and gas

All those bio fuel plants pollute the environment with CO2 during production of ethanol and waste about 30 gallons of pure water (drinking) to make about 2 gallons of fuel. They are also discovering that there is a significant increase in food prices when corn is diverted from food to gas.

Lastly, there are reports that the deforestation of the rain forests and land that has not been farmed is being destroyed at increased rates because the land is only good to grow corn for a year or two before it is exhausted.

Answer 3

I do not know the figures but it is clear that bio fuels are a means of exchanging a fuel shortage for a food shortage. And the first to starve are the poor.



I am pleased to see that one answerer has found an account of efforts to develop more efficient car engines that run on compressed air. Energy is still needed to fill the compressed air tanks but if the process is more efficient that is good.



But we also need to use cars less. Walking, pedalling and public transport can make an enormous difference and so help save fuel and pollution. And the exercise improves health and fitness so that we can enjoy life more too.



Best wishes for a more sustainable future.

Answer 4

Only an idiot expects biofuels to completely replace oil based fuels. They are CO2 neutral. Using solar heat and heat from dry waste in the processing of biofuels make production energy efficient. Corn is not the best crop to use. Sorghum is higher in sugar content and can grow in areas too dry for corn. There are millions of acres of former farmland lying unused which could be turned into fuel farms with zero impact on food production.



The best plant for growing as a fuel crop has not been made yet. Several could be genetically engineered that would not be capable of interbreeding with existing plants yet would be high in sugar, starch or oil content. This would allow more fuel per acre of land without having to cut down forests/



Tress grow to be harvested for lumber and cut over areas should be replanted with the same mix of trees that were cut down. The forests take CO2 out of the air and give us oxygen, so we need forests, but they do not have to be untouchable.



The main reason for alternative power is to replace oil and end our dependence on oil bought from people who want to destroy us and who use our money to buy the weapons to use against us. The alternative power should not be so expensive as to make us live poorer lives either. Coal can be made into synthetic fuel to replace oil-based fuels and be no more polluting and possibly even less polluting than oil-based fuels. As an interim replacement for some decades until the problems inherent to using Hydrogen are solved it would be good. Even then it will not completely replace oil use, just reduce it.



Recycled vegetable oil will become illegal unless taxed and there is not enough to power more than a few cars. Fresh vegetable oil is far too expensive to use as yet. New types of plants with high oil content have to be made to bring the price down



Biofuels will always be affected by weather and the prices will be far from stable, yet they can be a lever to reduce oil use and oil prices. They are a partial answer only.

Answer 5

To fuel the number of petrol cars in England alone, an area the size of Wales would be required to produce enough biofuel. There have already been dramatic increases in grain prices which have lead to riots in places such as Mexico as the price of their tortilla has increased. This is a result of the increase in biofuel production occurring in the United States, which means they are exporting less crops for food. The production of biofuels on a large scale would be detrimental to food supplies. Palm oil is being produced in the areas where forests are being destroyed which is threatening the survival of endangered species such as the orangutan and the pygmy elephant. There is an oil which is derived from the jatropa plant which can be grown in arid conditions and does not require fertiliser, therefore it does not encroach on food production or rainforest's.

Answer 6

I was just thinking about this subject a minute before I saw your question.



About a year ago Yahoo ran a story about a study that concluded it would take approximately 16 acres of farmland to produce enough crops to power a typical car with ethanol for one year.



When one multiplies 16 acres by the total number of cars, its obviously a staggering reallocation of cropland and natural forests and grasslands to do that in the USA.



And its even worse in South America and Southeast Asia, where environmentalists have been warning for years about the destruction of tropical rain forests to create pastureland, and now its accelerating in the ethanol boom.



And finally, Virgin Airlines is making all kinds of noise about a flight test of a 747 powered by a biofuel blend, made from some exotic tropical nut or fruit I never heard of, but you can image the environmental destruction that would be necessary to start powering entire fleets of jets with this stuff.

Answer 7

And the stupid thing is there is a way to get bio diesel fuel without using up acres and acres of land, and is almost free. I saw it on Mythbusters that all you need is used kitchen grease and a coffee filter.



You pour the kitchen grease into the a funnel with the coffee filter, and it removes the meat chunks from it. Problem is that it takes overnight to get 1 litre of biodiesel fuel. But then all you need to do is modify your filtration method with a stronger filter and a solar powered oil pump.



When tested in a diesel powered car, it had over 90% the range of conventional diesel fuel. Meaning instead of a dollar per litre of diesel, you only need a dime per litre of biodiesel.



And altogether, it comes from the same infrastructure where we get our cooking oil from, and we don't need to dump our kitchen wastes wherever they get dumped.

Answer 8

Growing crops to produce fuel is the wrong way to go. There is one source that hasn't been talked about much, biofuel from algae. Micro-organisms grow much faster than crops and can be fertilized with sewage. Certain species of algae store their food as fats and oils instead of starch, and that can be extracted to make biodiesel. They also can be grown in seawater, which reduces the demand for fresh water, which in some areas is going to be in short supply. Use your search engine to find out more.

Answer 9

Bio fuels are nothing but a joke! Trouble is our politicians keep supporting this nonsense!

Answer 10

I believe the correct direction is the "Air Powered" car, a French (ex) formula 1 engineer has developed an engine which will run on (yes you`ve guessed it) FRESH AIR!



I think all countries should sponsor this, going for any other technology would just be self greed, in the sense that they would only want to invest in another area to gain profits in my honest opinion.



the world leaders should promote the development of this technology so that people can love our earth and drive about in these things, you can look up the air car on youtube if you wish to see the video.

Answer 11

there will never be enough land to supply bio fuel and feed every one.so no one will win except the rich and they always get what they want.

Answer 12

The best plant to use for making ethanol is switchgrass

Answer 13

about eight acres of sunflower seeds would be enough to run a 1600 cc car for the average milage,



thanks below. you must be right thats brilliant

Answer 14

I have 4 acres, but it has not reduced my gasoline bill.

Answer 15

no it isn't! definitely the wrong way. They obviously didn't think it through did they.

Answer 16

its not the answer! a population cull is the answer.