Perspectives on Biofuels: Potential Benefits and Possible Pitfall

Today, fossil fuels dominate the worldwide energy mix. Combining the finite supply of fossil fuels with their adverse environmental impact and the uneven worldwide distribution causes political and economic tensions. Biofuels can improve the current energy portfolio since they are renewable resources grown domestically thereby offering potential economic, environmental and security benefits. The role of biofuels as a liquid fuel replacement is nascent, but projected to grow significantly in the coming years as chemists and chemical engineers contribute to solving technical problems in the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks. To insure we take the wisest approach during biofuel development, chemists and engineers in their roles as managers and policy makers need to have a broad perspective of the impacts of biofuel production so they are able to consider the long-term impacts of biofuel development on the economy, environment and society.Contents ; Dedication ; 1. Putting Biofuels into Context Beyond Biofuels Chemistry-Context, Issues, ; and Broader Perspectives Important to the Technical Audience ; Rich Lomneth, Caroline Taylor, and Frankie Wood-Black ; 2. Projecting an Energy Future: Biofuels, Bioenergy, and the Importance of ; Regionality in Scenarios and Potentials ; Caroline Taylor ; 3. The Effects of Stakeholder Values on Biofuel Feedstock Choices ; Heather L. Youngs ; 4. Inventories and the Global Food-Commodity Prices ; Gal Hochman, Deepak Rajagopal, Govinda Timilsina, and David Zilberman ; 5. Avoiding the Unintended Consequences of Bioenergy ; S. A. Miller ; 6. Sustainability of Bioenergy from Forestry ; Marcia Patton-Mallory ; 7. Algal Technologies for Biological Capture and Utilization of CO2 Require ; Breakthroughs in Basic Research ; Jennifer L. Milne, Jeffrey C. Cameron, Lawrence E. Page, Sally M. Benson, and ; Himadri B. Pakrasi ; 8. Unintended Consequences: Evaluation of the Pros and Cons of New ; Technologies and Regulatory Drivers as They Relate to the Potential ; Changes in Behavior and Infrastructure ; Frankie Wood-Black, Ph.D., REM, MBA ; 9. Economist>'s Perspective on Biofuels ; David Zilberman, Deepak Rajagopal, and Gal Hochman ; 10. Securing a Bioenergy Supply: UK and US ; C. Whittaker, P. W. R. Adams, and M. C. McManus ; 11. Biomass Sustainability Standards: Towards a Credible and Feasible ; Measure of Biomass Sustainability for U.S. Bioenergy Policy ; Jody M. Endres, J.D., M.A. ; Editors' Biographies ; Indexes ; Author Index ; Subject Index