Roz Naylor argued in her interview with us last year that a push for biofuels in the US or Europe may have significant consequences globally. Naturally, countries that rely on food crops that can either be used to generate biofuels, or are being supplanted by biofuels crops, can be negatively affected. Case in point is the so-called tortilla crisis, that is, the highly increased prices for corn after strong support of corn-based ethanol that impact large populations in Mexico and elsewhere for which corn is a staple food.

I’m always excited to find creative, DIY, ways to generate energy from waste. Jim Mason gives a wonderful example. Check out his informative website and enjoy his interview with my students. You may also want to check out the podcast with Adam Kreek, another “fuel from waste” enterpreneur.

Plants are not as efficient as you might think in capturing solar energy. Current photovoltaic panels can capture more energy per square meter — quite a bit more in fact — than biomass crops that are being suggested as feedstock for ethanol. This is not a reason to dismiss biomass crops, but with the ever growing competition for land, it should certainly be taken into account when evaluating renewable energy options. Alfred Spormann, a professor in micro-biology at Stanford, explains the conversion process and discusses potential for improvement using genetic engineering.

World corn prices have risen considerably in recent years because of corn ethanol production. If you are poor and rely on cheap corn as your staple food, such price increases are bad news. This is just one example of how energy decisions made in the U.S. or Europe can have unintended consequences for the rest of the world. Dr. Roz Naylor, a well-known agricultural economist, researches the environmental and equity dimensions of intensive food and energy feedstock production. She speaks with Margot Gerritsen about making more globally-aware decisions.