Ethanol

Large-scale farming is necessary to produce agricultural alcohol and this requires substantial amounts of cultivated land. University of Minnesota researchers report that if all corn grown in theU.S. were used to make ethanol it would displace 12% of current U.S. gasoline consumption.[81] There are claims that land for ethanol production is acquired through deforestation, while others haveobserved that areas currently supporting forests are usually not suitable for growing crops.[82][83] In any case, farming may involve a decline in soil fertility due to reduction of organic matter,[84] adecrease in water availability and quality, an increase in the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and potential dislocation of local communities.[85] New technology enables farmers and processors toincreasingly produce the same output using less inputs.[81]
Cellulosic ethanol production is a new approach which may alleviate land use and related concerns. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced fromany plant material, potentially doubling yields, in an effort to minimize conflict between food needs vs. fuel needs. Instead of utilizing only the starch by-products from grinding wheat and othercrops, cellulosic ethanol production maximizes the use of all plant materials, including gluten. This approach would have a smaller carbon footprint because the amount of energy-intensive fertilisers andfungicides remain the same for higher output of usable material. The technology for producing cellulosic ethanol is currently in the commercialization stage.[16][17]
[edit]Using biomass forelectricity instead of ethanol
Converting biomass to electricity for charging electric vehicles may be a more "climate-friendly" transportation option than using biomass to produce ethanol fuel, according toan analysis published in Science in May 2009[86] "You make more efficient use of the land and more efficient use of the plant biomass by making electricity rather than ethanol," said Elliott...