Biodiesel in Washington State

This is good news for Washingtonians. In the past, all of our biodiesel had to be imported from Iowa, now we'll have a state-of-the-art facility for making it right here.

The nation's largest refinery of biodiesel fuel is rapidly approaching completion at the Port of Grays Harbor in Southwest Washington — and not a moment too soon.

http://www.acppubs.com/article/CA6449212.html

I've begun to hear concern over the inevitable competition between oil crops and food crops, or oil crops and native forests (and all their threatened species), which concerns me. Obviously we'll have some intricate problems in the future. The first maxim of living "green" is to use less and that will undoubtedly apply in a renewable-energy based future.

Before we consider the serious problems that will come about from the emergence of biofuels as a world economic force, let's think of some possible benefits.

• Farmers of the world have a potentially lucrative cash crop, that doesn't have to be food-grade.
• Traditionally poor nations that happen to be located in the tropics may find that wealth is in their future.
• Greasy foods may become scarce; a boon to most Americans (despite their cravings)

The downside is that the price of food will likely rise; twinkies and french fries will become luxury items. Many species may be threatened with extinction due to increased pressure to farm in tropical forestlands.

For the time-being, though it seems well worth encouraging biofuel science and production in order to reduce some of the "Road Warrior"-style showdowns that will inevitably occur in a post-petroleum world.