When will we see this?

[Maugan_VX]

I admit to being quite ignorant when it comes to alternative fuels, however, I casually heard that one of the problems with biofuels is the sheer amount of biological material to produce the needed amount of biofuel. Something like 10 acres of corn = 1 gallon of usable biofuels.

I scoffed at that, because I realized that people wouldn't be looking at biofuel as a legitimate alternative if it was so inefficient to produce.

[Joe_Black]

I admit to being quite ignorant when it comes to alternative fuels, however, I casually heard that one of the problems with biofuels is the sheer amount of biological material to produce the needed amount of biofuel. Something like 10 acres of corn = 1 gallon of usable biofuels.

I scoffed at that, because I realized that people wouldn't be looking at biofuel as a legitimate alternative if it was so inefficient to produce.

There are many, many opponents of biofuels. Primarily because it would take money out of their hands or those they represent. Yields vary over different crops, but it's much more efficient than that especially when conbined with sustainable farming and processing techniques. For example, with biodiesel you can get anywhere from 50 gallons an acre with soy beans or 650 gallons an acre with oil palm. Ethanol is even more efficient as you're simply fermenting vegetable matter. Almost anything will work, from corn to grass, just some plants yield better fermentation than others. I seriously researched producing ethanol from molasses which is a sugar production waste available locally for about $60 a ton last I checked. IIRC, that ton of molasses would've yielded nearly a thousand gallons of 190 proof ethanol.

Unfortunately the general public takes the popular media as gospel, never looking at more than one spoon-fed source of information. The biofuel realization is growing, but it is slow and suffers from those hyping false claims to make a buck.