Debate: Cellulosic ethanol

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Is cellulosic ethanol a good "clean" energy source and solution to global warming?

Background and context

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Cellulosic: Is cellulosic ethanol promising?

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Yes

• Cellulosic ethanol packs three-times the energy as corn ethanol. This makes cellulosic ethanol roughly three times as cheap per unit of energy and three-times as environmentally friendly, compared to corn ethanol. This makes it a viable and environmentally-friendly alternative to corn ethanol.

• Cellulosic ethanol emits a lower net level of greenhouse gases. Similar to the argument above, because cellulosic energy is three times as efficient as corn ethanol, it is only necessary to burn one-third the amount of it to obtain the same amount of energy. This means that burning cellulosic ethanol emits roughly one-third the greenhouse gases as corn ethanol for the same energy output.

• Cellulosic ethanol production does not compete with food production. Cellulosic ethanol is wood and grass-based. The farming of these non-edible plants does not compete with food-farming, nor have the potential to directly affect food prices.

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No

• Cellulosic biofuel production emits large amounts of greenhouse gases. Elizabeth Rosenthal. "Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat". New York Times. February 8, 2008 - "if American corns fields of average yield were converted to switchgrass for [cellulosic] ethanol, replacing that corn would still trigger emissions from land use change that would take 52 years to pay back and increase emissions over 30 years by 50%."

• Cellulosic biofuel farming contributes to the deforestation of the Amazon. Rhett A. Butler. "Cellulosic energy may trigger dramatic collapse in the Amazon". mongabay.com. 11 Marc. 2008 - "Next generation biofuels may trigger the ecological collapse of the Amazon frontier and could have profoundly unexpected economic consequences for the region, warns a paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B."

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Write Subquestion here...

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Yes

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No

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Write Subquestion here...

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Yes

Click on the pencil icon and research and write arguments here

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No

• Rhett A. Butler. "Cellulosic energy may trigger dramatic collapse in the Amazon". mongabay.com. 11 Marc. 2008

See also

• Debate: Biofuel
• Debate: Corn ethanol
• Debate: Algae biofuel

External links