• evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      From wikipedia:

      Figures compiled in a 2007 report by National Geographic[70] point to modest results for corn ethanol produced in the US: one unit of fossil-fuel energy is required to create 1.3 energy units from the resulting ethanol

      Add on top of that the environmental impact and opportunity cost of the land use, and corn based ethanol becomes a non-viable solution.

    • SkyeStarfall
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      7 days ago

      The thing with biofuels is that they could be used to feed people instead

    • BestBouclettes@jlai.lu
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      7 days ago

      It’s bad because it uses tons of space and resources that could be used for other things. It also promotes mono culture and it usually uses fertilizers and pesticides that are not necessarily allowed on other crops, as they won’t be used as feed.
      So, it’s bad for biodiversity, bad for land use, bad for resource use. The upside of being a low carbon fuel is completely offset by the impact it has on nature.